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Borscht Belt
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Borscht Belt is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in Sullivan and Ulster Counties in upstate New York that were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews through the 1960s.
cht Belt hotels, bungalow colonies, summer camps, and kuchaleyns (a Yiddish name for self-catered boarding houses) were frequented by Jewish New Yorkers, mostly immigrants from Eastern Europe and their children and grandchildren, particularly in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.
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Borscht Belt is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in Sullivan and Ulster Counties in upstate New York that were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews through the 1960s.
History
Borscht Belt hotels, bungalow colonies, summer camps, and kuchaleyns (a Yiddish name for self-catered boarding houses) were frequented by Jewish New Yorkers, mostly immigrants from Eastern Europe and their children and grandchildren, particularly in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Because of this, this area was also nicknamed the Jewish Alps and "Solomon County" (a modification of Sullivan County), by many people who visited there. Well-known resorts of the area included Brickman's, Brown's, The Concord, Grossinger's, Granit, the Heiden Hotel, Irvington, Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club, the Nevele, Friar Tuck Inn, The Pines Resort, Raleigh, the Overlook, and the Windsor.
Two of the larger hotels in High View (just north of Bloomingburg) were Shawanga Lodge and the Overlook. Shawanga, which had suffered from a fire in the 1920s but was rebuilt, burned to the ground in 1973.
The Overlook still remains in a different form, no longer functioning as it was in its heyday. The Overlook had entertainment and summer lodging for many years thru the late 1960s and was operated by the Schrier family. It included a main building and about 50 other bungalows, plus a five-unit cottage just across the street.
Some of these hotels originated from farms that were established by immigrant Jews in the early part of the 20th century.
Despite the upgrade of old travel routes such as old New York State Route 17 (superseded by an express highway of the same name, now in the midst of an upgrade to Interstate 86), the area declined as a travel destination. What was left was a veritable museum of abandoned or decaying travel-related businesses from the Borscht Belt's heyday. The post-World War II decline of the area also coincides with the increase of air travel. When families could go to more far-off destinations such as the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Europe for the same amount that they could go to the Catskills, the new venues began to win out.
In 1987, New York's mayor Ed Koch proposed buying the Gibber Hotel in Kiamesha Lake to house the homeless. The idea was opposed by local officials. The hotel instead became a religious school, like many old hotels in the Catskills.
Today
Today the region is a summer home for many Orthodox Jewish families, primarily from the New York metropolitan area. It has many summer homes and bungalow colonies (including many of the historic colonies), as well as year-round dwellers. It even has its own year-round branch of the Orthodox Jewish volunteer emergency medical service Hatzolah. A few resorts remain in the region, though not many associated with the Borscht Belt Prime (Kutsher's Hotel, Villa Roma, or Friar Tuck, to name a few).
Plans are now in place by those who purchased former Borscht Belt resorts Concord Resort Hotel and Grossinger's, for example, to work with Native Americans in an attempt to bring gambling to the region. Because the Borscht Belt's prime has long passed and many of the resorts are abandoned, developers feel that this is the only way to revitalize the region to the popularity it once had by attracting guests to world-class casinos and resorts such as the ones in New Jersey and Connecticut. However, large-scale casino plans have not come to fruition.
The Heiden Hotel in South Fallsburg, which was the location of the movie "Sweet Lorraine" starring Maureen Stapleton, was destroyed by fire in May 2008.
Comedic legacy
The tradition of Borscht Belt entertainment started in the early 20th century with the indoor and outdoor theaters constructed on a 40 acre (16-hectare) tract in Hunter, New York, by Yiddish theater star Boris Thomashefsky.
Comedians who got their start or regularly performed in Borscht Belt resorts include
Borscht Belt humor refers to the rapid-fire, often self-deprecating style common to many of these performers and writers. Typical themes include
- Bad luck: "When I was a kid, I was breast-fed by my father." (Dangerfield)
- Puns: "Sire, the peasants are revolting!" "You said it. They stink on ice." (Harvey Korman as Count de Money (Monet) and Mel Brooks as King Louis XVI, in History of the World Part I)
- Physical complaints and ailments (often relating to bowels and cramping): "My doctor said I was in terrible shape. I told him, 'I want a second opinion.' He said, 'All right, you're ugly too!'" "I told my doctor, 'This morning when I got up and saw myself in the mirror, I looked awful! What's wrong with me?' He replied, 'I don't know, but your eyesight is perfect!'" (Dangerfield)
- Aggravating relatives and nagging wives: "My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met." (Dangerfield). "Take my wife—please!" (Henny Youngman); "My wife drowned in the pool because she was wearing so much jewelry." (Rickles); "My wife ain't too bright. One day our car got stolen. I said to her, 'Did you get a look at the guy?' She said, 'No, but I got the license number.'" (Dangerfield)
Some—but not all—of the modern Borscht Belt comedians, such as Don Rickles, referred openly to Jews and anti-Semitism.
Popular culture
These resorts have been the setting for movies such as Dirty Dancing, Sweet Lorraine, and A Walk on the Moon.
Characters inspired by Borscht Belt comics include Billy Crystal's Buddy Young Jr. from Mr. Saturday Night and Robert Smigel's Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog.
While not a part of the true Borscht Belt legacy, the best-known entertainment event to take place in the region was the 1969 Woodstock Festival, which took place on the land of Jewish farmer Max Yasgur in Bethel, New York.
In the film Wet Hot American Summer, the character Alan Shemper, played by Michael Showalter, is a parody of Borscht Belt comedy.
In the film Sleepers, a poster for Sonny Liston is seen on the wall of Robert De Niro's apartment and shows the Pines Resort as the location of the fight. The scene is when they are talking about the defense of the trial and De Niro's talk to Jason Patric and Minnie Driver
In the game Team Fortress 2 by Valve it is possible to obtain an achievement called Borscht Belt while playing Heavy class.
See also
External links
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- on the St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture.
- , Brown University
- (documentary about the Borscht Belt)
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