In 1986, Sullivan County’s tourism administration (@sullivancatskills) released a promotional video on all of the still operational hotels in the region. Kutsher’s, Grossingers, The Concord, The Raleigh, The Fallsview, The Nevele, The Villa Roma, The Pines, and The Granit are all featured!
Hope you enjoy the journey ~ where are you staying?
#borschtbelt #catskills #upstate
It’s a little bit like heaven, only closer!
30 Second travel spot from a 1986 Catskills Travelogue. More to come!
🎥: @ineedattention/youtube
Soaking up the last bits of summer on Labor Day— one of the most bittersweet days in the Borscht Belt era because it signifies the end of the summer season—saying goodbye to friends old and new, kissing summer romances one last time, and leaving the mountains until the return the following year.
It would also be the last day that bungalow dwellers hear an announcement over the loudspeaker like this one at Nob Hill Bungalow Colony in Kiamesha Lake. The banter in this is too perfect— a time capsule into an era many wish to feel again.
Something common about the Catskills past and present, however, is that labor day marks the end of an influx of summer tourists (only to prepare for a bustling autumn!) before hotels and businesses hibernate in the winter. Bittersweet indeed! We wonder if Schwartzburg ever took the call..
Hope everyone’s labor day is restful & zestful!
Video courtesy of Wally Willy/Youtube, C. 1970s
#borschtbelt #bungalow #catskills
Home movie from The Vegetarian Hotel in the summer of 1981, close to its closure. Enjoy the commentary!
Video C. BBHMP Archives
The Concord Resort Hotel’s 1989 summer lineup!
This week, we’re going to be diving into all things CONCORD ahead of our June 13th decoration! Stay tuned! 🎆
#concord #kiamesha #catskills #borschtbelt
Continuing with our #womenoftheborschtbelt series - Lillian Brown was the co-founder of the Brown’s hotel in Loch Sheldrake. One of the largest Borscht Belt hotels, the Brown’s offered “A bit of Caliornia at your doorstep.” Lillian’s hotelier journey began long before the Brown’s when she and her husband Charles managed the Hotel Arthur in Lakewood, N.J., before moving on to manage the Ambassador Hotel in Fallsburg and the President Hotel in Swan Lake. In 1944 she and Charles purchased the Black Appel Inn in Loch Sheldrake, changed its name to Brown’s, and transformed the property into a major resort.Always well-dressed with an iconic chignon (a hairstyle characterized by a wrapped bun on the back of the head) Lillian was as sharp as a tack. However, underneath her tough-cookie exterior was a woman with a warm heart who made each guest feel special. In this 1986 clip from the documentary The Rise and Fall of the Borscht Belt by Villon Archives. Lillian discusses comedian Jerry Lewis. Lewis was neglected as a child and the Brown’s took him under their wing during their days of hotel management. Jerry became a surrogate son as well as a member of their staff - working as a bus boy and on the atheletics staff before trying his bit at comedy. Many falsely assume Jerry Lewis rose to fame AT Brown’s, however by the time Charles and Lillian purchased the Loch Sheldrake resort, Lewis had moved on from the mountains, refined his act and was a famous star. But the Brown’s were always his family. Travelers to the mountains couldn’t miss his caricature on the hotel’s billboard exclaiming, “My favorite resort.”Lillian kept the hotel going after her husband Charles passed in 1978. Officially closing in the late 1980s, having sold the hotel to a condominium company, the Brown’s was one of the largest in the Catskills. Lillian passed on May 30, 1997 at the age the age of 93 in Miami Florida. She left behind an immense legacy. #borschtbelt #womenshistor
