Heather Wake

The golden age of “summering,” or spending most if not all of a summer away from home on extended vacation, brings certain images to mind: lavish beach houses, European isles, luxurious cottages, and a service staff that caters to your every need. You know, wealthy person stuff.

The truth is surprisingly commonplace. In the early 1900s, normal working-class to upper-middle-class families would often “summer” away from home for weeks at a time. Believe it or not, these extended stays were often affordable, practical, and offered an incredible sense of community.

For people who grew up in the 1950s and surrounding years, these summers remain some of the most magical and nostalgic of their lives.

Costs and common summering destinations in the 1950s

If you’ve ever seen Dirty Dancing or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, you’ll be familiar with the scenes.

In Dirty Dancing, which is based on the screenwriter’s own childhood, the majority of the plot takes place at a resort in the Borscht Belt, near the Catskill Mountains in New York. Several episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel also take place at a similar Jewish resort in the Catskills. The 1999 film A Walk on the Moon features a similar plotline, also set in the Catskills.

To be fair, these family resorts make a great location for a movie. But the inspiration for these films and TV shows is very much drawn from real life.

In the 1950s and preceding decades, families in the Northeast, especially in New York City, were drawn to these getaways for a number of reasons. The most pressing reason was the heat. Families living in busy cities in the pre-air-conditioning era often needed to escape the suffocating smog.

Air travel was also new and not widely accessible to the working class at the time. As a result, families often drove to find fresh air and a good place to vacation. The Catskills, Poconos, Adirondacks, Berkshires, and Jersey Shore were all popular destinations.

The Catskills, in particular, were heavily associated with the Jewish community. However, many different ethnic groups—who were sometimes not welcome at resorts in other parts of the country—carved out their own niches. Finding community was part of the appeal of these vacations.

Wealthy families would either own or rent prestigious houses in places like the Hamptons.

But family-style resorts, like those found in the Catskills, became incredibly popular among middle-class families. They might stay for one or two weeks or even the entire summer, particularly if the family’s primary breadwinner was able to commute back to the office during the week and join them on weekends.

It’s hard to say exactly how much these all-inclusive family resorts cost, but TravelPulse estimates the average hotel rate in the 1950s at just $5.91 per night. That is equivalent to about $160 today.

Accounting for inflation, family travel was at least half as expensive as it is today. That explains why normal families were sometimes able to spend multiple weeks in upstate New York.

What were these 1950s summer family resorts really like?

Days were simple. Kids would attend day camp, where counselors ran a variety of activities, from horseback riding and canoeing to time at the pool. Afterward, they were mostly free to roam and play with one another while the adults socialized and enjoyed the spa, sports facilities, the pool, and more.

At night, there was entertainment, including singers, comedians, and variety shows—sometimes even performances by legendary entertainers such as Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, and Sammy Davis Jr.

“My family went to Grossingers in the Catskills and Wild Echo in Canada when I was younger,” a Reddit user wrote. “Those memories are my favorite from when I was a kid. Shuffleboard tournaments, fishing derbys, baseball, campfires, talent shows, so many crazy weeks sleeping in mini cabins. Really cheap family vacations for middle class folks. Sadly they tore all those cabins down and built condos.”

“I spent a summer with an also middle class Jewish family in the Catskills this way,” another added. “Basically an Au Pair. Dad would come up on weekends while mom would socialize and play cards with the other moms til dinner time. It was 2 kids, very well behaved around ages 5 and 8. The other girls ( every family had one of us ) and I would hang out in the pool with the kids all day … The family was awesome to me. Just had to keep the kids out of mom’s hair while she did her thing and again, the kids were really well behaved, so no issues. It was also a great way to get out of the city for the summer.”

One person wrote that their family continued the tradition into the 1980s and 1990s: “My family was lower-middle to middle-middle and we did the summer in upstate New York while my dad worked during the week coming up on weekends … every other summer through the 80s and early 90s. On the odd years we stayed in the city. I much preferred the upstate summers.”

Another wrote, “My grandparents were far from wealthy. They lived in a small apartment in the South Bronx. But every summer they would rent a bungalow in the Catskill, with friends & relatives renting their own in the same community (or colony), and my grandfather would stay in the city during the week for work. Towards the end of the summer my grandfather would take his vacation time and stay with them.”

One woman told Next Avenue of her childhood summers in the Catskills: “I remember all the activities — ice skating, horseback riding, swimming in the pool … I went to the day camp when I was little, but as I got older, I found other kids to play with. … I had total freedom to roam the property. My parents were never worried about me. It was a simpler time.”

“I wish these types of resorts hasn’t gone out of style,” a Redditor wrote. “It’s basically summer camp for families. I know they have similar resorts in Mexico etc but I’d love to go to a place in the US where each family has their own cabin, lots of activities and a dining hall.”

Why summering went away… mostly

Several major changes occurred in America during the 1970s and 1980s.

For starters, air conditioning became more ubiquitous, and it was no longer mandatory for families to escape the city heat in the summer. Air travel also became more commonplace, allowing families access to a far greater selection of vacation destinations. Old favorites like the Catskills and Poconos became less popular over time.

Travel also became more expensive. Multi-week, all-inclusive vacations today are out of reach for most families.

However, some families still seek out this same kind of nostalgic experience, although they usually cannot afford to do it for as long. All-inclusive resorts and cruises are places where families can settle in for a week or so and enjoy built-in activities, food that requires no thought or planning, no cleaning, plenty of friends to meet, and, most of all, childcare.

Family vacations look a lot different today than they did in the 1950s. Even though the costs and methods have changed, many families are still looking for that perfect combination of adult social time, free-roaming kids, and pure relaxation.