Borscht Belt Architecture: Designs of the Jewish Alps with Alex Prizgintas

Transitioning from his introductory “Borscht Belt Artifacts” program, this part two program highlights the legacy of interior and exterior architecture that defined the Borscht Belt Catskills. Following the “Silver Age” hotels of Victorian style that defined the late 19th century, new Jewish hotels, bungalow colonies, and growing resorts added their own influences to existing structures. Several movements in architecture, such as Sullivan County Mission Style and Sullivan County Tudor Style designs, gained a popular reputation in the Borscht Belt. Then, in the 1950s, the wave of Mid-Century Modern influences within this region of New York set the tone for hotel designs on a national scale. Using postcards, photographs, images from antique brochures, and modern-day scenes, Alex Prizgintas reveals how this architecture helped to define elements of the quintessential Borscht Belt experience from room design to recreational activities, entertainment, outdoor landscape, and what architecture features can still be seen today.

Join Alex Prizgintas with the Town of Ulster Library on Saturday, October 4th at 1:00 PM to view “Borscht Belt Architecture: Designs of the Jewish Alps.” Since Prizgintas began collecting items from the Borscht Belt ten years ago, awareness for this crucial aspect of our local past has rapidly expanded with the opening of the Borscht Belt Museum in Ellenville, the ongoing Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project, and a number of both films as well as books that have been published. “Seeing this history finally receiving the recognition it deserves is incredibly rewarding, and I am honored to be a part of this new chapter for the memories of the Borscht Belt.”