In the Catskills: A Century of Jewish Experience in "The Mountains" (2 page)

PART 7.
 
FOOD

Introduction

Eating at the Hotel
|
S
ARAH
S
ANDBERG

The Catskills Remembered
|
V
IVIAN
G
ORNICK

Bungalow
|
E
LIZABETH
E
HRLICH

APPENDICES—
LINKS TO MORE SOURCES

Annotated Bibliography

Hotels of the Catskills

Bungalow Colonies of the Catskills

P
REFACE

W
riting
Catskill Culture: A Mountain Rat’s Memories of the Great Jewish Resort Area
was the most meaningful piece of writing work I have ever done. I poured my heart into reliving my Catskills memories, getting in touch with my parents’ lives, and retracing my own personal history. Somewhere in the process of writing that book, I knew I wanted to do another, complementary volume that would put together fiction, nonfiction, and music from many sources. That desire has only grown since
Catskill Culture
was published. I realized that an untold number of people shared similar desires to recapture the Catskills memories. I have been gratified by the reception from readers and from audiences at the many shuls, colleges, Jewish organizations, and bookstores where I speak. Many people at these events ask if I am writing another book. I am pleased to finally be able to say, “Yes, I am.” Of course, I am not writing it from scratch, but am including new material of my own with a collection of articles and excerpts that speak from my voice, in tandem with others’ voices.

These were the ideal pieces with which to capture the feeling of the Catskills legacy. When I have wanted to learn more about this rich heritage, sought to suggest readings to others, considered who were the people who really understood this culture, and needed to create a syllabus for my Brown University seminar, “A Summer Eden: The Jewish Experience in the Catskills,” I’ve thought of these writers. A good number of them informed my original work,
Catskill Culture
, and are quoted there. In the course of running the annual History of the Catskills Conference since 1995, I have met many of these writers and scholars when I’ve brought them up to speak. Some were people whom my Catskills Institute colleagues and I encouraged to write about the Catskills. Others were friends and colleagues in and outside the Institute who were active in recounting and preserving the Catskills history.

I feel bonds with the people whose words appear in this anthology. Irwin Richman has been a consistently creative explorer of Catskills life, and his charm and humor have graced the stage at many History of the Catskills Conferences. Eileen Pollack, whose upbringing in the hotel business was the grist for her novel, was a sparkling reader at two of our events. Sidney Offit charmed our audience when he shared his selections from his novel, and in the short time that the Catskills Institute has been around, enough interest has been generated that his 1959 book was reissued in 1999. Terry Kay captured a different slice of Catskills life in his novel and stole the hearts of conference listeners. His elegant prose and his delight in joining the conference participants were testimony to the impact the Jewish Catskills could have on a non-Jew. Martin Boris spoke twice at our conferences and was encouraged by our activities to do the research on Grine Felder that appears here. Sadly, he died while this book was in preparation. Arthur Tanney garnered an audience of bungalow colony lovers through his online postings and brought those essays to the podium of our Catskills Institute, making people laugh and cry with his tender recollections. Reuben Wallenrod died some years ago, but I met his daughter, Naima Prevots, and it was a delight to witness her pleasure at seeing her father’s little-known novel included. Herman Wouk couldn’t accept the invitation to speak at our very first conference, but he sent a letter with warm greetings to “all the tummlers” that we proudly read aloud. Abraham Lavender and Clarence Steinberg are fellow excavators of Catskills history, and Clarence has frequented and spoken at the conferences. Eugene Calden came up to me once and thrust into my hands his marvelous kuchalayn memoirs. Tania Grossinger and Henry Foner have shared with me not only the stage at conferences but also the microphones on radio appearances. Thane Rosenbaum and Vivian Gornick shared their fiction and essays with us as well. Joyce Wadler came to one conference. Jerry Jacobs, one of the few sociologists to join me in writing about the Catskills, was a long-time supporter of this collection and of
Catskill Culture
before it. So this book has an intimate feel to it, from my experience of knowing most of the contributors. I thank them so much for their deep conviction that the Catskills are worth writing about.

Terry Kay, when he spoke at the History of the Catskills Conference, mused on the wealth of material that the Catskills provided for his novel
Shadow Song
, and wisely remarked that “Some places are just natural repositories of stories.” Clearly the Mountains have been that kind of place for many other writers, as this collection shows. I hope you will appreciate the breadth of writing that has framed the Catskills experience.

My editor at Columbia University Press, John Michel, was intrigued by this project from the very first, and I appreciate his enthusiastic collaboration. Jerry Jacobs gave very helpful suggestions concerning the selections and format. Berit Kosterlitz worked hard to line up the reprint permissions, looked up original versions of some selections, and helped in preparing the manuscript. My colleagues on the Executive Committee and Advisory Board of the Catskills Institute have lent their energy to this book through their long-standing commitment to keeping alive the Catskills memory. Alan Barrish, one of the Executive Committee members, is my frequent partner in long car cruises to locate hotel remnants, an important task that helps generate excitement about this kind of project and that nourishes my research and writing. I am also grateful to Alan for his comments on the annotated bibliography, and to two other Executive Committee members for their input—Deborah Dash Moore for her comments on my introductory essay and Irwin Richman for comments on that essay and the bibliography. I must also thank the countless people who write, e-mail, and speak to me every day about how much they love to remember this great culture. Their feedback has energized my project.

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

Part 1

H
ISTORY

Ontario and Western Railroad Station in Liberty, 1920s. The O&W, nicknamed the “Old and Weary,” was the primary mode of transportation for much of the first half of the century. It ceased operating in 1956. Its annual publication, “Summer Homes Among the Mountains,” was a major source of advertising for the hotels and boarding houses. Resort owners would send wagons, and later autos, to pick up guests. Some large hotels even sent bands to play for the arrival of the trains. The Friday evening train, bringing up husbands for the weekends, was termed the “bull train.”
C
ATSKILLS
I
NSTITUTE