Note from Frank Barning: This photo is pure early Levittown and one of my favorites among the hundreds of vintage images that have been sent to me for by Early Levittown blog. There is a certain nostalgic magic transporting me back in time. It was provided by Toni Crescenzo Gelfer (Class of 1968) who now lives in San Antonio, TX.
Here are her comments about this picture:
The year is probably 1954. The lady on the bench of the Azalea Road pool is my "Aunt" Lena, in reality my Godmother. Her son Johnny is by my side.
What strikes me is her clothes. She is under 40 years old, but coming from the Italian enclave of Ozone Park (later made famous by John Gotti), she could be decades older. In the time of June Cleaver and Donna Stone on TV, she is a stark contrast. The occasional visits by our Queens relatives were, in their own words, "visits to the country."
My own parents, being very old world, never took the family on a vacation because they thought every day was one. All I know is that I appear seemingly ecstatic and in my world everything you see here was quite normal.
One final note. At the sign-in table you can see the suburban moms and kids right out of Life magazine. Oh, to have a little of that innocence today, for my grandkids.
