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GROSSINGER’S: The resort’s huge pool in the 1950s.
So many stories!
When we asked for your Catskills memories, we were unprepared for nearly 200 responses – a smorgasbord of stories about singles weekends and honeymoons; entertainers like Henny and Jerry and Eddie and Shecky; skiing, skating and sledding; and dancing and dining (so many mouthwatering letters about the food!).
You told us that you laughed, and even cried bittersweet tears, remembering those carefree days in the mountains of New York.
Grossinger’s! Brown’s! The Concord!
Like another summer, the vast majority of resorts have sadly vanished. But the memories linger .
Steve and Marsha Slade of Boynton Beach write:
"We spent our honeymoon at The Nevele from Dec, 27, 1966, until Jan. 3, 1967. My husband was on a two-week leave from Officer Candidate School in Fort Knox, Ky. He was very slim, but he ate so much food that week that his uniforms did not fit when it was time to return to base."
TAKE MY ONE LINERS, PLEASE!
The Catskills’ greatest contribution to pop culture: the comics who played on its stages
A very short list includes Woody Allen, Milton Berle, George Burns, Shecky Greene, Danny Kaye, Jackie Mason, Don Rickles, Joan Rivers and Henny Youngman.
Your memories…
Suzanne Cohen, West Palm Beach: "I remember baby-sitting for Sid Caesar’s children, unfortunately never seeing him sober, and when he walked me home in Woodridge, N.Y., he would roll up his sleeve and reveal seven watches which always showed him that it’s 4 o’clock somewhere and time for a drink.
"Buddy Hackett was an extremely shy man offstage. Totie Fields loved to take off her mink coat and reveal her (naked) body when she was slightly inebriated. Red Buttons taught me gin rummy."
Annette Schwartz, Delray Beach: She lived in Liberty, N.Y., in the late 1940s and early ’50s, she enjoyed many celebrity encounters. "I remember seeing Lena Horne when she was recuperating from pneumonia. She was breathtakingly stunning. No pictures could ever do her justice."
D’Anna Crain, West Palm Beach: She worked at the Granit in Kerhonkson in 1967, when she befriended that summer’s headline act, Rowan & Martin. "After work, Rowan & Martin would sometimes take us with them to visit other resorts to see their shows. They asked me would I like to try some comedy with their act. I opted out." Months later, Rowan & Martin began hosting a little TV show called Laugh-In.
BEHIND-THE-SCENES
While others played, they worked in the Catskills
Sally Wilks, Palm Beach Gardens: At 18, she worked as a governess at Ratner’s in 1944 (the Ratner became the Raleigh in 1948): "We got paid next to nothing since we depended on tips, which were not always forthcoming, but we did have room and board. My duties were to keep slews of kids of all ages happy while Mom and Dad could be free of the little darlings. At one point, I was in charge of over 50 children and was expected to put on a variety show with them. Being next to the Concord Hotel, we used to sneak into their facility some nights so that we could watch the great shows."
Jerry Perline, Boynton Beach: He was a busboy at High View Mountain House in Tennanah Lake during World War II. "The work was terrible – long hours, seven days a week, 16-hour days. We slept dormitory style (on bad mattresses) in the back of the casino along with the band. It was awful. The casino was made up entirely of wood with no windows, no fire doors, no sprinklers, no fans. During the day it was unbearably hot but cooled down around 3 a.m. What happened to the insurance and labor laws inspectors? Whew! What an experience. I wish I could do it again."
THEY MET – AND HONEYMOONED -
IN THE CATSKILLS
Sarah Donner of Boynton Beach writes:
"My husband and I met on Route 17. I was returning from a weekend at Grossinger’s with a girlfriend, Sy was returning from a ski day at Davos with friends. The boys invited the girls to stop at the Sloatsburg Rest Area. The rest is history.
"We met in February 1961 and were married Christmas Eve of the same year. We honeymooned at the Concord, where we were assigned a table with four other couples married the same day.
"We were the only ones who made every meal!"
AT GROSSINGER’S: THE END OF AN ERA
Joe Lehman lived at Grossinger’s for almost two years in the 1980s, after the grand hotel had closed.
His father’s company, Servico, had purchased Grossinger’s and attempted to remodel it and reopen it. "They couldn’t do it. It was too much," says the 38-year-old bartender, who lives in Jupiter.
As a teenage boy, Lehman explored every inch of the abandoned property – the emptied indoor pool, the playhouse just weeks before it was demolished, the skating rink and tennis courts and tunnels that connected the buildings.
"It was really, really cool for a kid," he says. "It was so big and grand, I couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like. Everything was times 10."
Lehman photographed what he saw, and beginning in 2000, he has returned almost every year to document the property’s continued decline.
He now owns and operates what he says is the largest website about Grossinger’s (Joe4Speed.com ), loaded with thousands of photos of the resort, including a fascinating "then and now" section.
"It’s a shame what happened to it," says Lehman. "I guess they call it progress."
AT MILLER’S AND THE MAYFLOWER:
Where everything was swell
Elaine Falber of Boynton Beach has so many memories of Catskills summers:
"Watched Doris Day in Pillow Talk and Sandra Dee/Troy Donohue/Lana Turner in Imitation of Life on the side of the casino at Miller’s Bungalow Colony in Thompsonville. I was about 6 or 7 years old.
"I remember Sam the bullfrog — he lived in the pond by Horowitz’s bungalows across from Jack’s Corner where we used to play pinball and have egg creams.
"As a family we went to the Mayflower hotel where the emcee sang, ‘Come to the Mayflower, the mountains’ best hotel/Come to the Mayflower where everything is swell’
"There was always a comedian and a singer, and my dad taught me how to do the cha-cha and the merengue and the mambo."
THE CATSKILLS IN HOLLYWOOD
The Catskills’ experience was captured most memorably in 1987′s Dirty Dancing, starring Patrick Swayze, filmed in Virginia and North Carolina, and remembered for "Nobody puts Baby in the corner!"
Other movies set in or about the Catskills: A Walk On The Moon, Woodstock, Taking Woodstock and You Can Count On Me.
LOX OF LOVE: OH, THE FOOD!
Ed Buchanan, Greenacres, then a chef in the Catskills: "To this day I have never seen so much food consumed in my life. They were great times in the Borscht Belt, where the sour cream flowed down the mountains."
Flora Braver, Delray Beach, stayed at the Flagler Hotel in South Fallsburgh: "A basket of onion rolls and a platter of miniature danish were always on the breakfast table each morning. The menu included juice, cereal, appetizer, even bagels and lox, eggs and coffee. If you were still hungry there was French toast.
"At lunchtime there was always a pitcher of sour cream, a bowl of sliced peaches and a bowl of pot cheese on the table. In addition there was Borscht, blintzes, fish and other choices.
"Dinner was the most wonderful experience. The finest meats, steaks and fish were on the menu, and the desserts were heavenly."
Steven Hechler, Wellington, who stayed at Kutsher’s in Monticello: "The menu was typed on stiff paper and placed on your plate setting. They served five courses. You could order anything, and the server, dressed in starched white, would bring it to you. You usually had the same table server all weekend, so he remembered how you ordered your food and always gave us kids an extra dessert if we finished our plate."
AT GROSSINGER’S: A GLANCE, A DANCE, A LIFELONG ROMANCE
Among the guests on the dance floor of Grossinger’s Terrace Room on that February evening in 1951 were Lucy Kleinhaus of Brooklyn and Jules Budoff of nearby Monticello, who’d come to the resort for dinner with his brother.
For what happens next, we refer to a poem Jules wrote later:
"When two handsome men asked her to dance
"She turned towards me. I caught her glance.
"What a lucky break, like a gift from heaven, this was my chance.
"I fought the competition and accomplished my mission."
Seven months later, they wed.
They settled in Monticello, where Jules and his family ran Budoff Outdoor Furniture, supplying oak Adirondack chairs to Grossinger’s and the Concord, and many other businesses (including Walt Disney World).
Eleven years ago, the Budoffs left Monticello for Palm Beach Gardens.
The decline of the resorts was unfortunate, Jules says. "They had all the nicest of everything. Things were different then."
Grossinger’s was a sort of heaven on earth, says Jules. "It offered everything. Outdoor skating, an indoor pool, excellent food and great entertainment."
And a newsletter – typewritten, mimeographed and stapled daily – The Grossinger Tattler, which on a November 1950 day noted in its Here ‘n There section: "Attractive Lucille Kleinhaus making a very pretty picture in her chic winter outfit."
Now, "people go on cruises or they to go five countries in two days," says Lucy. "Ours was a quieter experience, I would say."
But if the Terrace Room reopened tomorrow and welcomed onto its stage her beloved Eddie Fisher (he autographed her Grossinger’s luncheon menu way back when), "I would go back in a minute."
AT BROWN’S: LAUGHING WITH JERRY LEWIS
"Having hotel owners as parents, I certainly have many memories of the Catskills," wrote Lonnie Rowley of Palm Beach Gardens, the daughter of Charles and Lillian Brown, the founders of Brown’s Hotel in Loch Sheldrake.
Many of those memories center on Jerry Lewis, a family friend who visited Brown’s every summer, sometimes with his entourage, sometimes with his own family.
"We always had a huge sign on the front of our main entrance welcoming Jerry, and our whole family was always there to greet him.
"A special table was always set aside for him and his entourage, and my parents and me, in our main dining room. Then he would take over the show in our Theatre Club on Saturday night, followed by bagels in our coffee shop, then into our Brown Derby (where we were usually joined by many entertainers from other hotels), where we closed the night with more laughs."
THE BORSCHT BELT RESORTS
According to the Catskills Institute at Brown University, almost 1,200 hotel resorts and boarding houses – and close to 900 bungalow colonies – operated in the Catskill Mountains of Sullivan, Ulster and southern Greene counties.
During the 1950s and ’60s, the Catskills drew millions of visitors and served as training ground for a generation of stand-up comics and musicians.
But as costs of insurance and labor climbed, and the price of air travel dropped, the hotels fell on hard times. Why drive to the mountains when, for the same amount of money, you could fly your family to Vegas?
Brown’s: Opened in 1944 in Loch Sheldrake, the 570-room hotel on 160 acres was sold at a foreclosure auction in 1988. Home of the Brown Derby showroom and Jerry Lewis Theatre Club, Brown’s sat empty until the mid-’90s, when it was converted into condos.
The Concord: Before it closed in 1998, the Concord Resort in Kiamesha Lake was the largest hotel in the Catskills, with more than 1,500 rooms and a dining room that seated 3,000. Golfers can still tee off at its famous ‘Monster’ course, but plans to renovate the hotel are ongoing.
Grossinger’s: Jennie Grossinger took a hands-on approach to grow her parents’ hotel into a legendary resort that covered 1,200 acres. She personally welcomed 150,000 guests a year. Its golf course still operates, but Grossinger’s closed in 1986 and continues to decay.
Kutsher’s: You can still start your day with pickled herring at the last grand hotel standing from the heyday of the Jewish Alps. The Monticello ‘country club’ survives, barely, said The Wall Street Journal last week, thanks to ‘a last-minute rescue this spring by a former employee (who) enabled the resort to open for its creaky 103rd year.’
The Nevele: Located outside Ellenville, N.Y., the 430-room Nevele Grand Hotel fell into a sad state of disrepair before closing last year. Drowning in debt and tied up in lawsuits, it awaits a buyer willing to renovate a property that inspired disgruntled guests to design ‘I Survived the Nevele’ T-shirts.
Thanks to Google Alerts I have been able to enjoy both the article and its many responses. As the author of “Growing Up at Grossinger’s” (Skyhorse Publishing, 2008) I have a vested interest in sharing people’s memories of their experiences in the Catskills and of course, of Grossinger’s. I lived there from 1945-1962. My mother was Karla Grossinger, the Viennese hostess. She may even have introduced some of you to each other. I would love to hear stories. Many thanks, taniagrossinger@verizon.net.
The demise of the Catskills as a resort heaven is often oversimplified by those who are unaware of the history or who would rather not discuss it in detail. “Tea shirts to tea shirts in three generations,” fit’s well into the Catskill story. The first generation builders, owners and operators put their life’s blood into building the hotels, and running them as if they were huge Summer homes, and the guests were visiting family. The second generation, the owner’s children began their careers at an early age, living and working in the hotels during the Summers, and when they became of age, were put to work in managerial positions. They lived under the rule of the parents, but had their own ideas, mostly to spend lots of money. New buildings, rinks, golf courses, theaters, and expensive entertainment strained the budgets. Staffing – good staffing was getting expensive. The Jewish guest population became mixed, and more diverse food and entertainment had to be brought in to satisfy everyone. The third, and sometimes final generation had very little interest in the comfort of the guests. They had investments elsewhere. They borrowed from the hotel to finance the building of ill fated condos on the property. Some third generation owners took from sales tax moneys to pay off other debts, and got caught in the whirlpool that pulled them under. The hideous old guest rooms with the rust stained sinks in the room, and crooked doorways were still being sold, and people just got sick of it.
There were many other reasons as to why the entire industry vanished in less than two decades, and little of that had to do with airline prices getting cheaper. One main reason was the dream that a Jewish parent might bring their teenage daughter to the Catskills to find a husband. During the halcyon days, most of the dining room help were made up largely of male, Jewish college students, many of them doctoral students. Parents would say goodbye to their teenagers in the morning, and would not see them again until evening. MANY of these kids DID meet their future life partners during a vacation at a Catskill resort. But times changed, and so did staffing. Hard working, full time Puerto Rican, and Mexican busboys and waiters replaced the Jewish, American, Summer workers. That was not what mom and dad had in mind for their daughter! As such, the entire family did not take those vacations together to their favorite resort.
All the above, plus other dynamics lead to the end of an era that will leave an indelible mark on American culture. I did not learn all this by reading my history books. I lived it – I was there.
Rick Saphire
I just wrote to Staci about the article on the Catskills. Fantastic. I was born and lived a long time in Monticello. Worked at the hotels and have many stories to write a book. The article brought back great memories and everyone that has experienced either living there or just visiting there. (My parents had a bunglow colony which reminded you of( Dirty Dancing). Hope there are more articles on the Catskills.
Thank You for this enjoyment.
Rosalie Cohen (Sadownick)
8508 Logia CIrcle
Boynton Beach,FL 33472
561-374-9131
I just saw that the writer of one of the responses to this article was born a Sadownick. I went to Sadownick’s for several years in the 1960′s and have many fond memories of this bungalow colony. It’s where I spent one entire summer jumping into the food (resulting in a major ear infection that I had to have treated at the small hospital in Monticello. It’s where the bakery truck came, and the clothing truck, since the mothers didn’t drive or didn’t have their cars for the summer; the father used them to go back into the city for work. It’s where there was a great “big house,” where we lived; I spent long rainy days on that porch with my best friend up there, playing Barbies and board games. We all used to collect tadpoles from a nearby lake and bring them back to the bungalow colony, not to mention salamanders after it rained. There was a monkey who lived in the big house with his owner for at least one summer, too.
I drove by a few years back, and Sadownick’s had become a religious colony. In those years, though, it was paradise.
My goodness! What a great article. What happened to those wonderful days? Why did we as the gatekeepers of this great nation let it all slip away to the likes of reality TV, Go-Go nonstop lives infested with pills and booze. Those happy days when a train ride was fun. Mom stayed home and dad was a man. We just stood there and looked dumb as it all has slipped away. Now, it’s just the greed that we have been warned about, but just don’t seem to be paying attention……..it’s coming folks.
I believe the reason the Catskills vanished, is because most Jewish immigrants lived in the Bronx or Brooklyn, they either went upstate, or to the beaches, when most of the Bronx and Brooklyn moved to the Long Island, that became their vacation home. I still go up every summer, just to ride around and remember.
What a great story! I had a grandmother who used to play those hotels. We shall never see the like again. The closest thing is the zany duo Dicey and Paprika, who have put plenty of borscht (and other things) under their belts over the years. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP5ggZRsNh8
I was heartbroken to hear that the Concord had been in ruins for years and abandoned, and now demolished. My most precious childhood memories include going to the Concord for the winter holidays, ice skating, playing in the kids camp and performing in the kids talent show. I remember the table meals in the big dining hall, and the artist Katz making his creations. It was such a playful fantasyland for us as kids. I will always hold the Concord close to my heart and long for the days when it was at its prime….I miss the old days. It seems life just isn’t the way it used to be…
I knew that Grossinger’s was through the night I sat next to Paul Grossinger at the end of the bar at the Bon Vivant topless club, across from Monticello Raceway, on a January night, durung the early 1980′s, and watched him stuff a fist-full of $20 bills into an envelope and give it to a stripper called April (Grace DeLuca from Youngsville, NY) who was about 30 years younger than he was. April opended the card, looked at the cash and squealed “Oh Paulie, you treat me so nice”. She sat next to him between her “performing sets” and rubbed his thigh all nigh long.
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I lived in Liberty, Ny for my first 22 years. My parents, brothers and I all worked at various “Borscht Belt” hotels for many years. My father managed the coffee shop at Grossingers for a few years. I remember they would let us use the facilities, so I was there every weekend. My father would make me a tuna sandwich and mint chocolate chip ice cream soda for lunch. Somestimes he would come home in the morning with freshly baked hot rolls…delicious!!!
I worked at Kutshers for 3 years from 1968-1971. It was very hard work but I loved being there. The staff had their own dining room and we ate all the great food the guests got. My favorite person there and one all time was my manager, Charlie Finder. He was such a great person and died too soon, back in 1977-78.
Milton and Helen Kutsher and their kids were also wonderful folks.
One of the highlights was the annual Maurice Stokes basketball game. Always got to meet and service so many athletes and sports figures. One year I actually got to date Red Auerbach’s daughter Randi for a month or so.
Can’t leave out Woodstock..or what I refer to as the best birthday party I ever had.
So much more
Seeking an old white inn with a friendly Hungarian Innkeeper which was located off exit 19 along or near Rt 28. It was before Pine Hill if travelling from 87. This place was pretty secluded with no seen neighbors. A creek ran in front of the property and in front of the driveway and the inn itself was an old victorian white house. I kind of remember a big in ground pool which was not filled when I was there. The rooms were tiny and there were shared baths at the hallways end. I’m hoping someone can help me. I have spent the past few years researching and speaking to different people but have not gotten any further. I remember it was in 1986-87 the last time I visited and it was full of families with young children, most of the guests were Hungarian or eastern European. It was smaller than the hotel Budapest in Big Indian, but the property was similar in layout. I remember the Hungarian lady would ring a loud bell to announce meals and breakfast would include traditional hungarian pastries as well as crepes and other delicious meals. The place was very old and in somewhat poor condition in the 80′s, so it may not even be in operation now. Any info would be so appreciated. It is one of my last and fondest memories of vacationing with my Hungarian Grandpa who recently passed and I’d like to visit to rekindle the happy times there. I’ve been traveling along 28 for the past few years and I can’t locate the inn. Thank you so much!
My contact info is shinygyrl@gmail.com
I remember moving with my mom to Monticello in 1986 to reconnect with my dad, who lived in the area for a long time. I remember the story about Grossinger’s closing and being remodeled came out right after I moved up. This was, of course, the beginning of the domino effect of grand hotel closings with Brown’s following a couple of years later and then almost all of the others. I recall Monticello’s Broadway and Liberty’s Main Street I took a job as an event disk jockey with Party Master out of Hurleyville and was fortunate enough to perform at many of the hotels. This included the Pines, Nevele, Raleigh, Kutsher’s and the Concord, among others. I also visited family at the Stevensville and Brown’s. It was the end of an era to be sure. I also was a busboy at the Concord for a summer in 1990. I went back to visit Monticello a few years ago and it was quite a disheartening experience. The mountains are still beautiful but the depressing decay of these once great towns is evident. I wonder what would have happened had gambling been approved years ago as had been proposed but shot down for decades by the city fathers? We’ll never know.
I drive up there often now,my Daughter is in One of The S U N Y schools and so I have cause to go. Spent time with my parents in many of the areas hotels but,spent much more time on farms in the area. Before my Daughter went there and my son before her I had not been to the mountains for many years and what stuck me was the decay,very sad. But if I close my eyes I can still see it as it was