What was the Borscht Belt and do you have any memories that revolve around it?

The Borscht belt was the string of Jewish resorts in the Catskills that flourished from about the 1920s to the 1960s or a bit later. Many Jews from New York City spent their vacations there, while other families went to bungalow colonies in the area; sometimes for the whole summer. I was at Brown’s once for a weekend but that was long past its heyday.

Many of the Jewish stand-up comedians got their start – or ended up – “playing the Borscht belt,” that is, doing a series of gigs at the various hotels. There are many anecdotes about the amount of food served at the hotels (usually kosher) and the personalities of the waiters and waitresses.

For one take on the culture, see the film Dirty Dancing which is set in one of the hotels in the 60s. A Walk on the Moon is another film set in the era but the locale is a bungalow colony in the Catskills.

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You should ask @JLeslie. She was relating some stories to me about her summers iduring her youth. She said it was very similar to the setup in Dirty Dancing.

There’s some really good reference material on This Site just scroll down to about the7th paragraph (the site is all about comedians).