
A postcard of a 1959 Oldsmobile hearse, listed on EBay with bids starting at $8.99.
Queen of the Dead – dateline April 23, 2012
• The last of the old-time tummlers is gone. Lou Goldstein, famed at the borscht-belt hotel Grossinger’s from 1948 till it closed in 1986, died on April 2, aged 90. “Tummler” is, essentially, Yiddish for “obnoxious loud-mouth.” Not literally, of course: but they were hired by hotels to run around like six Lucille Balls on crack, making jokes, singing, clowning, anything to get lazy vacationers up and enjoying themselves, whether they goddam wanted to or not. Jerry Lewis, Mel Brooks, Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar and Red Buttons all started their careers as tummlers, so—well, there you are. Blogger Adam Dickter in The New York Jewish Week recalls Goldstein’s “winning personality as a natural people person, exactly the type the managers at Grossinger’s and other hotels needed: a front man to work the crowd, remember their names, kibitz with them and compliment their kids on how fine they’ve grown up.”





















