The region of the Catskills that became known as the Borscht Belt was the social epicenter of American Jewish life in the middle part of the 20th century. At its peak, it had more than 500 hotels and over 50,000 bungalows, and catered to hundreds of thousands of Jewish visitors each year. The biggest resorts like Grossinger’s, Kutsher’s, the Concord, and the Nevele set the bar for dining and entertainment. While the resorts are now long gone, the cultural impact of the Borscht Belt remains. From cruise ships to Vegas hotels. From Dirty Dancing to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel to the very existence of stand-up comedy as we know it today.
How did it happen that a particular slice of upstate New York came to be the premier Jewish vacation destination for most of the 20th century, one with an outsized impact on Jewish culture and American culture writ large?
Listen to this episode of Recognizably Jewish to find out.
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Sources and sites:
https://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Kutshers-Last-Catskills-Resort/dp/B00WYWWJPQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFUa340mdPw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4Qngt5FrbY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PWFttncdZg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne63LEGGYWw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borscht_Belt
https://borschtbelthistoricalmarkerproject.org/
https://hvmag.com/life-style/borscht-belt-hotels-catskills/
https://alexprizgintas.com/borscht-belt-tourism-history/
https://www.borschtbeltmuseum.org/donate
https://catskillsinstitute.northeastern.edu/
http://www.livingstonmanor.net/LMhistory/TanningIndustry.htm
https://footnote.wordpress.ncsu.edu/2020/06/11/the-jewish-agricultural-society-06-12-2020/