The Time of Their Lives: American Culture and The Catskills

To escape the sweltering, smoggy summers of New York City, a group of first generation Americans sought reprieve in the Catskill Mountains of Upstate New York. As the summers rolled on, through good times and bad, the New York crowd continued to flock north. The old boarding houses evolved into bungalows, and then into world class resorts. Welcome to the Catskills, where modern hospitality, modern comedy, and the best entertainment money could buy was all cultivated. The primary resource for this episode; It Happened in the Catskills: Oral History in the Words of Busboys, Bellhops, Guests, Prioprieters, Comedians, Agents, and Others Who Lived It, by Myrna Katz & Harvey Frommer.