storm door · 1953
The Levittown Aluminum
Levittown, New York (postwar tract housing)
photograph forthcoming
The Levittown Aluminum is the door the Society had to include even though it is not, by traditional metrics, a good door. It is a first-generation 1953 aluminum storm door, mass-produced for the Levittown tract — the suburb that invented the American suburb. The frame is thin. The hardware is stamped. The glass is just glass. It is not a craft object. But it is the door that landed on three million houses between 1953 and 1965, and the Society's mission is to appreciate doors as they are, not only as we wish them to be.
Materials
- Anodized aluminum frame
- Tempered glass
- Vinyl weatherstrip
Notable features
- Mass-produced storm door — first generation of aluminum exterior doors
- Z-bar reinforcement on the lower rail
- Spring closer with integral chain damper
- Original cardboard tag from G.E. supplier
Rate this door
The Society's house rating: 5/10