Part 3 - Photos from Tim Lavey's early Levittown collection

Click on photos to enlarge

By FRANK BARNING

Tim Lavey, a 1963 Division Avenue High School graduate, was an early Levittowner. His family, including parents Arlene and Ed, lived at 173 Orchid Road along with Tim and younger brothers Robin and Mitch. He has preserved several dozen vintage photos of early Levittown, primarily from 1951-53.

Today's photos include mom giving young Robin a bath in their ranch house kitchen and dad with Mitch and Robin siding the house. Both Mitch and Robin are shown on bicycles in front of the house, and there is a picture of Tim and Mitch with mom in front of their carport. We tried to identify the car and an expert on vintage automobiles believes it is a 1937 Ford "flatback".

Notice the flagstone path, and the immature bushes. This was early Levittown and it took time and money to put in cement paths and nature eventually created mature plantings.

"The Lavey Collection" is being presented here in several posts over the course of weeks or maybe months. This is part 3.

Part 2 - Photos from Tim Lavey's early Levittown collection

Click on pix to enlarge


By FRANK BARNING

Tim Lavey, a 1963 Division Avenue High School graduate, was an early Levittowner. His family, including parents Arlene and Ed, lived at 173 Orchid Road along with Tim's younger brothers Robin and Mitch.

Tim has preserved several dozen vintage photos of early Levittown, primarily from 1951-53. Some of the outdoor shots provide an idea of the immaturity of trees and scrubs and even show some of the automobiles of the day.

Today's photos include one of mom and her boys on Christmas in their Levittown kitchen; dad with the lads at Jones Beach; Robin on the lawn surrounded by a snake-like garden hose; the Laveys with friend Gary Lazeroff (left) in front of the house; and the brothers in winter coats behind their Levittown ranch with the big and often drafty windows behind them.

Tim, who lives in Upper Montclair, NJ, has generously shared his photos with us. "The Lavey Collection" is being presented here in four or more posts over the next week or so. Enjoy part 2.

Part 1 - Photos from Tim Lavey's early Levittown collection

Click on pix to enlarge

Tim Lavey has several dozen vintage photos of early Levittown, primarily from 1951-53. He and his younger brothers Robin and Mitch lived at 173 Orchid Road. In some of the photos you can see construction going on, and the outdoor shots give you an idea of the immaturity of trees and scrubs, while there also some of the automobiles of the day.

Today we include a grammar school picture of Tim, a shot of Mitch at the backyard picnic table, Tim celebrating a birthday in the family's kitchen and Robin riding his bike on Orchid Road.

A 1963 graduate of Division Avenue High School, Tim has generously shared his photos for the blog. "The Lavey Collection", as we like to call it, will be presented here in four or more posts over the next week or so.

As always, comments are welcome. And a big thank you to Tim Lavey for preserving some of Levittown's history and sharing it with us.

Early Levittown New York was safeguarded by the Lavey brothers of 173 Orchid Road

Tim Lavey, class of 1963, has a wonderful collection of family photos taken in early Levittown. Here he is with his younger brother Mitch (Division Avenue High School class of 1965) in a picture that he refers to as "Safeguarding Levittown." In those days, unlike today, the houses and trees were small.

Tim wrote: "The picture was taken in my backyard about 1951 or possibly 1952. The historic Old Motor Parkway was behind us. However, they were building a sump on the stretch behind our house at that time. They destroyed part of the Old Motor Parkway in building it. The houses in view behind Mitch and me were on Blacksmith Road. Those to the left in the picture were on Pelican Road. Michelle Fromm's home was just a tad further west on Woodcock along with Dave Amster and Joe Imperato, all from the class of 1963."

If you like seeing this photo, we will post additional vintage shots from the Lavey collection. Please let us know.