I love the smell of yeast cakes, though I haven’t seen anything but dry yeast in years. When I was a kid my mother baked homemade bread 2 or 3 times a week. She would make sandwiches of it for my school lunches. I was so embarrassed to pull my obviously homemade bread sandwiches out of my brown paper bag. I wanted Wonder Bread like the other kids had.
I would give anything to have my Mom’s bread spread with homemade black raspberry jelly right now.
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Interesting.
A man called his mother in Florida
“Mom, how are you?”
“ Not too good,” said the mother. “I’ve been very weak.”
The son said, “Why are you so weak?” She said, “Because I haven’t eaten in 38 days.”
The son said, “That’s terrible.
Why haven’t you eaten in 38 days?”
The mother answered,”Because I didn’t want my mouth to be filled with food if you should call.”
The manager in “Dirty Dancing” sums up the problem well; the tourism industry up there was doomed by the availability of airline tickets to average Joes.
If you head up the Hudson Valley today, you’d be shocked by how much of it is “ghetto in the woods” and Hispanics maintaining a faux economy with wealth transfers/public assistance. Very sad, and very broke...
Mel Brooks got his start in the Catskills. He tells the story of how he started using the “third wall”(?) that he used in his various movies - like the big brawl in Blazing Saddles where they ended up in the cafeteria and the Broadway show.
He was a waiter as a very young kid in the Catskills, but also the backup for some guy in the play. The guy got sick so Mel puts on a suit and a beard to play the part.
The crowd gives him a tough time. He pulls down his beard and says something like “What dah ya want? I’m twelve!”
They all laughed and he continued the role.
works great in septic tanks as well...
I’ve never seen Fleischmans gin. I’ll have to look for it.
L
Worked Kutsher’s Sports Academy in 1977 and had a wonderful time. What was amazing was how good the food was for the campers, so much better than other places.
Myron Cohen was a client of my grandfather, who was a stockbroker and eventual partner of Newberger & Loeb. Not bad for an 8th grade drop out who went to work in the Depression. Myron ended up getting his brokerage license because he loved the challenge of investing so much. Back then (I used to visit the office as a kid in the mid 60’s) the branch offices had a small ‘visitor's room’ up front where clients could sit and watch the ticker, with one old-fashioned Quotron machine to use.
Myron was the first feature act at the Kutsher’s Hotel the first night of summer camp and I took a few of the other counselor's who had the night off to see him.
The Concord had this great golf course that was once rated as difficult as pretty much any in America. Grossinger’s was basically the hotel that was the model for Dirty Dancing.
Wilt Chamberlain considered the Kutsher family his second parents and there is a neat ESPN 30 for 30 short video on his experience there. The then-Lew Alcindor also worked a summer there as a bell hop.
Red Auerbach was the summer basketball coach there when that summer ball was the best around (hotels would play each other and recruit college ballplayers to work the summer).
Kutsher’s also hosted the Maurice Stokes Charity event each summer and many NBA players would show up to play to raise the funds.
It's memories only at this point as these places lay abandoned.
Makes good 8% Finnish beer with Juniper instead of Hops.
The article linked to by the OP is not the original source for this story. If you want the actual author to get credit for you reading it, it’s here:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/how-fleischmanns-yeast-built-the-jewish-catskills/
We just moved to the great western Catskills, Delaware County. Our address is Arkville, one town west of Fleischmans on Route 28. We have not had a chance to check it out yet, but this is a timely article.
Watching “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” was an interesting insight into the importance of the Catskills for Jewish families - the “family camp” environment and the tradition of everyone going back every summer and seeing the same people. It’s a great show if you haven’t watched.
Fascinating. I never knew this. Thank you for posting. I’m not Jewish but I lived in the Catskills for years. I love the area.