Scenes from postwar Long Island

Levittown: Hello, suburbia

In 1949, a major change in the Long Island landscape arose in a part of Island Trees that would soon be called Levittown: a crop of four-room cellarless houses built for returning World War II veterans.

The first family moves to Levittown on Oct. 1, 1947: Theodore and Patricia Bladykas with their 14-month-old twins, Patricia Ann and Betty Ann. Patricia Bladykas, a stay-at-home mother, died in Florida in 2009 at age 89. 

Moving vans bring families to Levittown on Oct. 1, 1947.

Hopefuls line up for a chance to buy a new Levitt house in Roslyn on Jan. 22, 1949. 

Builder William Levitt congratulates Mortimer Weiss of the Bronx on March 6, 1949: After waiting on line for hours, Weiss had just received his number to purchase a model Levitt house in Roslyn, and he had also gotten word that his wife had given birth to twin daughters in a Bronx hospital. However, when Weiss was asked to sign papers that only allowed white buyers, he refused, according to his daughter Dorene Watkins.

The view from Montauk

The Montauk Manor Hotel is seen in a 1946 photo.

The blizzard of 1947

After the blizzard of Dec. 26, 1947, a woman and her Crosley automobile made no headway against the snowdrifts along Main Street in Hempstead. 

Next stop: Camp Newsday

On Aug. 25, 1947, more than 200 Newsday carriers stood in front of the newspaper's office in Hempstead, waiting to board eight buses that would take them to Camp Newsday on Shelter Island.

The shore thing: Jones Beach

On Sept. 2,1946, skaters enjoyed the rink at Jones Beach.

The boardwalk restaurant entrance at Jones Beach as it appeared on July 4, 1946.

An aerial view takes in the size of the crowds at Jones Beach on Independence Day in 1948.

Traffic was heavy for beachgoers on the Jones Beach Causeway on July 4, 1948.

Jones Beach's parking lots were jammed on July 4, 1948.

Cops collar Teddy

Teddy, a St. Bernard-Newfoundland mix, gets sprung from police custody by officers William Dwyer and Izzy Goldstein of the Glen Cove Police Department in this 1948 photo. The pup was accused of raiding the henhouse at the nearby Pratt estate. He was later acquitted in what was deemed a case of mistaken identity. 

A Freeport Sunrise

This aerial photo of Sunrise Highway in Freeport was taken on March 25, 1948. 

Triplets, 1949 style

Mrs. Wilfred Post, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, flew with her husband to Long Island so that Dr. Wilfred Post, her father-in-law, could handle the delivery of her triplets. Seen here, left to right, on Aug.17, 1949, are Barbara Havens of Valley Stream, holding Susan, 4 pounds. 10 ounces; Shirley Klocke, of Glen Cove, holding Barbara, 3 lbs. 2 oz., and Geraldine Isola, of Brooklyn, holding Wilfred III, 4 lbs. 7 oz.  

Nassau celebrates its jubilee

Bee Kaye of Hempstead places a flower on bandleader Guy Lombardo's lapel as Murray Evans, sales manager at radio station WGBB watches, on Oct. 9, 1949, during a celebration of Nassau County's jubilee held at Roosevelt Field. 

On Oct. 5, 1949, one of the hangars at Roosevelt Field was decorated for the Nassau County golden anniversary celebrations that were held that week.  

Grumman employee Phil Fischer of Baldwin readies a Grumman F9F fighter for an exhibition at Roosevelt Field celebrating Nassau County's jubilee on Oct. 7, 1949.

Aviation pioneer Clarence Chamberlin shows the propeller of a Newsday plane to Richard Scott of Roslyn on Oct, 8, 1949. The plane was on exhibit at the Nassau County golden anniversary celebration at Roosevelt Field. 

A Grumman Panther jet fighter, with its wings folded, was displayed at Roosevelt Field for an air show on Oct. 8, 1949. The show was part of the Nassau County jubilee celebration.  

Fred Bauer, 11, of Baldwin, is handed a $10 gift certificate from Jinx McCrary as part of a prize package that his father won at the Nassau County golden jubilee show at Roosevelt Field on Oct. 10, 1949. Arthur Roth, president of the Nassau County Industrial Exhibit, stands behind them.

Auto racing pioneer Robert Breese of Freeport shows his Breese racing car to Arthur Roth of Rockville Centre at the Nassau County Industrial Exhibit on Oct. 11, 1949. Roth was the president of the exhibit, held at Roosevelt Field.  

Roosevelt Raceway employee Joe Fiordilino polishes silver trophies valued at $30,000 on Oct. 7, 1949, readying them for display at the raceway's booth during the Nassau County golden jubilee celebrations. 

Newsday on the move: Hello, Garden City

On  April 9, 1949, in preparation for Newsday's move into its Garden City building, New York Telephone installers William Vallmer, left, and Harry Schwarz, both of Hempstead, ready a new switchboard for 28 trunk lines and 120 telephones.  

Alicia Patterson shovels the first spadeful of dirt in the groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the new Newsday administration building in Garden City on July 15, 1948. With her, left to right, are Richard Amberg, Alan Hathway, architect Mayer Wood, architect Albert Wood, builder Irwin Bohan, Ernie Levey, production manager Allen Wood, and Joe Yauch.

The Hempstead Rotary holds its meeting on Aug. 26, 1948, at the new Newsday plant in Garden City, and guests are shown the giant presses.  

Check out the Hempstead Library

Lillian Zlotnick, Charles Welch, and Mrs. B. Lustig simultaneously use the card catalogs and crowd the entrance to the reading room of the Hempstead Library on Fulton Street in this 1949 photo. "Times Square at high noon has nothing on the Hempstead library which has more books than it has shelf room and more customers than it has standing room. …[W]hen all card catalogs are in use, a small mouse couldn’t squeeze through," a Newsday reporter wrote. In 1951, the library relocated to its existing building at 115 Nichols Court in Hempstead.

Root root rooting for the Dodgers

William Walsh frets as the Brooklyn Dodgers lag behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the sixth inning of a game at Ebbets Field on July 21, 1949. The trip to Brooklyn was sponsored by the Freeport Boys Club, which sent 450 kids to the stadium in six buses.