Borscht belt bungalows

by Irwin Richman

Every year between 1920 and 1970, almost one million of New York City's Jewish population summered in the Catskills. Hundreds of thousands still do. While much has been written about grand hotels like Grossinger's and the Concord, little has appeared about the more modest bungalow colonies and kuchaleins ("cook for yourself" places) where more than 80 percent of Catskill visitors stayed. In Borscht Belt Bungalows, Irwin Richmann's narrative, anecdotes, and photos recapture everything from the traffic jams leaving the city to the strategies for sneaking into the casinos of the big hotels. He brings to life the attitudes of the renters and the owners, the differences between the social activities and swimming pools advertised and what people actually received. He reminisces about the changing fashions in indoor activities and in sports like handball, baseball, and basketball, and he recalls the moment the swimming pool became a necessity and he voted to add one. The trials and tribulatio