Levittown

William Levitt did more than anyone else to invent the nightmare we know as suburbia. There was a housing shortage after World war II, so he used the conveyor-belt method to build thousands of identical houses in planned communities in Long Island and an event bigger one in Pennsylvania. Levitt retained the commercial centers, and sold the houses at an affordable price to veterans who wanted their own home to raise their families in. There were HOA-type rules, and severe redlining. Levitt wouldn't sell to any family that wasn't white. The first black family, William and Daisy Myers, bought a house from a Levittown resident in 1957. Riots ensued, but the Myers stayed for several years.

The suburban ideal caught on and spread across America. The connection between work, family, and community was severed as fathers commuted miles to work in the city every day, while housewives stayed home, drank, scrubbed their perfect suburban houses, made Jell-O salads, and played bridge with each other. The soul-sucking conformity of living in such a community inspired The Stepford Wives, The Feminine Mystique, and Suburbicon. 

The above clip is a condensed version of the 1957 documentary Crisis in Levittown, PA. Here is the full version. It contains some disturbing language. It is only a half-hour long, then clips are repeated. 



Read more about Levittown at Messy Nessy Chic.