Nestled in the tiny Catskills town of Kerhonkson is The Granit, a resort which billed itself as "A Vacation Paradise... Any Season!" The Jim Smith Archive has unearthed some old Granit postcards for your viewing pleasure. Let's take a gander.
This might just be one of my favorite JSA items ever. It's two hilarious images rolled into one postcard.
First, there's the top half. I love the expression on the woman's face. She's utterly appalled. It's like the photographer realized it was going to make a bad picture, but it was too late to stop. And so here she is, frozen for all eternity with mouth agape in horror.
Let me guess at a scenario. I'm thinking the featured people have been talking for a few hours, and the guy just revealed that he's only seventeen years old. Daddy was in town for business; he tagged along and somehow weaseled his way into the cocktail lounge.
She should've known better, but by the looks of things they're taking shots of cough syrup or the liquor equivalent thereof, and she's pretty out of it. This picture captures that moment of total disgust when she realizes she was about to accept the invitation back to his suite.
And there's the second picture. Postcards for hotels and restaurants are supposed to advertise the places depicted; this one practically does the opposite. It's almost anti-advertising.
They definitely picked the wrong crowd. This is a bunch of beatniks -- look at the sweaters and surly expressions. The guy being served is just staring off into space, looking like he's about to cry. All the garish yellow lighting in the world couldn't make this shot less depressing.
I'm guessing it's a bunch of graduate students or college professors. Obviously they didn't come for the golfing; maybe they wanted to collect samples of soil from the Catskills. When they finish sneering at their food, they'll go read some Kerouac, listen to jazz records, and complain about how "square" the hotel is.
Note the ultra-super-fancy table setting: napkin fans and napkin swans. Eat your heart out, Paris. This is real fine dining.
