The Levittown Historical Society has a variety of tours which they have been working on all summer to offer to local residents and their families at the historical museum. Museum tour guides Jim Slattery and Bob Driver have recently been giving tours to visitors, Scout groups, seniors, families, college students and students within the Levittown School District. Most recently, all second grade students within the district enjoyed a tour of the museum. Driver and Slattery work to make the tours interesting by telling the history of the community and showing museum goers a variety of games from the 1940s and '50s.

The museum offers two slide shows for organizations to enjoy. One of the shows, a history of the historical society and the museum itself, focuses directly on how the Levittown Historical Society was formed and how it worked to open a museum for local residents to enjoy and in the process learn more about the community in which they live. The other slide show provides a history of Island Trees by Paul Manton, vice president of the society.

The historical society recently received their much anticipated new postcard of the original community of Levittown, featuring William Levitt, his father Abraham and his brother Alfred in the foreground of the original 17,447 home neighborhood they built over 50 years ago.

Almost half a year ago, the historical society looked into designing a postcard of the community of Levittown for residents to be able to purchase. According to Polly Dwyer, president of the historical society, many gift shops offer postcards of New York and Long Island, but none are specifically Levittown related.

"It was a shame, we have a museum dedicated to the community, and visitors would say they can't find a postcard of Levittown, " Dwyer said. "As a result, we [the board] decided we have to do something about this. We are here to educate and preserve history and it's important to get the word out. One way is through the postcard."

Realizing that it's difficult to obtain a clear aerial view of the area, the historical society board opted to use a historical area view and add the three founders of the community in the foreground. This too, however, was a difficult process.

Dwyer explained that to help ease the strain of choosing a photo to work with for the postcard, the society held a contest in which residents could vote on their favorite postcard design. Originally, the only member of the Levitt family featured on the postcard was William Levitt; his father Abraham and brother Alfred were added later since all three were the original founders of the community.

In addition to having the new postcard, the society anticipates the arrival of a documentary about Levittown entitled History Along the Turnpike - Levittown, by filmmaker Richard Altomonte. The film is anticipated to be completed sometime this year, possibly in the fall.

The historical society invites all residents and their families and friends to come to the museum for a tour. Although their regular hours of operation are Wednesdays from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. and Fridays from 7 to 9 p.m., weekday tours can be arranged for interested parties. For more information on the museum or historical society, contact 735-9060.