A Visit to the NEW Borscht Belt Museum | What were the Jewish Catskills?

[@ellenschattner7421]

Oh Frieda, thank you again, for helping me remember those summer days in the 50's when my family would travel to the Country (as Zelda also called it) and spend time at our summer home "the bungalow" with family and friends. Since most of the mothers during the 50's did not work outside the home, they were the sole caregiver of the children in the summer, as the dads were back in the hot, humid city working and having to prepare their own meals. Fridays were always special, not just because of shabbat, but that our dads would be coming to visit us for the weekend. Picking berries, wading in the muddy lakes, walking the country roads, fearing nothing, days gone by. Some of my aunts and uncles that had "money" would spend time at the "hotels", i.e., Concord, Grossingers, Nevele. The women would dress in their best and the kids were off to camp each day. I know my cousins also had memorable summers. Being with family, has and is my happy place. Also, I am an avid kayaker, and would suggest that if you haven't done so, you and Seth rent a kayak by the Brooklyn Bridge (it is free) and paddle the East River - a peaceful time.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Ellen, so lovely to hear your memories. I love the visuals of the country roads, picking berries, walking freely. With so many cars, that is now such a faraway fantasy! I miss the summers in the greens. I grew up in Kiryas Joel and life felt like the country. I love the city but nothing makes my heart sing like rich green trees and summer spirits. Sometimes we paddle boat in Prospect Park but that's not to compare to kayaking on a great open river. I will look into renting a kayak at the bridge! Thank you!

[@marystrackstevenson9716]

Frieda, my father worked as a cook in the Catskills in the last 60’s. He brought my mother and me with him. I have the fondest memories even though I was like 4.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

It's so great to hear people's memories of that time!

[@SharonaLight]

My great grandparents emigrated from Rumania to Liberty, NY. They had a Koch a lein in addition to a small farm. My grandmother and great uncle still live on the property. They are 103 and 93 years old, respectively. I have such fond memories of summers in Liberty. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to bring my kids to the country in the summers.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Wow. Amazing! I wish them many more wonderful years in Liberty, NY.

[@stephenfisher3721]

Zei zol lebn biz 120.

[@Zelde-M]

@@stephenfisher3721gezunt un shtark

[@kathleenmoscillo8552]

Ice box! What my grandfather called his refrigerator.

[@moonviolet27]

I loved this and could listen to him all day! I am not Jewish but would have loved to spend a summer there. Thank you😃

[@here_we_go_again2571]

There were resorts that catered to most ethnic groups in the rural areas outside of the big cities in the late 1800's/early 1900's. Entire factories used to shut down for a week and the employees as well as their families used to take a train to a place where the employer would have arranged a special rate. These places were an important part of the economy of these rural communities. Sylvan Beach (Oneida Lake in upstate, NYC) was a favorite of working class people from Syracuse, Binghamton, etc.

[@yvonnetitus2]

I am not Jewish either, but always thoroughly enjoy what Frieda brings to her channel.

[@Kaila-ur6ut]

My mother grew up in the 50s and 60s , going to the county and bungalow colonies every summer, and continued that tradition when she got married in the 70s - together with my grandparents and aunts and uncles, we all went up for the summer to bungalow colonies through the 80s and 90s. That bungalow model is such a perfect replica! we slept 6 or 7 children in the bedroom while my mother had a curtained off alcove with a bed in the corner of the kitchen! What a treasure! Can't wait to se more!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

wow, that’s a lot of kids in a room, sounds so fun!

[@jerryedelman3581]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn I had 2 older brothers & an older sister. My 2 brothers slept in one room and I got the "pleasure" of sleeping in my sisters room. She hated having a roommate, especially a much younger male one and that continued even as we got older, LOL

[@shariwhite4403]

My grandfather was a first cousin of Dave Levinson who owned Tamarack Lodge in Ellenville. My great aunt, Helen ran the coffee shop during the summer months. Great memories of being there with family

[@FeliceChiapperini]

I'm not Jewish but grew up in Monticello. My parents sent me and my brother to Camp Cutler each summer. They would go out to Grossingers for a night on the town (no smoking on Friday nights). For really good food we would head over to Villa Roma in Callicoon. Winters were terrible!

[@tijanamiljovska8395]

Oh my goodness what a lovely man. To be honest I never knew what exactly the phrase Borscht Belt actually meant. An absolute revelation. It is so sad it has disappeared. Must have been very similar to the family holidays my parents took in Europe after WW2. It means so much when people are willing to share the history of their community. Another successful upload Frieda. Can’t wait for the next.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you dear! It's all in a way pretty new to me and I so enjoyed Allen's enthusiasm. I wish I could have gone to see his home collection but we didn't have time.

[@MA_808]

I loved the Borscht belt comedians so much I used to collect their comedy records. I wanted to much to be Jewish and to live the lives of the people who went to the Catskills for their culture and their communites and their familes.

[@robincook4349]

I completely understand that.

[@jerryedelman3581]

I still remember seeing Jackie Mason many years ago as he was starting out. Saw some amazing talent back in those days as I got older. I remember having great vacations into the late 70's. at some of the iconic hotels, the Nevele, the Raleigh, etc...Great memories.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Jackie Mason used to eat at Gottlieb’s deli. No one even knew who he was. One day I asked why he hadn’t been in in a while and I was told he passed away. Shame I never got to interview him!

[@jerryedelman3581]

Yep, sadly he passed away a few years ago. He was in his early 90's, a good long life for a wonderful comic & person. I was lucky enough to see him several times. BTW way back in the late 60's I was lucky enough to see, very early on in her career, one of the funniest lady comics ever, JOAN RIVERS. She gave a performance in a Brooklyn Park, I can't remember which one, but she was absolutely brilliant. Such great memories of growing up in NYC.

[@here_we_go_again2571]

Thank you Frieda. Allen Frischman is a treasure trove of information. Thank you Allen. This museum rocks! ❤👍😊 Even those storefronts are from the 1920's -- 1930's, with their Art Deco vibe. In the mid to late 1800's hop farmers in the Mohawk river valley used to rent out rooms, cottages/sheds during the summer and hire the women/children from German and Austrian immigrants, who lived in NYC, to tend the fields. This was a way for the parents to get the children out of the city during the hottest months of the year. (Most of the parents had grown up in rural areas of Europe.) Some of these families migrated to the area to work in the factories that had sprung up along the Erie Canal and the NYC RR.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

His collection is mind boggling! He has SO MANY THINGS.

[@jimbobjones5972]

Thanks for this!

[@jeffreyschweitzer8289]

Brings to life all the stories from my mother and my grandparents about this time and place. Thank you!

[@Zelde-M]

What a wonderful glance back in time to the very familiar Borscht Belt or as it was called in my family: The Country. I love cold beet borscht with sour cream and a boiled potato!! I remember fondly kokhaleyns, bungalows, hotels, comedians & tumlers. No trip complete without a stop at the Red Apple Rest on Route 17! Shkoyakh!!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

love to hear your memories of The Country Zelde! most of what we hear is of a very glamorous time and it’s nice to hear of the normal people experience!

[@ellenschattner7421]

Zelda, I remember as kids, when would see the "Motel on the Mountain" and get so excited, that we were in the "country."

[@Zelde-M]

@@ellenschattner7421small pleasures & happy family memories!

[@nycalgal]

Thank you for taking me back to my childhood summers at the bungalow colony. What a wonderful museum. I have fond memories of Weiner's Bungalow.

[@TEMindset83702]

My parents rented a bungalow from Landsman in Woodburne, New York, in the summers of the 1960s and 1970s. The Catskills hotels were gorgeous. Now many of those hotels have been torn down.

[@heidimj1380]

He's such an interesting man. I'd love to read "Gefilte Fish for the Soul!". I never knew this history of the Catskills even though I grew up in New England, went to college in upstate NY in the early 90's, I spent a Summer as a nanny for a Jewish family who brought me to visit their relatives in the Catskills. I remember it was beautifully rugged land. So peaceful.

[@jerryedelman3581]

Those years my family spent the entire summer renting a bungalow in the Catskills were fantastic. At the beginning of the summer in the very early 50's my uncle drove our family upto the mountains because we didn’t yet own a car and spend the entire summer months there. My uncles family stayed at a different colony but we always spent lots of time together. My dad, because he worked would take the train & bus upto the colony because he worked in the city during the week, on Fridays and spent the entire weekend with us, then traveled back to the city Sunday evening to go back to work..My mom had so many friends to socialize with from the different bungalows. She loved cooking & baking. All us kids would go blueberry picking and she would bake pies. I can still smell the aromas of the pies cooling on the windowsills. It was just a GREAT way to grow up as JEW back then. The entertainment for both kids & adults was awesome. Thanks so much for putting a smile on a 76 year old with these AWESOME memories. In times like this we need something joyful to think about 😂🎉🎉🎉

[@MarqueMyWords2442]

And thanks for adding your personal memories with their wonderful mental images!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

❤️❤️❤️ I am seeing that blueberry pie in my minds’ eye!

[@scarycarrie1809]

Grew up in Ellenville during the 60's/late 70's. Lots of bungalows around in the local areas. I remember one of my parent's relatives rented one in the summertime. It was a simply nice, quiet location to be brought up in.

[@hannahkate4184]

Honestly, a few of these places were still operating in the early 1990's. I was a nanny at The Pines and The Concord some weekends while in college in upstate NY. My friends and I had so much fun working with the families there. It was like going back in time. Super fun entertainers, good food, great activities. I loved getting a chance to take kids swimming or take a dip in the pool on my breaks. Being a nanny at these places was similar to being a guest with kiddos in tow. Great memories and we used to meet such lovely families. I spent a lot of time inside because I was not a skier. Lol! I would rather run arts and crafts and sip cocoa with the inside kids while the others hit the slopes.

[@knighted428]

I spent many a summer in Ellenville in the 90s! However I didn't stay in a Jewish "camp". Ours was full of NYC firefighters (Irish and Italians) and thier families. I have a firm foot in both the Italian and Jewish communities. Both are actually quite similar. But the auctions. I loved the auctions. Shhh it's the best secret.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Spill the beans on the auctions! (I can see the similarities.)

[@Faigyfeig]

Fun fact. Ashkenazi Jews are 50% Italian.

[@chanieweiss4288]

@FaigyFeig What do you mean about Ashkenaz Jews are 50% Italian? We're mostly East European like Hungarian, Russian, Polish, etc.

[@Faigyfeig]

@@chanieweiss4288our DNA is 50% Italian, not Eastern European

[@catskillmountainhomebody]

Love this video! I learned a lot about the Borscht Belt. I never knew the food history behind the name and I live in the area! The Catskills has such an interesting history. Living here for 18 years I have learned a lot about it and I am still learning. I can relate to the lack of air conditioning here. When we first moved to the Catskills in 2006 we bought a raised ranch house with no air conditioning. And we left it that way for the 15 years we lived there. All we needed was a couple window fans to blow in cool night air and that kept the house cool most of the summer days. We never bought a window air conditioner. It is remarkably less humid here in the mountains than in the city. Even today, living without air conditioning in the Catskills is quite comfortable. I can see why people came up here to escape the city heat.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I used to go to summer camp without air condition. it got really hot sometime but that was mostly because we were crazy active and sweated up a storm! how I loved the pool!

[@AGL01772]

I grew up in Bethel New York on a Jewish farm. My grandparents ran it as a boarding house/farm in the 1930s. Yiddish was a second language in my home. There were many Jewish farmers at that time, many were Holocaust survivors. I recall that Hasidim and orthodox also came to the Catskills to their own bungalow colonies in the 60s and 70s. For example, the now razed Camp White Lake in Bethel which I believe were the Samar community. The Satmar now occupy the old Lapidus colony in White Lake and Ideal colony in Monticello (now Ichud). As the borscht belt industry faded the orthodox and Hasidim purchased many old hotels and colonies and have been building them up ever since. The Jewish history is deep and significant here. I’m glad that it is being shared and memorialized. Allen does great work dedicating his time to this endeavor.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Great comment. I’m familiar with all these colonies. I did not know Ichud was ideal. Indeed Hasidim purchased this abandoned colonies and made it into their own kinda of colonies.

[@lloydwinsf]

A big stop on the way to and from the Catskills was the Red Apple Rest on Route 17.

[@harrynelson7434]

I'm 60 so I missed this time I've seen movies about them Great times and thank you as always

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I also missed it. so many people talk about it with a ton of relish!

[@Audioobscure]

There were still bungalow colonies and resorts 15 years ago

[@marciafox1993]

Wonderful interview! My Dad was born in NYC in 1910 after his parents emigrated from Poland, like many Jewish people at that time. Shortly after, they moved to Liberty, where they had a small farm and boarding house...just as mentioned here. My Mom was also born in NYC in 1911 from Russian immigrant parents. Then, during her childhood ftom 6 years old until 15 years old they moved to Hurleyville. My grandfather worked as a carpenter in some of the hotels, I believe it was mostly the Morningside Hotel. As a young teacher my mother moved back to the "mountains" and taught in a one room school in Sullivan county. She met my Dad at the Morningside Hotel. To this day I have a photo of them sitting in a rowboat at the lake there. They married and moved to CT for a business opportunity. But our family visited Liberty sometimes, because my Dad's 2 brothers remained in Liberty. One a restaurant owner, and the other a golf pro. My Mom said she had the best of all worlds...childhood in Hurleyville, and high school and college in NYC! I look forward to visiting this museum sometime soon! Thank you Frieda.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

my favorite part of publishing videos is hearing oral testimonies like yours! thanks for sharing. your mother was a lucky woman!

[@helaineroberts5971]

In 1966, I met the boy who would become my husband at the Concord Hotel. I was a 16 year old babysitter, and he was a waiter in the children’s dining room. I’ll never forget the place!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

how very lovely! what a great meeting story, so incredible to hear it.

[@davidlevine1651]

Great video, I was raised in Sullivan county and worked every summer at bungalow colonies until I graduated HS (83) and moved away for College. It was declining by the mid 80’s but I have fond memories of cool summer nights and friendships.

[@TonyThomas10000]

If you look up comedy and Borscht Belt, you will see how many famous stand-up comedians worked there. It is an amazing list!

[@lindatohara6438]

I am learning so much from you about my moms culture. My mom’s parents came from Russia also in the 30’s. I wonder why they went to NJ? They lived in Atlantic City. My grandma was married twice. Fleishman and Balaban never met my grandpa. I never tried Borscht but love beets on my to do list. No wonder my mom was such a good stand up comedian. I love connecting back to my roots. I really enjoyed a Netflix documentary about Jews in Catskills. In the summer many Jews came to the shore in NJ , Ventnor, Margate, Ocean city, along the coast to Cape may. We called them shoobies because they brought lunches in show boxes is what I was told. Shalom Frieda

[@Audioobscure]

They all went to NJ back then, from russia and Europe

[@lindatohara6438]

@@Audioobscure I don’t think they are Orthodox most of them. My mom became a Catholic at 17. But watching these videos gives me better insight to who she really was, especially her mannerisms.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Do you remember the name of the Netflix doc?

[@lindatohara6438]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn Four seasons lodge

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

@@lindatohara6438 ah yeah that documentary is amazing.

[@mariekatherine5238]

I still have a steam iron from 1956, a stove top toaster, manual can opener used on the Coleman double burner stove when camping at Montauk Point. I still use the iron! I had it out last week to iron cotton curtains before rehanging them. It was a gift from my Dad to Mom.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

amazing!

[@loriloristuff]

Thank you, Frieda! This was awesome!!!!

[@bonniehart8527]

Thank you again for another WONDERFUL video! What a great interview. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Allen Frischman talk about the history of the Borscht Belt and taking me for a little tour of the museum. I'll now follow up with his books.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I’m so glad to hear! It’s such a great period to learn about!

[@HeatherDubnick1970]

Love this! My great grandfather worked in Ellenville when my grandmother was a baby.

[@betsymeyers1976]

My encounter with the Catskills be can in 2003 when our son's Drum Corp rented Kutcher's for pre-tour camp. It was quiet and no-one cared how loud the horns played. It was the last remaining hotel and in poor repair, but you could see remnants of happier times.This particular place was home of many professional boxers and basketball players who came train. They also had camp style bungalows. It started my desire to learn all about these colonies and bustling hotels of the past. There is actually a very good you tube video about Kutcher's that helped take me back in time. There were plans at one time to revive the area, mostly funded by casinos, but I don't think that ever came to be.Thank you for this video.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

If I am remembering correctly, it might have had to do with disputes over bringing gambling to the Catskills. Am I misremembering? I think I'll look into this more.

[@betsymeyers1976]

You are probably correct.

[@chayastoll1046]

Loved this! Thank you Frieda for this❤ Brings back good memories of going to the country in the Summer with my Bubbe and Zeidy in the 60's. My dad's parents lived in the projects in Canarsie and saved all year to take my little brother and I to a bungalow for 2 weeks in South Fallsburg or Monticello. We had a blast, good fun, picking wild blueberries, baking pies with Bubbe,the pool, chasing fireflies and sitting around listening to Bubbe and her friends yenting about The Alte Hame in Warsaw Then my Mother's parents took us to the hotels, they had a bissel more gelt. They lived in Flatbush anxious to get fresh country air so off we went to The Raleigh, Browns or Grossingers. At night they had shows and we dressed up in Shabbos clothes, great fun! I remember the dining room and all the clanking dishes like it was yesterday As far as Borscht, cold with sour cream and a boiled potato Those were the days. Thank Gd such rich memories

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

What great oral history. Thanks loads for this comment Chaya. It put me into great summer spirits!

[@Tamar-sz8ox]

Ellenville NY ,I went to Honor Haven Retreat center , a few years ago ! Beautiful Catskills ❤️ Loved the drive ! 🚗

[@jonlouis2582]

My Father dearly loved the Catskills, almost every vacation was spent there.

[@DariaAmato-wz2xg]

I'm originally from the "gateway to the catskills" Kingston NY. The migration of nyc residents would come to the mid-hudson Valley starting in the late 1800s. My grand parents would tell stories of the summer migration. People from the catskills would go upstate to the Adirondacks for a cooler place for vacation. They would use either the dayliner boat that sailed from nyc to Albany, as well as trains. There were also Jewish summer camps in the area. Sadly the 1970s really saw the demise of the summer people. My american-italian roman catholic dad spoke Yiddish but not italian, funny. It served him well as his job transfered him into nyc. He learned from neighbors, but when he was in high school he worked in different shops and he was able to sell more goods to the summer people because he would chat with them, his bosses were happy to sell more.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Lovely, not many non Jews speak Yiddish! Very interesting about people from the Catskills going to the Adirondacks

[@aggieglitter]

Your videos bring me back to when life was good. Im 41 and not even Jewish but i remember like it was yesterday how people did things with their neighbours and git together during summers and there was comnunity. We had colonies back in Poland in the 50s through to the 80s too. Then they all just died. Makes me sad. Life is so different now.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I love to hear from you little bits of the world of Poland.

[@hollywebster6844]

Thank you to the tour guide and thank you! This is a completely different world from my childhood and I really appreciate learning about it.

[@maddieb1738]

LOVED today’s video Frieda! It brought back so many wonderful memories of our visits to Grossinger’s and Kutcher’s!

[@jimdeane3667]

See Frieda, people never change. The Jews in the city would want to get out of the heat of the city during summer, to get a little grass time. So they would go “to the country” for the summer! Just like you! PS: At the close of your video, I saw a sign for “The Pines”. Wow! Does that bring back memories. I stayed there many years ago when I was first married! We drove up from Pennsylvania because there were no Jewish/Kosher facilities in Pennsylvania. You could eat and regular Minyanim were right there on sight. It was past its prime, but was still fun. I can still remember the Busboys in the dining hall telling each family around their tables, “No toast! Shabbos!”

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Such great memories. It reminds me of staying at that old kosher hotel in New Hampshire with the busboys and table service in the cozy old dining room. These memories get baked into your bone and come back with such a delicious jolt. I can smell the fresh air in my mind!

[@jimdeane3667]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn I remember at the Pines, they had two meal options. One was called regular kosher and the second was called “Glatt/Chassidishe”. My mind could be playing tricks on me, but I think I remember the kashrut symbol on the Chassidishe packaged meals was Satmar.

[@watertownian8406]

I found this video by sheer chance. A few minutes in, I nearly fell off my chair. From the time I was 9 until my late teens, we stayed at Frishman’s Hemlock Grove. I remember Allen as a very little boy, as well as his grandparents, Sam and Celia Frishman, and his parents Hy and Irene, and his aunt Helen and all their Bailin cousins. I recall it all clearly as if it were yesterday - I’m now 79. It was a wonderful place I could write volumes about. Now it’s a vanished world.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

amazing! thanks for the comment!

[@floweringplumb4678]

So interesting. History, Entertainment, Educational with pleasant conversation and remembrances. Looking forward to more videos on the Borscht Belt, Please. The topic of this video is good for the soul. Thank you.

[@ShaneMcBryde]

Great story, great history, awesome guest. I enjoyed this video very much. Thanks!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

So glad, thanks for the comment!

[@bender7565]

New BB content! I dropped into a Catskill rabbit hole 11 yrs ago and have since consumed most vids and books, I will have to look for Allen's. I knew I was around the bend when I could recognize any resort with a pic of the ballroom or either pool. I also knew of the struggles to have a museum to archive this incredible history for most of those years. I am happy they finally made it. Good job.

[@cynthiacrumlish4683]

Such a great interview! Thanks so much.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thanks for watching!

[@lloydwinsf]

I have fond memories of the Catskills from my childhood. I spent my first three summers at the Forest Inn, the bungalow colony my grandfather and his siblings owned in Hurleyville, 1961-63. In 1968 I spent the summer at Nob Hill bungalows in Kiamesha Lake.

[@mitchellfelder2420]

Thank you for bringing back some wonderful memories. A tremendous video!

[@wofiewoof]

it was the best!!! as a very young child, my grandparents would take my siblings and me.

[@jerryedelman3581]

I remember the anticipation of the ride in my uncle's "station wagon" now called an SUV, and the long ride upto the mountains on the "old scenic route 17" before the Thruway was built and stopping at the Red Apple Rest, knowing that we were almost there. And just enjoying looking at the scenery. Many years later, in the 70's one of my older brothers who was a professional musician had his own band and played a couple of years as the house band in one of the lounges in the Raleigh Hotel. Such wonderful memories and honestly a much better way to grow up then kids now experience in their early years of life.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

wonderful memories! I’m hearing from several people about the Red Apple Rest! I can see it in my minds eye! I grew up in Orange County and route 17 was a big part of our world.

[@Gweenkween]

What a great video! I grew up in Ferndale and remember playing out in the woods by my house and hearing announcements in Yiddish from a bungalow camp down the road, haha. My dad worked at a few of the hotels in the 70s. Can’t wait to check out the museum when I go back to visit family!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

makes me think of summer camp and being woken to announcements in Yiddish! What times…

[@shawnsavage9341]

I love that he asked if you’re Jewish.

[@tyhg22]

I was born in Liberty, NY in 1949. My dad played sax and clarinet in Grossinger's orchestra. We stayed till 1957. My early years at Grossinger's hold my best memories

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

You should document them somehow!

[@RachG]

Also, great that this one has a sponsor. I hope they keep coming to you. ❤ Of course if I ever win the lottery or something (though that would require me to play! 🤣), you will be (one of🤪) the first to know! Hahaaa.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I'm scratching lottos maniacally Rachel, only for you!! Thanks so much, you're such a sweetheart.

[@123scrappygirl]

I knew about the. Catskills, but did not go as a child as we lived in the country, Monsey in Rockland county. My parents said that we were already living that good life.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Monsey was so different then! I also lived in "the country" in Orange County and we didn't go to the Catskills either.

[@marlagross8061]

Somehow I originally missed this episode. I'm glad I got to see it now! Another job well done!

[@joyciejd9673]

What wonderful history and stories. You reminded me that back in 1969 or 1970, I drove up to one of the resorts to see singer Lana Cantrell who I loved. I think it was Kutcher's. I had a ball. Thanks so much, Frieda.

[@martinelanglois3158]

Thank you Frieda for taking us with you. We learn and have fun with your channel. ❤

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you for always joining me for the fun!

[@amandagrayson389]

Thank you for this video. I saw the Catskills episode of Mrs Maisel. It was really nice to get some facts to go with it. 🤗

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I enjoyed Maisel and all the glam scene setups.

[@skontheroad]

The Mrs. Maisels episodes were SO en pointe, I almost cried!! Arriving in the fur coat... The beauty parlor... The men commuting... And, of course, the Entertainment!! I have watched and rewatched them! I have many friends whose parents worked up the Catskills in the summers. And the bungalow colonies--they STILL exist! A different feel, but still! Brooklyn kids escape the heat of the summer and move up to the mountains for the summer! And then the husbands could drive up for the weekends! For shabbos. And the Lakes were SlO GROSS, lol!

[@spiritcreek9813]

This location was in Deposit, NY. I remember an Ad in one of the area newspapers looking for extras with a “SAG” membership. Deposit is a little further upstate, in Delaware County.

[@lruss5050]

I’m very interested in the Catskills and the Borsht Belt! Always want to learn something new!❤🇨🇦

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Such a fabulous period, it's so fun to explore it!

[@moshegramovsky]

What a fascinating video! Thank you so much! I'm originally from a big city in the Midwest. I only know of the Borscht Belt from what I've read about in various articles over the years, but it really fascinates me! Now, being from the Midwest there was still a big beach culture if you lived in certain places like near Chicago. There were some Jewish resorts in our area, but growing up in the 80s in a secular family meant that we went to places that were very mixed. I never will forget those summers! Humid and breezy. Day time was a green cave and endless wandering. Night time was a sky full of stars and the sounds of bonfires cracking in the dark. The endless sounds of the waves washing up on the shores of Lake Michigan! It was the only time of the year when we could eat whatever we wanted. Hamburgers, hot dogs, roasting marshmallows and drinking soda. Not because of kashrut either. My Mom was an early adopter of healthy eating. She didn't want us eating sugar or artificial colors! I would give love to be able to go back in time, even just for a day, and live it all over again.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Your mother must have been a woman with a mind of her own. She also clearly ensured that when you did get to eat junk, it was part of such a profound moment of joy. Ah summer nights!

[@bettymaines6305]

Amazing. I had no idea this existed. So very interesting. Cannot wait for more of your videos

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Soon to come Betty!

[@bettymaines6305]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn I am so excited to hear this. Great job as always

[@dyanalayng5507]

Lovely to hear about these special summer days away from the city and still in community. My summer memories are of being at old family cottages - they have a distinctive old cottage smell - and playing with my cousins and the children up and down the beach. Thanks for this great video, Frieda! 💖💕🇨🇦

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I used to live in a very old house. Hundred years plus. It had a very old house smell. I really loved it. Smelled like history and the past living with the present.

[@sklugmann7206]

The tar bubbles were fun and free. I grew up in Boro park and I. The summer in liberty. Going barefoot was a novelty!! Getting the tar off was tough!!!

[@lindseymw380]

This is awesome! Thank you!

[@kathym5307]

Wonderful interview! Thank you, Frieda!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

thanks for watching!

[@Alex-s7y3d]

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed that, thank you so much for sharing, what an absolute legend Allen is, I am unlikely ever to be able to visit, so this was a real treat.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you soooo much for visiting with me!

[@MarqueMyWords2442]

That was awesome! How interesting to hear the history and how this all came about, they glorious heydays, and what caused the collapse. I can't wait for more. Thank you so much!

[@tecora7419]

I love history and going back in time some no so good but some good. Thank you for sharing this. Precious ❤

[@SuperFredAZ]

This was great. I grew up in (secular) Brooklyn in the 50s and went to the Catskills for several summers. Several times in bungalow colonies. My second cousin was Henry Cutler who was mentioned in the video. We also stayed at some hotels. When I was 16, I became a counsellor in the day camp, and then a bus boy and waiter in the dining room. I met my wife during the summer of 1962 in the Peckler Hotel, So. Fallsburg, N.Y. Most of the hotels were secular( really semi-observant). The hotels advertised themselves as Kosher (but were not strictly). My guess is 80% of the Catskills were semi-observant Jews, with the rest being strict orthodox (in Bungalow colonies because you couldn't trust the hotels as being strictly Kosher). The representations of the Catskills in Dirty Dancing and Mrs. Maisel is a gross exaggeration. I would be happy to correspond with you, if you want first hand knowledge of the Catskills.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I’m not surprised that these Hollywood representations are gross exaggerations as they tend to be. Hollywood has no honest commitment to portrayals sadly often even documentaries.

[@judithnicholais1492]

Fascinating history --- Such quality to your channel Frieda. Looks like this great little film stirred many fond memories for folks. How wonderful. Could have listened another hour. Thank you

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you so much! I haven't even read all the comments. I am taking my time savoring them as I so enjoy reading people's memories! I'm so grateful people are sharing from such a profound moment!

[@jennifervalvo4109]

The Pines in South Fallsburg, NY was absolutely iconic. In HS the place was used for various student group leadership we weekends.

[@donschwarz6725]

Yashacoah Great Video Great subject as a Kid and a teen from brooklyn we rented and went up certain weekends to a Bungalow colony and I been to a few Jewish single weekends at a few hotels Great Content

[@joannek7447]

Very very interesting. I was a child of Irish immigrants who moved to the Catskills for work full time, so spent summer vacation in the Catskills also. Did not know about the Jewish aspects of the Catskills so very interesting.

[@skontheroad]

Sorry, not to be rude, but I am trying to understand the timeline--how old were you when you lives in that Catskills? And what years was that? The Irish had an area of the Catskills? Really? What exit, do you recall? Thanks!!

[@user-464]

Wonderful video! Thoroughly enjoyed it ❤

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you so much!

[@user-464]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn from NYS too... lots of good memories of the Adirondacks...

[@chanieweiss4288]

So interesting that kids can sleep several to a room, but still have an amazing, fun summer, with wonderful memories. All kids need is open space, grass, plenty of germs, healthy food, and LOTS OF OTHER KIDS!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

yes, 100%!!

[@mariekatherine5238]

We Irish had our resort there, too! It was still big in the early 1950’s when I was a young child. I have vague memories of staying with my Dad’s boyhood neighbors from Queens, the Murphy’s who had a bungalow.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

interesting!

[@mrbutch308]

I have memories of my earliest childhood - in the Kennedy years '60, '61, '63 - my family would rent a place in a bungalow colony called Wurtsboro Gardens. Not in the Catskill Mountains proper, but on the edge of the region. There was a day camp for us kids, and the grown ups would use the swimming pool and tennis courts. Mostly Jewish families. I took a drive up there 45 years later - a bit of nostalgia - but the place was gone.

[@RachG]

Another brilliant video. I think I’m going to really enjoy this series. So interesting to hear more about the Jewish Catskills. It looks lovely there (from the little bits of video I could see 😊). Allen seems like a wonderful character with some great collections and stories. Ohhh and did you try the borscht? I’m with Zelde, I like cold borscht with sour cream. (Also, somewhat unrelated, but GREAT dress) ❤

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I did not try borscht! we couldn’t find it anywhere at any of the restaurants and didn’t remember that he suggested we go to the big supermarket for it. it’s weird how when you’re filming you’re so immersed in all the moving pieces that some things fall through the cracks. afterwards when relistening I realized we should have gone to the supermarket instead of looking at restaurants! I did try warm borscht soup since and LOVED it! would you believe I bought that dress at a used dress shop for 10 bucks? it looks like someone sewed it from the inside by the way the seams are pretty home made. pretty good find I think!

[@RachG]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn I don’t think I’ve tried I warm. I’ll definitely have to. Ha, I can totally imagine losing track of all of the different things going on! That is a GREAT find. That’s so cool that it’s handmade and probably unique. I love it. ❤️

[@jeffe9842]

Very interesting and informative. My father was born on the Lower East Side and was raised there and in Williamsburg. He and my mother relocated to Illinois after WW2 where I was born and raised, but my dad occasionally would mention the Catskills. He may have gone there when he was younger and, I think, he took the family there one time in the 1960s as we often would travel east to visit our relatives for summer vacation. My memory of this is quite vague, so I'm not entirely sure.

[@pilpelet100]

Fascinating! Thank you. I have only ever lived in the UK and Israel so this was very interesting.

[@jiltedjohn9294]

That was really interesting Frieda and Allen is a great character.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

thank you! I enjoyed my visit

[@elizabethandrus3848]

Such a wonderful interview. I learned so much about this wonderfully cultured time.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you for watching!

[@annehersey9895]

Frieda that was great! I have some NYC friends whose summers were spent between the Borscht Belt and Jewish summer camp-sometimes both.

[@dreamcatchersong]

Freida, here in Ireland your interviewee would be referred to as a great character and a great story teller. I grew up on a small farm with cows and chickens, which is long since covered in houses and just a childhood memory now, but a good one. BTW, I eat my first bowl of borscht on a visit to Crakow, full of flavour, and served warm. Great insight in the lives of ordinary NYC Jews of that period and good to see a museum to remember it.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I love the Irish! Your bowl of borscht is making my mouths water

[@Standinthegap4ever]

I’ve heard of the borscht belt but knew it as an entertainment “center” where all the stars performed in that area. I knew it was predominantly Jewish as well. I would have liked to visit during its heyday. This is so interesting & fun! Thank you Freida!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you!

[@kenjh2561]

Another excellent video about the lives of real people. And you found another wonderful, interesting person to talk with. I'd heard of the Borscht Belt, but didn't really know much about it. I hope you enjoy your time there.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

🙏😊thank you!

[@bonnie.f-58]

Thank you, Allen! A couple of other reasons the colonies were no longer viable by the 1970’s or so was the fact that more and more women started working, and could no longer take off for the summers with their kids. The core clientele started dwindling. My mother went back to work when I was around 12. Once she started working full time a couple of years later, that was the end. Another reaon: Many of the colonies started being sold to Chasidim. Levner’s was one of them. The owners were getting older, and maybe the maintenance was getting harder for them, or perhaps their costs were going up.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

This is so helpful. Thanks for adding this.

[@margaretabramshe]

My husband grew up in Monticello. He made bagels . He went to high school with this man.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

wow isn’t that cool!

[@kirbyesque]

I can’t wait to read Allen’s books. And he’s 100% right that standup as we know it has a direct line back to vaudeville and the Borscht belt. Such a fascinating part of Jewish and American history and culture. Kol hakavod Freida!

[@joemoore9066]

Hi Frieda, what a great video ! Thank you for your always interesting videos. This is outside of my Midwest references.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I am very happy to share the NY world with you Joe. :)

[@lindaweigl3982]

Great interview!

[@cheryld1502]

Absolutely loved this ❤😊! Thank you

[@robertcoughlin4961]

What a lovely video!

[@boathousejoed1126]

Good to see you out and about! And having some fun.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Yes, I'm not filming outside often enough, right? It's so fun!

[@janets3094]

Looking forward to stopping at the museum this summer.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

fantastic!

[@mizbbalstr007]

I remember being a 6 year old girl going to Kutsher’s for a few days where my parents went Israeli dancing and I was in the camp thing. I remember a the pool and having a counselor that put the milk in before the cereal and feeling super curious about it. Super random. I also went to the Nevele once when I was about 8 or 9. This was in the 90s and had to have been right before things closed

[@Kathy-iq7pt]

Great video!

[@robincook4349]

That was so fun and interesting to listen to. My favorite time periods were the 30s and 40s, I love anything that has to do with that time period I think I was born in the wrong time period. My great grandma had those glass knobs in her house.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

some of us just have our hearts longing for certain historic periods, it’s fascinating.

[@pamelacrowell2007]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn Those glass faucet knobs were common all over ..... I'm from the Midwest and they are still found in old houses and are now being brought back in new plumbing fixtures!

[@bonnie.f-58]

This is wonderful! I have very fond memories of spending my childhood summers in bungalow colonies in the country, as we called it. The bungalow colony I remember best was Levner’s in S. Fallsburg, where my family stayed eight summers, from 1965-1972, ages 7-14. It was not that big, maybe 20 or so bungalows. A few of the families came back year after year until it was sold. My father and a number of others were Holocaust survivors, who knew each other. Like us, there were several other Orthodox families, and others non- religious. We kids all played with each other. Movies, bingo, live entertainment- not on Friday nights out of respect. A pool, casino where we played ping pong, a small store, woods out back where we went berry- picking, coal bbq’s in front of the bungalows. It was paradise compared to the “city”. I will never forget those summers.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I can smell the country air in this comment. Ahhh! Did you hear of the documentary Four Seasons Lodge? About a holocaust survivor bungalow colony? I have a segment coming on it.

[@bonnie.f-58]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklynno,I have not.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

@@bonnie.f-58 it's worth watching

[@RayWihak-nw3sv]

I’m not Jewish but grew up going to one of the number of Ukrainian resorts in the Catskills. Namely in Ellenville and Kerhonkson. Loved the holiday parades with the Jews and the Ukes marching alongside each other. The two cultures have many similarities