In the Catskills: A Century of Jewish Experience in "The Mountains"

In the Catskills

A C
ENTURY OF THE
J
EWISH
E
XPERIENCE IN
“T
HE
M
OUNTAINS
”

Edited by

PHIL BROWN

Columbia University Press
New York

“The Catskills at the End of World War II” is from
Woodridge, 1946
by Martin Boris, copyright © 1979 by Ghame Writing Corp. Reprinted by permission of Crown Publishers, a division of Random House, Inc.

“The Pool” is from
Paradise, NY
by Eileen Pollack. Published by Temple University Press, 1999. Copyright © 1999 by Eileen Pollack.

“The Social Director in the Adult Summer Camp” is from
Act One
by Moss Hart, copyright © 1959 by Catherine Carlisle Hart & Joseph M. Hyman, Trustees. Used by permission of Random House, Inc.

“Bungalow Summer” is from
Boychiks in the Hood
by Robert Eisenberg, pp. 181–205. Copyright © 1995 by Robert Eisenberg. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

“The Shul in Kaaterskill Falls” is from
Kaaterskill Falls
by Allegra Goodman, copyright © 1998 by Allegra Goodman. Used by permission of The Dial Press/Dell Publishing, a division of Random House, Inc.

Additional permissions information appears in the acknowledgments section.

C
OLUMBIA
U
NIVERSITY
P
RESS

P
UBLISHERS
S
INCE
1893

N
EW
Y
ORK
   C
HICHESTER
, W
EST
S
USSEX

cup.columbia.edu

Copyright © 2002 Phil Brown
All rights reserved

E-ISBN 978-0-231-50440-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

In the Catskills : a century of Jewish experience in the mountains / Phil Brown,
editor.

   
p. cm
.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ).

ISBN 0–231–12360–4

1. Jews—New York (State)—Catskill Mountains Region—Social life

and

customs. 2. Jews—Recreation—New York (State)—Catskill Mountains Region.

3. Catskill Mountains Region (N.Y.)—Social life and customs. I. Brown, Phil.

F127.C3 I5 2002

974.7’38004924—dc21

               2001042319

A Columbia University Press E-book.
CUP would be pleased to hear about your reading experience with this e-book at
[email protected]
.

This book is dedicated to my wife, Ronnie Littenberg; my daughter, Liza Littenberg-Brown; and my son, Michael Littenberg-Brown.

C
ONTENTS

Preface
Acknowledgments

PART 1.
 
HISTORY

Introduction

Sleeping in My Parents’ Hotel
:
The End of a Century of the Jewish Catskills
|
P
HIL
B
ROWN

Jewish Farmers of the Catskills
|
A
BRAHAM
L
AVENDER AND
C
LARENCE
S
TEINBERG

Hotels and the Holocaust
|
R
EUBEN
W
ALLENROD

The Catskills at the End of World War II
|
M
ARTIN
B
ORIS

PART 2.
 
BOARDING HOUSE, BUNGALOW, AND KUCHALAYN LIFE

Introduction

The Yearning Heifer
|
I
SAAC
B
ASHEVIS
S
INGER

Grine Felder—A Place in the Country
|
M
ARTIN
B
ORIS

Bingo by the Bungalow
|
T
HANE
R
OSENBAUM

Bungalow Colony Life
|
I
RWIN
R
ICHMAN

Bungalow Stories
|
A
RTHUR
T
ANNEY

PART 3.
 
HOTEL LIFE

Introduction

Dinner at the Rigi Kulm House
|
A
BRAHAM
C
AHAN

Old Stock
|
H
ORTENSE
C
ALISHER

Young Workers in the Hotels
|
P
HIL
B
ROWN

The Pool
|
E
ILEEN
P
OLLACK

Growing Up at Grossinger’s
|
T
ANIA
G
ROSSINGER

Five and Three House
|
S
IDNEY
O
FFIT

Reflections on the Delmar Hotel and the Demise of the Catskills
|
J
ERRY A
. J
ACOBS

PART 4.
 
ENTERTAINMENT

Introduction

Comics, Singers, and Tummlers
|
J
OEY
A
DAMS
(
WITH
H
ENRY
T
OBIAS
)

The Social Director at the Adult Summer Camp
|
M
OSS
H
ART

The Casino
|
H
ARVEY
J
ACOBS

The Fine Art of Mountain
Tummling
|
J
OYCE
W
ADLER

Yener Welt—music and lyrics
|
P
HIL
B
ROWN

Shoot the Shtrudel to Me, Yudel!—music and lyrics
|
H
ENRY
F
ONER

PART 5.
 
ROMANCE

Introduction

Miss Tevkin
|
A
BRAHAM
C
AHAN

Forbidden Fruit
|
H
ARVEY
J
ACOBS

Marjorie at South Wind
|
H
ERMAN
W
OUK

Amy Lourie
|
T
ERRY
K
AY

PART 6.
 
RELIGION

Introduction

Bungalow Summer:
The Catskills, New York
|
R
OBERT
E
ISENBERG

The Shul in Kaaterskill Falls
|
A
LLEGRA
G
OODMAN