In the Catskills : a century of Jewish experience in "the mountains" / edited by Phil Brown.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Brown, Phil.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--New York (State)--Catskill Mountains Region--Social life and customs.

Jews.

Jews--Recreation--New York (State)--Catskill Mountains Region.

Catskill Mountains Region (N.Y.)--Social life and customs.

Catskill Mountains Region (N.Y.).

Physical Description:

xvi, 415 p. : ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Through fiction, memoir, music, photography, and art, In the Catskills highlights the Catskills experience over a century and assesses its continuing impact on American music, comedy, food, culture, and religion. It features selections from such fiction writers as Isaac Bashevis Singer, Herman Wouk, Allegra Goodman and Vivian Gornick; and original contributions from historians, sociologists, and scholars of American and Jewish culture that trace the history of the region, the rise of hotels and bungalow colonies, the wonderful flavors of food and entertainment, and distinctive forms of Jewish religion found in the Mountains.What was life--the work, the play, the food, the romance--like at Catskills Mountains resorts? These very personal recollections capture the special sense of community and real sense of freedom that developed. Far from the welter of the city, Jewish families learned to vacation and enjoy themselves, to savor the social mobility and cultural space the resorts afforded, and to nourish their culinary and comic traditions. From "Bingo by the Bungalow" by Thane Rosenbaum to "Young Workers in the Hotels" by Phil Brown to "Shoot the Shtrudel to Me Yudel" by Henry Foner, this charming anthology captures an era that has had enormous impact on the Jewish experience and American culture as a whole. "Whenever I speak about the Catskills," observes editor Phil Brown, "I am struck by the strength of people's desire to relive their experiences in the Mountains." If you've visited the Catskills yourself, or heard stories from your parents or grandparents, or are just interested in this extraordinary time and place, pack your bags and prepare to enjoy your stay In the Catskills.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

PART 1. HISTORY

Introduction

Sleeping in My Parents' Hotel: The End of a Century of the Jewish Catskills / Brown, Phil

Jewish Farmers of the Catskills / Lavender, Abraham / Steinberg, Clarence

Hotels and the Holocaust / Wallenrod, Reuben

The Catskills at the End of World War II / Boris, Martin

PART 2. BOARDING HOUSE, BUNGALOW, AND KUCHALAYN LIFE

The Yearning Heifer / Singer, Isaac Bashevis

Grine Felder-A Place in the Country / Boris, Martin

Bingo by the Bungalow / Rosenbaum, Thane

Bungalow Colony Life / Richman, Irwin

Bungalow Stories / Tanney, Arthur

PART 3. HOTEL LIFE

Dinner at the Rigi Kulm House / Cahan, Abraham

Old Stock / Calisher, Hortense

Young Workers in the Hotels / Brown, Phil

The Pool / Pollack, Eileen

Growing Up at Grossinger's / Grossinger, Tania

Five and Three House / Offit, Sidney

Reflections on the Delmar Hotel and the Demise of the Catskills / Jacobs, Jerry A.

PART 4. ENTERTAINMENT

Comics, Singers, and Tummlers / Adams, Joey / Tobias, Henry

The Social Director at the Adult Summer Camp / Hart, Moss

The Casino / Jacobs, Harvey

The Fine Art of Mountain Tummling / Wadler, Joyce

Yener Welt-music and lyrics / Brown, Phil

Shoot the Shtrudel to Me, Yudel!-music and lyrics / Foner, Henry

PART 5. ROMANCE

Miss Tevkin / Cahan, Abraham

Forbidden Fruit / Jacobs, Harvey

Marjorie at South Wind / Wouk, Herman

Amy Lourie / Kay, Terry

PART 6. RELIGION

Bungalow Summer: The Catskills, New York / Eisenberg, Robert

The Shul in Kaaterskill Falls / Goodman, Allegra

PART 7. FOOD

Eating at the Hotel / Sandberg, Sara

The Catskills Remembered / Gornick, Vivian

Bungalow / Ehrlich, Elizabeth

APPENDICES-LINKS TO MORE SOURCES

Annotated Bibliography

Hotels of the Catskills

Bungalow Colonies of the Catskills

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 393-412).

ISBN:

9786613406743

9781283406741

1283406748

9780231504409

0231504403

OCLC:

979831568