Levittown:

Hometown Then and Now

By Marian Bellus

Back to the Future
When I returned a few years ago to live in my hometown, I was struck again by that dichotomy that touches all of us at one time or another relentless change juxtaposed with the timeless constants of life. Although many of my peers have left the town that William Levitt built with production-line speed in the boom years following World War II, many of the original "settlers" remain in homes that have been expanded, improved, and updated to meet the needs of today's style of living. My family’s home, though, somehow weathered the times in somewhat pristine fashion, with only a new roof and heater to show for its 50 years of existence, making it all the more memory-provoking.

In quiet moments, I reminisce about the trust of those first homeowners, whose faith in the present and hope for the future formed such an integral part of their existence that they weren’t defined, analyzed, or even brought to conscious thought. They were givens. Despite the horrors of World War II?the loss of life and limb and the scars that memory would carry into the lives of all those of that generation?optimism was undeterred. They trusted that the future would be better.

Sacrifice and Trust
My father and mother both served in the military during that war, and I recall that when I was a young child, the war and the remembrance of its many sacrifices were very much a part of national holidays like Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Veteran’s Day. I felt the nearness of the war's sorrow and pain in the ceremonies and parades that marked those holidays. There was nothing about their lives they took for granted; freedom had once again been hard won.

Yet there was nothing of the past that kept my parents from building a future together that was bright and optimistic. Although I could not have named it at the time, there was an unspoken pleasure in the moment combined with a sense that the future would bring good things. Only the passage of time has brought into focus for me that my parents were part of a unique generation that somehow bridged the transition from a comparatively uncomplicated time to the fast-paced consumer culture we have currently become. In those days, there was no such thing as electronics, and electrical devices like toasters and irons were new products on the market.

When my mother trudged a quarter of a mile to the nearest phone booth to call the doctor for one of her children, she was such a young woman?adventurous, even if Levittown wasn't the Wild West—and knew that necessity would provide the means to solve life’s challenges. The nickel placed in the phone slot would summon the doctor to our home. Time, together with common sense remedies and the first trickle of the wonder drugs called antibiotics, would heal the malady. There was no guarantee that one would survive a childhood disease or a bout with influenza, but there were faith and hope, simple and deeply held.

Simple Faith and Hope, Still
As I work to transform my home from its 1950s appearance, I am constantly reminded of the simple faith and hope that are still here, unmarred by events in the world, the explosion of technology that made us think that not even the moon was the limit of our reach, and the joys and sorrows of everyday living. Faith and hope remain here in the wizened faces of those first residents and in the fresh faces of their children's children, who continue to find in Levittown a place for their lives to take root and for the cycle of life to go on.

For residents like me whose children are now grown, the daily routine is different, more leisurely, and filled with activities there wasn’t much time for when our children were young. Backyard swing sets have given way to decks, enclosed porches, and flower gardens. And tucked among the less populated areas are retirement facilities of various kinds and miles of greenbelt land for recreational activities, where young and old can walk, bike, swim, boat, or watch the setting sun.

With the prospect that the present generation of baby boomers will live to be a hundred years old, the joy of a healthy and purposeful life far outweighs the aches and pains of growing older and the bittersweet launching of our children and grandchildren into a world that grows more challenging every day. Having a hometown link is for me an anchor in a time when nothing seems to stay the same for long. Perhaps the memories of the fledgling community of my childhood provide that sense of security. Levittown, like me, has grown and changed, but a solid core of faith and hope remains.

LINKS:
Delaware and Lehigh
Levittowners
Capital Century
The State Museum of Pennsylvania

Marian Bellus, of Levittown, Pennsylvania, is the mother of two grown children. She has worked in the medical/nursing publishing field for 30 years. A single parent for 22 years, she is launching a second profession in the Independent Catholic Church of Antioch as a priest. After distance learning in the Sophia Divinity School for the past four years, she plans to be ordained in the fall of 2009. Her ties to the community of Levittown span a lifetime, and she continues to reside there while commuting to her job in Philadelphia.