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Opening Day at the Levittown Exhibit Center
The “House of Levittown” showroom at the Exhibit center on Route 13 in Tullytown opened December 8, 1951 with samples of the Levittowner, which sold for $9,990 on a 70 by 100 foot lot and the Country Clubber. Later, the Rancher, Jubilee, Pennsylvanian, a modified Country Clubber and Colonial were added to the available models.

Who Were the First Levittowners?
The first Levittowners were mainly veterans with young families because Levitt made housing affordable. There were plenty of jobs at US Steel Fairless Works and other industrial sites. Over 40% of these new homebuyers came from Philly while others came from throughout Bucks and Montgomery Counties, Upstate PA, Trenton, NJ and other areas of Central New Jersey. Opening day was my father's birthday and he and my mother spent it standing in line to look at the Levittown homes.

Selling Like Hotcakes
In the first 10 weeks, 3500 homes were ordered with the builders completing approximately 200 houses per week. During Levittown, Pa.’s first year, Levitt & Sons sold an average of 1600 houses a month. Business was so good, Levitt & Sons typically sold out its annual allocation of houses by May or June each year.

Sales Agreement & The Rules
When a customer signed the agreement of sale, they agreed to no fences around their property, not to change the color of their homes, not to hang laundry out on Sundays and to use and umbrella-type clothes-line when clothes were to be hung out. All of the restrictions were covered in the “Rules” booklet.

Financing Levittown
Most Levittown homes were purchased by GI families and were financed with Veterans Administration (VA) loans under the GI Bill. The federal government and local realtors assisted veterans with application process. To qualify for a mortgage, prospective Levittown home buyers had to meet minimum income levels. They finalized sales at mass mortgage closings. During a typical closing meeting, as many as 40 to 50 buyers would be settling on their new homes simultaneously.

Levitt Sales Brochure (Levitt & Sons - 1951) This booklet was typically the first, and possibly only, literature that prospective buyers got from the Levitt salesmen. <<  Click on the image to launch        the Levitt Sales Brochure

Halperin Sales Brochure (J Halperin - 1957) Halperin was a real estate firm specializing in Levittown re-sales and rentals since Levitt & Sons sold all new units.          Click on the image to  >>          launch Halperin Brochure