Controlled Environment

By determining who could live in Levittown and who could not, and by designing the entire town from the houses to the streets and even schools and parks, William J. Levitt made sure Levittown looked the way he wanted it to look. But he went even further than this. Levitt had dozens of rules and regulations by which the people of Levittown had to live. An article in Time Magazine in July 1950 reports that "Fences are not allowed. The plot of grass around each house must be cut at least once a week; if not, Bill Levitt's men mow the grass and send the bill. Wash cannot be hung out to dry on an ordinary clothesline; it must be arranged on rotary, removable drying racks and then not on weekends or holidays."

In contrast to the other aspects of Levittown discussed, this is not an American cultural trait in the Fifties that happened to be evident in the suburbs. Instead, this is very un-American because Americans usually tend to enjoy as many freedoms as possible. The fact that the people in Levittown did accept this kind of control illustrates the emergence of a new, distinct group of people who generally emphasize the importance of consumerism, family life, and appearance: the white middle class residents of Suburbia. In other words: while the culture of the Fifties allowed suburbs to become what they became, the culture of the suburbs later became a symbol of American culture.

Racial Segregation

Another aspect of American culture that was very apparent in Levittown was racism. Only white people were allowed to buy or rent a home in Levittown, disabling African Americans and other minorities to enjoy this new part of American culture. African Americans were denied this opportunity by both private businesses - like Levitt & Sons - and the government.

The American government played an active role in creating the post-WW II middle class. The most obvious example of this is the 1944 Serviceman's Readjustment Act, popularly known as the GI Bill, which enabled veterans to easily get an education, a job, and a house. The latter was also overseen by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). However, both the GI Bill and the FHA discriminated. According to scholar Karen Brodkin, African American veterans were systematically excluded, especially when it came to housing. The FHA openly insisted on racially homogeneous neighborhoods and discouraged builders to rent or sell to non-whites.

Bill Levitt was not unaffected by this. His official rental agreement forbade his houses to be used by ANY OTHER PERSON THAN MEMBERS OF THE CAUCASIAN RACE. To emphasize this, he used capital letters in the actual document. Levitt was criticized for this policy in the late 1950s and '60s but he claimed that the market forced him to act in this way. According to Peter Bacon Hales, it was commonly feared that black residents in a neighborhood would result in a devaluation of the surrounding houses which would be followed by a "white flight." Furthermore, Levitt claimed that the governmental policy encouraged him to continue his policy of segregation. Whether this is true or not is not of great importance, what matters is that American society clearly created circumstances for Levitt to exercise segregation.

The Levey Family and their Levitt Homes

Just as it became normal for Americans to buy a new car every year, it was no longer unusual for Levitt house owners to buy a new house every year. This is American cumsumer culture at its best.

The Leveys rented a 1948 model and bought the 1949 Levitt model. A year later they ordered the 1950 model en sold their "old" house for only a few hundred dollars less than what they had paid for it. When the '51 model arrives, they might consider moving again.

Consumerism

Consumerism is often seen as the ultimate symbol of American culture. It illustrates American power, wealth, and optimism. In other words: the American Dream. Consumerism is closely linked to the emergence of the middle class after World War II. Whether or not someone belonged to the middle class was - and still is - largely based on their ability to consume, or the ability to keep up appearances about consumption. Another important aspect of this the reinforcement of gender roles after the war. While many women had had jobs during WW II, due to a labor shortage, the female ideal in the post-War period was once again based on women working in the house and taking care of the children. In fact, many consumer - or luxury - goods were marketed at women: washing machines, kitchen equipment, etc.

The huge demand for housing after the war resulted in mass production, and thus standardization, of houses. Levitt cleverly made use of the shortage and the new importance of consumption. He sold his houses with built-in TV sets, refrigerators, and other luxury goods. This made his houses so appealing that one third of the 1950 model Levitt houses were sold to people who already owned a Levitt House. This turned not only the extras like TVs into supposed luxury goods that were in fact regular consumer goods since every American middle class family could own them, even the house itself became part of the consumer culture that arose in America in the 1940s and '50s.

Levittown

Starts an article in Life Magazine in August 1948: “William J. Levitt, 41, of Manhasset, Long Island has built 4,000 houses in the last 12 months, more than anyone else in the U.S.”

His company, Levitt & Sons, Inc., transformed the way in which American houses were built. After the Second World War, the United States was confronted with a huge housing shortage because of the returning soldiers who wanted to start a family and needed a home to do that. This shortage required the mass production of cheap houses. Levitt’s secret to do this was to turn the construction of a house into a systematic process: an assembly line. In itself, assembly lines and mass production are typical aspects of modern American culture. Furthermore, mass production results in mass consumption: another typically American trait.

Introduction

Levittown is the ultimate symbol of American Suburbia – which, in turn, is the ultimate symbol of the 1950s and of the early Cold War era. Although it was only one of many large-scale housing projects in the late 1940s and early ‘50s, Levittown has become one of the best known housing projects in the history of the United States. Partially because of its scale and partially because of its legacy, Levittown illustrates many typical characteristics of American society in the decade after the Second World War – the most obvious one of which is of course the rise of suburbs in general.

Because the argument can be made that suburbs defined American culture in the 1950s, it can also be claimed that suburbs reflected American society, namely in two ways: the rise of mass consumerism and the efforts put into segregating society. This site will hopefully make clear that Levittown is in fact – among other things – a symbol of American consumerism and racism. Moreover, it will illustrate what kind of influence a private businessman - William J. Levitt - can have over public space by determining how a place looks and who lives there.