Customer Reviews

It Happened in the Catskills: An Oral History in the Words of Busboys, Bellhops, Guests, Proprietors, Comedians, Agents, and Other

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While working at the Nevele Country Club, one of the many legendary Catskill resorts covered in this magnificent document, I briefly met Myrna and Harvey Frommer while doing their research. They probably don't remember me, I was too young at the time to offer the kind of history they were looking for, but the pair's enthusiasm and obvious love for the area's resorts and their unique (now long gone) familial atmosphere was readily apparent. When I finally got to read this book, it provided me with a sense of pride for being a part of its history. There's even an ancient picture of my father playing sax in the old Art Kahn Orchestra! But aside from personal connections, this book stands as a definitive oral history of an era. The people interviewed are true insiders, some of them legends in their own right among Catskill lore. And while the book provides some deep sociological perspective concerning its ethnic background, the authors know how to balance this with charming, amazing and often sidesplitting anecdotes. If you ever spent a weekend at Grossinger's, The Concord, The Nevele or one of the dozens of small bungalow colonies, this book will wash you in warm memories. And if you didn't have the chance, it will make you wish you did.

This exuberant oral history of what Jewish comedians used to call the Borscht Belt re-creates a world now gone--a New York State vacation haven in the middle decades of this century primarily to New York City Jews. The Frommers, who collaborated on The Games of the 23rd Olympiad, have transcribed reminiscences of owners, executives, workers, entertainers and guests of establishments like Grossinger's, the Concord and the Nevele, which lured visitors as diverse as Nelson Rockefeller and an Indian maharajah and served as a proving ground for the developing talents of Milton Berle, Red Buttons, Neil Sedaka, Tony Martin and even opera star Robert Merrill. Besides stories of life in glamorous hotels, the coauthors recount adventures in the more modest bungalow colonies and smaller spots among the 500 resorts that populated the area. A wealth of ethnic jokes and photos also fill this unqualified treat.

"The book's profusely iullustrated 239 pages are loaded with reminiscences that are bawdy, rueful, whimsical, and profoundly human. Most engrosssing are the tales of sharp moguls, barely off the boat, building grand hotels out of brazen nerves and chutzpah. With interviews from over 100 subjects, the Frommers have made a time capsule fascinating to anyone who savored "Broadway Danny Rose," wept when Jack Benny died, or would sell their souls for some good pastrami.

A wistful look with hundreds of old photos

"Sparkling. Captures the flavor of the Borscht Belt. The Frommers take the reader on a sunny cruise down memory lane."