Cookalein

Will Eisner

1978

Comic book page with title across the top over bird's-eye view of city streets, and English text below about summer in tenements. — “Cookalein” is a story from Will Eisner’s graphic novel, *A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories*. The “cookalein” (or kuchalein, “cook for yourself”) was a popular and affordable type of vacation destination for working class immigrant Jews especially before World War II. Families from the Lower East Side and other tenement-filled neighborhoods would stay in boarding houses in the Catskills and in other places where they could enjoy “the country.” There, each family would cook for themselves in a communal kitchen and eat in a communal dining room.

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Creator Bio

Will Eisner

1917–2005

The Brooklyn-born comic-book artist Will Eisner is widely recognized for his contributions to American comic art. Considered the father of the graphic novel, Eisner developed a new style of visual narration he referred to as sequential art, a form of graphic storytelling that he often used for educational purposes. Eisner attended the Art Students League in New York before immersing himself in the world of comics. Central to Eisner’s early career was The Spirit, the first comic-book insert created for Sunday newspapers. Eisner later devoted his time to creating educational comics with his company, the American Visual Corporation. In 2002, the artist received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Federation for Jewish Culture. The Eisner Award, the comic industry’s most prestigious prize, bears his name.

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Cookalein

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Cookalein

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