Of course I’ve heard of Jackie Mason, but have never read or heard the term “Borscht Belt” before. What does it mean?
Borscht Belt was in the Catskills Mountains in New York State. There were over 500 resorts there that catered mostly to Jewish families. Comedians like Henny Youngman, Milton Berle, Freddie Roman, Shecky Greene, Rodney Dangerfield were considered Borscht Belt comedians.
Resorts in the Catskills.
By the way, there were some gentile comedians like Phyllis Diller and Betty Garrett who came from the circuit.
The "Borscht Belt" was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-20th century. Physically, it consisted of a set of large hotels in the Catskill mountains, north- and north-west of New York City.
Grossinger's, The Concord, and Kutcher's are the ones I remember, but there were more.
They catered to mostly Jewish families from New York City. Often the kids would come up to stay at one of the resorts during the week, and Dad would try to join them on the weekends. The more wealthy would spend maybe two or three weeks there. Lots of things for the kids to do, like a summer camp. Lots of things for mom and dad to do too. At night they had what might be called "variety shows," like you'd see on Ed Sullivan or the Jackie Gleason Show, but live.
They also had terrific food. Very high quality, typically all-you-can-eat, but served at your table by waiters who were also from NYC.
I was lucky enough to stay at the Concord for several days during the off-season when I was in high school. It was a wonderful experience I'll never forget. I think the Concord was razed some years ago.
Many famous comedians got their start working the "Borscht Belt." I believe Billy Crystal's movie Mr. Saturday Night is about one such comedian.
The movie Dirty Dancing is a pretty good representation of what a vacation at a Borscht Belt resort was like.
Basically resorts up in the Catskills, where middle class (mostly Jewish but not entirely) working class New Englanders would go in the summer to vacation and get out of the cities. The Borscht Belt was a sort of circuit for comedians and other entertainers to go entertain the people on vacation at dinner or cocktail hours.
Mel Brooks may be one of the last standing.
Back in the day Jews were not allowed in the Hamptons and snooty places. Hilton, in particular, had a no Jews allowed policy. Kid summer camps had the same issue.
So we created our own resorts.
The TV show The Marvelous Mrs. Masel on Amazon is largely focused on it.
It’s pretty much the birthplace of truly American modern humor.
I take it that you are under the age of 20, or have spent most of your life in the Outback of Australia?
Regards,