There will be plenty of yuks on display when a new museum celebrating the birthplace of modern stand-up comedy opens in the Catskills this summer.
The Borscht Belt Museum is the newest effort to the preserve the cultural heritage, legacy and humor of the Jewish city dwellers who for decades summered in hotel resorts and bungalow colonies across Sullivan, Orange and Ulster counties.
“We want to show people this piece of history that is being lost continuously here,” author and archivist Allen J. Frishman told The Post of the museum, which will be housed in a former bank in Ellenville, NY.
“This is preservation. It’s so important to save this part of Americana. It was the comedic entertainment capital.”
The Borscht Belt sprung up during the early 20th century when Jewish travelers, once unwelcome at other hotels, turned the area into a mecca for “chosen people.”
Resorts, which had their heyday after World War II, were essentially early cousins of today’s all-inclusive playgrounds, boasting copious amounts of food, nightly live entertainment and childcare.
The pool at Kutsher’s resort.
The idyllic Catskill summers have been captured on the big and small screen in hits such as “Dirty Dancing” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
Frishman, who grew up in Monticello in a family of plumbers and wrote “Tales of a Catskill Mountain Plumber,” said the museum will be immersive with events and recorded music to capture the spirit and humor that helped shape modern comedy.
“There were so many comedians who started their careers here, testing out their material and grew to be so big,” said Frishman.
Allen J. Frishberg among some Catskills treasures.
The Borscht Belt style of humor was often self-deprecating and generally off-color. No ethnicities were spared, though Jews often aimed their jokes inward. Favorite subjects included overbearing wives and physical ailments.
Comedians Henny Youngman, known for his mastery of one-liners (“Take my wife — please”), Jerry Lewis, Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Joan Rivers, Jackie Mason, Carl Reiner and even Jerry Seinfeld perfected their sharp one-liners at massive hotels such as Grossinger’s, Kutsher’s, the Concord and the Nevele.
“I think it really started with the need for comedy to relieve everyone after the war,” said Frishman.
Sid Caesar was one of the great Borscht Belt comedians. NBC via Getty Images
Funnyman Jackie Mason was a veteran of the Borscht Belt. Robert MillerMuch of the memorabilia on display will be sourced from his private collection, which he amassed as the building inspector for the town of Fallsburg, once home to multiple Catskills hotels.
As the structures would be dismantled, he would haul off precious bits like phone booths, switchboards, barber chairs and other ephemera.
The museum’s ribbon cutting will take place on Wednesday, but it will officially open up on July 28.
“We are going to have a Borscht Belt Festival weekend. We’ll have comedians, movies and talks. It will be the building of a larger project,” said Frishman. “There is a new interest in the Catskills from the younger generation.”
The Stardust room at the Nevele.
Joan Rivers regularly performed in the Catksills. WireImageClassic Borscht Belt jokes
According to Frishman, there will be some classic Borscht Belt one-liners on display. Since the Catskills was a breeding ground for comedic greats, that means there’s a lot of material to choose from. Here are a few of the most famous quips from the Borscht Belt greats.
- “While you’re alive, you can laugh. When you’re dead, the laughter is so difficult. So difficult.” — Carl Reiner
- “I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places.” — Henny Youngman
- “I just got back from a pleasure trip. I took my mother in law to the airport.” — Henny Youngman
- “Someone stole all my credit cards, but I won’t be reporting it. The thief spends less than my wife did.” — Henny Youngman
- “My grandfather always said, ‘Don’t watch your money, watch your health.’ So one day while I was watching my health, someone stole my money. It was my grandfather.” — Jackie Mason
- “I’ve got a friend who is half-Jewish and half-Italian. If he can’t buy it wholesale, he steals it!” — Jackie Mason
- “My youngest son; he’s named after my grandfather. We have a son named Grandpa.” — Van Harris
- “The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was a genius.” — Sid Caesar
- “I’m Jewish. I don’t work out. If God had wanted us to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.” — Joan Rivers
- “Oh, I’m not a true genius. I’m a near genius. I would say I’m a short genius. I’d rather be tall and normal than a short genius.” — Mel Brooks
- “I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw that my bath toys were a toaster and a radio.” — Joan Rivers
