Garage Doors

If you’ve ever driven through Levittown, Long Island, you’ve seen the paradigm of post-World War II housing. Designed for the young parents who were giving birth to the baby boom generation, Levittown houses were built in accordance with the principles of pre-fabricated housing constructed for servicemen, but they incorporated the “must-haves” of post-war life: big yards, modern appliances, a television antenna, and other conveniences. Promotional photos for Levittown over a period of years show that the evolution of the garage followed major trends in the changing American lifestyle.

The earliest house plans from the 1940s (http://tigger.uic.edu/~pbhales/Levittown.html) show boxy, Cape Cod-style homes with a living room, dining room, bath, and two bedrooms. There were no driveways: the single car owned by most families was parked on the street. By 1950, the company brochure offered five houses in a modified Cape Cod/Ranch style, each with a driveway leading to a single attached carport. And in the sister suburb of Levittown, PA, in 1954, the developers presented a variety of homes that incorporated the latest essential in home design – an enclosed garage

Today, if you drive through even the most moderate suburban neighborhood, you’re likely to see a gaping, two- or three-car garage opening directly onto the street, with living quarters sprawling behind and above. The garage has become the façade of the modern American home.

READ FULL ARTICLE FOR FREE.

Locks & Bagels

One of my favorite security stories concerns a bagel manufacturer in a southern city that doesn’t need to be named (yes, there are bagels made – and eaten – in the south). This was a small-scale manufacturer who began as simply a local baker and gradually began selling his bagels, pies, and other baked goods to specialty grocers.

At first he had a fairly standard industrial refrigerator in which to keep his dough chilled.
Later, as his business expanded, he built a new facility for more large-scale production, and included in the design a well insulated cold-room, where he kept not only batches of dough but also fresh fruit that he used for tarts and pies. The cold-room was essential to counter the heat of the baking room bleeding through the building.

A very precise and careful man, Mr. – let’s call him Mr. Reed, for want of a better name – always made sure that doors were kept closed, windows locked, and everything as organized as could be. He also had a morbid fear of being locked in the cold-room unable to get out; I suppose he’d watched The Shining a few times too many. So the door had no
lock or automatic closing mechanism, just a stiff, heavy chrome latch with handles inside and out. It was deliberately hung slightly askew, so that when unlatched it would swing open rather than closed.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY - IT'S FREE!