Growing up on Li 50's - 60's Memories (Hempstead, Levittown: houses, refrigerator)

[nuts2uiam]

I grew up in a community that was being built in 1952. The families were all in the same boat for the most part, newly married or maybe only a couple of years married, maybe one child but mostly none, when the homes were new.

I had 18 homes on my block and there were 63 kids in those homes before resales. These are some of my memories.

We had a milk man and a bread/donuts man (Dugan) and Glamolina, who delivered bleach. I was fascinated by the bleach man. They used to carry 3 gallon glass jugs in each hand down to the basement and placed them near the washer. I could barely handle one jug. Many had above ground pools or belonged to community pools.

We played Red Light -Green Light, Ring-a-leavo, Old Mother Witch, Capture the Flag, I Declare War, to name a few. We all had to go home when the street lights came on. Since we were mostly little tykes, everyone was an Aunt or Uncle, since we could not pronounce the last names.

We would go to Roosevelt Field and go Ice skating or to Skateland, now Iceland in Herricks. Visiting Lolli-pop farm in Syosset

We put baseball cards on the spokes of our bikes with clothes pins to make noise when we rode. We never locked out doors. There were Little League parades on Memorial Day weekend that went on for several hours as we were the boomer kids (1946 - 1964), although our immediate neighbors all fell in the 2nd half of those years.

July 4th we would head over to "Salisbury" Park (Eisenhower) to watch the fireworks. When we got older we drove over to the Roosevelt Field parking garage second level and would park up there to watch them.



We trick-or-treated for hours after school with those huge shopping bags that were black with an orange pumpkin on them. We all came in and dumped the candy out on the table as mom and dad sorted through the unwrapped candy and tossed it out along with the apples since we did not remember who gave them to us. We were smart T or T'ers. We all carried a pencil and the kids started on the same block but on opposite sides. If you got a Hershey or Nestle Crush bar you wrote the house number down and once we got to the end of the block we would compare notes and write down the "good" houses. Funny stuff that you recall.


I guess I am reminiscing as it is a new year and this year will being a new decade for me. How about your memories?

[nancy thereader]

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I grew up in Roslyn Harbor across from the Frick Estate (The Nassau Art Museum now ). The Fricks were still living there then. We kids would play over there all the time and Mr. Frick would drive by in his dark blue Mercedes convertible with his cap and wave at us . There was Mr. Allen from Scotland the butler who lived in a pretty brick house which I think is still there and the gardener who lived in another house on the property . It was a wonderful place to grow up .

In the summers we went to our house on Strongs Neck . There were still farms on the Neck then . On our beach there were Indian artifacts all around . Arrowheads , corn grinders , paint pots ; it's amazing that they must have been there for probably a hundred years and no one found them . My brother and I would take the little boat to Port Jeff sometimes and have frosteds at Grammas and buy candy and comics at Darlings . We could ride our bikes anywhere . There was so much empty land . Every boy had a fort ( do kids still do that ?) and we girls had tree houses. Our parents never knew where we were and would not have cared really. We kids were our own tribe. What a halcyon time the fifties were for kids on Long Island .

[BrooklynRev]

I grew up in Levittown then and it was much as you described. Tons of kids all about, playing in each others yards and having fun. Up on Hempstead Turnpike there were a variety of stores to cater to all you needed (no WalMarts) and you could walk around feeling safe. The community pool was the greatest - packed all summer. I went back to visit a few years back (pre-Covid) on a hot July day and the pool was empty; couldn't belive it! The bored and listless lifeguard said all the kids sit home and play video games now. The fast food places were all relatively new and exciting (Lum's, Jack-in-the-Box, etc.). There was always a lot to do and you didn't have to sit in the house to do it. Of course, Saturday morning was for cartoons, but then out the door for the rest of the day. Great times that I'm afraid are lost.

[NYTom]

I remember Dugan Donuts great donuts.

My mother used to have a floor waxer that would come to the house with his machine and wax our floors.
There were probably 30 kids playing in the street at any given time: Jailbreak, spud, Red Rover, Stick ball, kick ball.

We had a sump at the end of the block that was our hood. We caught tadpoles, frogs, played hockey, skated, and crawled through the sewers.

I used to walk to kindergarten at 5 years old by myself half a mile.

Probably the best toy to play with was when one of your neighbors got a new refrigerator and threw out the box. Played in that for days until we wore it out.

I also remember how dogs roamed freely through out the neighborhood, and you never had to pick up their poo when walking them.

People had post and rail fences and you could hide in their yard when playing manhunt.

There is so much more, just can't think of them all.

[nuts2uiam]

Originally Posted by nancy thereader

.
I grew up in Roslyn Harbor across from the Frick Estate (The Nassau Art Museum now ). The Fricks were still living there then. We kids would play over there all the time and Mr. Frick would drive by in his dark blue Mercedes convertible with his cap and wave at us . There was Mr. Allen from Scotland the butler who lived in a pretty brick house which I think is still there and the gardener who lived in another house on the property . It was a wonderful place to grow up .

In the summers we went to our house on Strongs Neck . There were still farms on the Neck then . On our beach there were Indian artifacts all around . Arrowheads , corn grinders , paint pots ; it's amazing that they must have been there for probably a hundred years and no one found them . My brother and I would take the little boat to Port Jeff sometimes and have frosteds at Grammas and buy candy and comics at Darlings . We could ride our bikes anywhere . There was so much empty land . Every boy had a fort ( do kids still do that ?) and we girls had tree houses. Our parents never knew where we were and would not have cared really. We kids were our own tribe. What a halcyon time the fifties were for kids on Long Island .

You must recall McLoughlin's then, it was a restaurant over the viaduct. We lived in Albertson - so we were almost neighbors. The Duck Pond was a favorite in my college days after a night out dancing and cocktailing we would go to breakfast and then if it was a really late night to the Duck Pond to feed the ducks at the crack of dawn!!!

[nuts2uiam]

Originally Posted by NYTom

I remember Dugan Donuts great donuts.

My mother used to have a floor waxer that would come to the house with his machine and wax our floors.
There were probably 30 kids playing in the street at any given time: Jailbreak, spud, Red Rover, Stick ball, kick ball.

We had a sump at the end of the block that was our hood. We caught tadpoles, frogs, played hockey, skated, and crawled through the sewers.

I used to walk to kindergarten at 5 years old by myself half a mile.

Probably the best toy to play with was when one of your neighbors got a new refrigerator and threw out the box. Played in that for days until we wore it out.

I also remember how dogs roamed freely through out the neighborhood, and you never had to pick up their poo when walking them.

People had post and rail fences and you could hide in their yard when playing manhunt.

There is so much more, just can't think of them all.

Red- Rover - Red Rover I call Tom over.... forgot about that one.. Great Memories. Our two neighbors had the floors waxed once a month. They had 8 kids each and the floors took a beating.

[nuts2uiam]

Originally Posted by BrooklynRev

I grew up in Levittown then and it was much as you described. Tons of kids all about, playing in each others yards and having fun. Up on Hempstead Turnpike there were a variety of stores to cater to all you needed (no WalMarts) and you could walk around feeling safe. The community pool was the greatest - packed all summer. I went back to visit a few years back (pre-Covid) on a hot July day and the pool was empty; couldn't belive it! The bored and listless lifeguard said all the kids sit home and play video games now. The fast food places were all relatively new and exciting (Lum's, Jack-in-the-Box, etc.). There was always a lot to do and you didn't have to sit in the house to do it. Of course, Saturday morning was for cartoons, but then out the door for the rest of the day. Great times that I'm afraid are lost.

How about the Levittown Skating rink? In H.S. the boys could not get in if their hair touched their collar.

[lifetimeliguy]

Originally Posted by BrooklynRev

I grew up in Levittown then and it was much as you described. Tons of kids all about, playing in each others yards and having fun. Up on Hempstead Turnpike there were a variety of stores to cater to all you needed (no WalMarts) and you could walk around feeling safe. The community pool was the greatest - packed all summer. I went back to visit a few years back (pre-Covid) on a hot July day and the pool was empty; couldn't belive it! The bored and listless lifeguard said all the kids sit home and play video games now. The fast food places were all relatively new and exciting (Lum's, Jack-in-the-Box, etc.). There was always a lot to do and you didn't have to sit in the house to do it. Of course, Saturday morning was for cartoons, but then out the door for the rest of the day. Great times that I'm afraid are lost.

Also grew up in a Levitt home. Had to be indoors before the streetlights came on or else ! The Levittown pools were the center of our summers. Remember diving head first off the high board ? At the end of the day we would do jackknives or cannonballs off the high board, knowing the lifeguard would kick us out until the next day.
The Mays shopping center had everything we needed. Newberrys, Mays, Lobels ...

[hotkarl]

Stop already.
You guys are getting me all choked up.

[ClarkStreetKid]

Grew up on...well, you know, from the 60s through 70s. I'd have a hard time thinking of a better place or time to grow up. Everyplace from the yards to the sump to Belmont Lake was our playground.