This is wild to stumble upon haha. My dad grew up in Levittown on the island his dad left Germany stored away on a ship and came here to fight for America in the war.
I grew up in a 1950 model Levitt ranch home in Westbury (East Meadow schools). My parents purchased our home in 1956. It was on a corner, across the street from street from the park/playground/baseball field . We were the third family to live in the house. The original owners moved back to Queens after a short stay. When we removed the hedges, we found two girls names-Susan and Bethany, song with the year 1950 etched into the cement. The next family moved to Miami before my parents moved in, but the moved back to the neighborhood a few years later. Our house had the upstairs attic space finished into 2 bedrooms and a very small bathroom. One bedroom had the chimney running through the middle. I think my parents paid $13,900 for the house. When you visited your friends houses, you didn’t have to ask where the bathroom was-it was in the same place in each home. Everyone loved the Carman Avenue pool. The best part was when you were 10, you could go by yourself. It was quite a rite of passage at the time. I sold the house in 2002 for $276,000 in order to settle my parents estate. Both my mom and dad died in the kitchen of that house-dad in 1983 and mom in 1994. I had lived in that house for 46 years, from 1956 until 2002. In watching this video, I saw that I actually knew one of the ladies. Marion Gilbert, the lady who lived on Woodpecker Lane, was the mother of one of my classmates at Holy Family School in Hicksville. Another woman, Betty DuBrul was the mom of another one of my HFS classmates.
For those able to participate in the program, it was extradionary support from the Federal government, local banks. It was meaningful for those families.
I was 6 years old when we moved into the Elderberry section of Levittown in 1952. We were the first owners. I lived there thill my senior year in Pennsbury High School in 1962. I was never aware of racial discrimination in the selling practices till viewing some documentaries the past several years. We've come a long, long way in racial relations as a nation. On balance, it was a great place to grow up, safe and congenial neighbors.
Richmond american homes build this way now, everythings included. Sold my 5bed, 4bth home in so. Calif for 912k, turned around, with 445k bought cash a new home in Nevada. Mortgage free, retired .
Levittown PA here. Great place to be a kid. In my small section of 48 houses, 8 of them were bought by the children from the parents (original owners). One of them has a third generation owner.
The house I grew up in was in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was built in 1967 and sold originally for $12,550. Fast forward to 2024 there is one original owner left on the street. They paid about the same for theirs when they were first married, today it's worth about $850,000 dollars. Wouldn't it be great (for buyers) if the over inflated value of real estate matched the inflation of the rest of goods and services people buy regularly today?
This was fabulous. So glad this was created so their is first person revords and stories from the original owners. Thank you sll for your service for our country, as well. 🫡🇺🇲
Wow this was such a wonderful watch. I'm doing a big writing project on Levittown and the American Dream right now and of course this was extraordinarily helpful and insightful, but I was surprised by the humanity and sharing and community of it all. Love it :)
Wow, what a fantastic doc! It's good to see one that talks about the good experiences instead of those that only focus on the hubbub people had about race. These are lovely people. I'd love to go back in time and live there during that time, mowing with a reel mower, helping and depending on your neighbors, simple get-togethers on patios. The Levittowns' beginnings were some of the greatest places and times in history.
I came across this video by chance. This is yet another example of the privilege that white Americans don't realize they have enjoyed in this country for centuries. These houses in Levittown are now worth a quarter million, even with very modest updates. Too bad minority G.I.s were explicitly denied this "wonderful opportunity". To not acknowledge the discriminatory practices of the builder of Levittown is to be complicit in denying that such blatant acts of bigotry ever took place. I am glad these people have such fond memories, yet not a single one mentioned the builder's denial of minorities in his community of homes? That could not have been a secret, especially considering that owners had to sign an agreement stating they would not sell their homes to non-white buyers. Perhaps this is only a snippett of a longer more in-depth film, and the issue of discrimination is indeed addressed. However, if this is the film in its entirety, it is extremely biased and typical of many recent historical accounts that paint an idyllic, yet false view of an America of bygone years. If one is going to recount history, then please, tell ALL of the story; this means the good AND the bad. Thank you.
I stopped watching this video somewhere in the middle when no one spoke about racism that was prevalent in this neighborhood at that time, and how residents have changing attitudes
Amazing that people will try to criminalize people for wanting a better life for their children but looking at the world today its clear these people dont have the best interest of children at heart
Both of my grandfathers served in WWII. Sadly, there was no "Leavittown" for the Black, Red, Brown, and Yellow servicemen and women who faithfully served in the U.S. Armed Services during WWII. Leavittowns only continued the Jim Crow racism of the 1940's.
I appreciate you pointing this out. It's important to look closer at "the good life" and see who is excluded. Utopia is often built on top of the back of "the other". Paradise on stolen land with padlocked gates.
If you watched the original documentary about Levittown, you'll recognize some of these folks as the intensely racist original homeowners in Levittown. I wish the documentarian had delved into the question of whether their attitudes changed over the past 60 years.
I saw this on the last day of school (june 25) and it’s almost time for school to start again (sept 1st) I saw in social studies and I decided to come back to this thx to my social studies teacher who showed me the videos I was interested in coming back to
It is so inspiring to know they had something affordable to live in after the war, my gosh couldn't have housed everyone & they wanted to have children too!
Edit: it seems most of the people interviewed have passed away. For those curious: Gus Preiser (1:40) passed away (him and his wife Louise Preiser lived at 8 Lilac Lane, she has since sold it and as far as I know is alive). Marion Gilbert (1:46) of 5 Woodpecker Lane has passed away. Betty DuBrul (1:50) of 11 Bobolink Lane is still alive. Helen Schnide (2:28) of 26 Bucket Lane has passed away. Gilbert Salvage (2:40) of 4 Saucer Lane has passed away, his wife Charlotte died before him. Dorothy and Fred Johs (2:45) have both passed away. Gloria Benson (2:56) of 26 Lilac Lane has passed away. Marian Bagnasco (3:05) of 3 Mallard Road has passed away. Polly Dwyer (3:11) is alive, head of the Levittown museum. Catherine Pietrantoni (5:22) of 290 Orchid Road has passed away.
That's why it was so important to create this documentary when they did. The original owners knew the history and what this community was like when it was created first hand. These are all wonderful stories and now documented for future generations.
