From Community Programs to International Stardom: Sylvia Weinstock

By Katherine Parente, Intern for the Levittown History Collection

Programming is a vital part of a public library. They have the ability to bring members of the community together to learn or improve important skills, socialize, and enjoy activities in a shared space for free. Most importantly, their accessibility ensures that all members of the community are able to participate. Levittown Public Library has always seen the value in programming, which is represented in its history. In the library’s early years, a strong emphasis was placed on programs, and many of those programs are documented with photographs in the Publicity Photographs Collection, which can be found in the Levittown History Collection.¹ These included a variety of programs for all ages, including children’s story times, arts and crafts, design, and gardening activities. 

One such program took place in 1979, which was a baking demonstration and workshop. The instructor was a local baker and cake decorator from Brooklyn named Sylvia Weinstock. She and many enthusiastic participants created desserts such as cakes, pies, and pastries, which were captured in photographs for the History Collection. Years later, Weinstock would become a widely successful baker and decorator, creating extravagant wedding cakes for high-profile celebrities, lavish events around the world, and guest judging on reality competition TV shows such as Food Network’s Chopped and Netflix’s Nailed It!

Levittown Public Library. (1978). Pastry Demo: Sylvia Weinstock Instructing Workshop [Photograph]. Levittown Public Library Publicity Photographs Collection. (LHC.LPP.1020, LPP.015). Levittown History Collection, Levittown Public Library, Levittown, NY.LHC.LPP.1020_LPP.012

Levitt Houses: Expansion Attics

By Emily Rennie, Archivist for the Levittown History Collection

Most people would agree that one of the eeriest parts of a house is its attic. To celebrate this spine-chilling season on the Levittown History Collection Blog, we’re taking a look at the expansion attics built into the original Levitt houses in Levittown, N.Y.

Worthing, J. (n.d.). Interior Construction of an Attic and Crawl Space [Photograph]. Photograph Collection (LHC.PHO.1036, Book X, PHO.256). Levittown History Collection, Levittown Public Library, Levittown, N.Y.

Introduction: A Very Brief History of the Levittown History Collection

By Emily Rennie, Archivist for the Levittown History Collection

(1968). Mildred Cantor and a Library Cadet Looking at Material from the Levittown History Collection [Photograph]. Photograph Collection (LHC.PHO.1036, Book X, PHO.659). Levittown History Collection, Levittown Public Library, Levittown, N.Y.

Documenting the history of Levittown has been an ongoing project by the Levittown Public Library since the library’s founding in 1951. Although Levittown had only been established in 1947, residents understood that they were a part of something important as the blueprint for the deluge of suburbs emerging in post-World War II America. By 1956, the public library in Levittown had accumulated a comprehensive assemblage of historical materials. Newsclippings were collected by librarians and indexed into a large cabinet, early 19th century atlases of the local area were purchased by the library, and yearbooks of the local schools were amassed¹. Also added were schools budget reports, a survey of the community by the Levittown Citizens committee, local voting results, and “complete scores and figures for all of Levittown High’s football and basketball games…for the sports-minded members of the community².”