Henry Dreyfuss, Big Ben Alarm Clock, 1939. Photo: JKA Photography.
For Jewish vacationers in the 1950s and 60s, New York’s Catskill Mountain resorts were a haven during the Christmas season when staying in the cities meant languishing in a feeling of exclusion. Jet off to the Catskills with us in this Sunday Story exploring a slice of midcentury Jewish American life during Christmas in the Borscht Belt.
This video was originally published on The CJM's Facebook Live on December 19, 2021.
Discover Sunday Stories, a visual lecture series exploring art, history, and pop culture through a Jewish lens. Sit back, relax, and discover new stories every month!
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Designing Home: Jews and Midcentury Modernism was the first exhibition to examine the contribution of Jewish designers, architects, patrons, and merchants in the creation of a distinctly modern American domestic landscape. The story told in this exhibition gave remarkable insight into Jewish assimilation into American society. At the same time, Designing Home went beyond a simple exploration of physical Jewish contributions to the history of modern architecture and design—an impact that continues today—to examine broader cultural and social themes.
Henry Dreyfuss, Big Ben Alarm Clock, 1939. Photo: JKA Photography.