Borscht Belt


Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange and Ulster Counties in upstate New York, United States. These resorts were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews from the 1920s through the 1960s.

Name

The word comes from borscht, a soup of Ukrainian origin, made with beetroot as the main ingredient giving it a deep reddish-purple color, that is popular in many Central and Eastern European countries and brought by Ashkenazi Jewish and Slavic immigrants to the United States.

History

Borscht Belt hotels, bungalow colonies, summer camps, and kuchaleyns were visited often by middle and working-class Jewish New Yorkers, mostly Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe and their children and grandchildren, particularly in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Because of this, this area was nicknamed the Jewish Alps and "Solomon County" by many people who visited there. 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 Laurels Hotel and Country Club, The Pines Resort, Raleigh, the Overlook, the Tamarack Lodge, Stevensville and the Windsor. Some of these hotels originated from farms that were established by immigrant Jews in the early part of the 20th century.
Two of the larger hotels in High View were Shawanga Lodge and the Overlook. One of the high points of Shawanga Lodge's existence came in 1959 when it was the site of a conference of scientists researching laser beams. The conference marked the start of serious research into lasers. The hotel burned to the ground in 1973.
The Overlook had entertainment and summer lodging for many years through the late 1960s and was operated by the Schrier family. It included a main building, about 50 other bungalows, and a five-unit cottage just across the street.
Despite the upgrade of old travel routes such as old New York State Route 17 the area declined as a travel destination after World War II, with the increase of air travel allowing families to visit more far-off destinations.
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 the religious school Yeshiva Viznitz.

21st century

As of the 2010s, 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.
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.
The Stevensville Hotel in Swan Lake, owned by the family of accused Bernard Madoff accomplice David G. Friehling, reopened as the Swan Lake Resort Hotel.
The former Homowack Lodge in Phillipsport was converted into a summer camp for Hassidic girls. Officials of the state Department of Health ordered the property evacuated in July 2009, citing health and safety violations.
Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club has hosted the United States edition of the music festival All Tomorrow's Parties in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

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 tract in Hunter, New York by Yiddish theater star Boris Thomashefsky.
A cradle of American Jewish comedy since the 1920s, the Borscht Belt entertainment circuit has helped launch the careers of many famous comedians and acted as a launchpad for those just starting out.
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:
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.
In the 1960 film Murder, Inc., Walter Sage is shown performing at the fictional Ribbon Lodge in the Catskills.
In the 1976 film The Front, set in 1953, comedian Hecky Brown, harrassed by HUAC, has an ill-fated gig in the Catskills.
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 online game Mobsters, A Borscht Belt Comedian is a henchmen needed for a mission involving taking over a Catskill Resort.
The early-20th-century Jewish experience of vacationing in the Catskills was recounted in the graphic short story "Cookalein" by Will Eisner. The story appears in Eisner's collection A Contract with God.
The novel Marjorie Morningstar was about the same era and locale, but the corresponding film was made in the Adirondacks rather than the Catskills.
Several episodes of Season 2 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel are set in the Catskills and depict Catskill resort living in detail.