The Levittown Historical Society is working on a book about the Levittown House. Its tentative title is Home Sweet Levitt Home. The society is appealing to Levittown Tribune readers for true, personal and heartwarming stories about items in the house, which are also in the Levittown Museum. If interested in sharing your story mail it, along with your name, address and phone number, to Levittown Historical Society, P.O. Box 57, Levittown, NY 11756. All past and present Levitt homeowners in Levittown, Wantagh, Hicksville and Westbury are eligible. Keep submissions under 400 words. For further information call 735-9060. This week's submission was written by Carol Lovgren.

When we first moved into our Levitt Cape Cod in 1962, we proudly showed our visitors all around, pointing out the built-in corner cupboard and the bookcase under the stairs. As our furnishings were sparse, these built-ins were very much appreciated. But as our 15-month-old twins grew older, the main attraction became the staircase, which led up to the ceiling and that "heavy thing" which opened the trap door to the attic.

The second floor was an attic, with a runway about four feet wide running down the center leaving the rest unfinished with beams and the ceiling below exposed. It, of course, was off limits to toddlers. Because it was a forbidden place, it was all the more attractive to them. They were intrigued every time we opened the trap door above the staircase. My husband just pushed it up, but I had to use a combination of head, shoulder and arm to raise it. The first thing the children wanted to see when they were allowed up there was how the trap door worked. My husband carefully explained the pulley system with the square weight (a cement block) attached. They could hardly wait to see how "that heavy thing" worked.

While I stayed in the attic with them, my husband went downstairs and closed the trap door, then opened it again and again. From then on whenever visitors came, almost the first thing they had to do was go up and watch "that heavy thing" go up and down. Fortunately interest in this eventually faded, but the square cement block with the iron loop in the middle with a wire rope through it remained "that heavy thing." Over the years I have often heard my family reminiscing and laughing as they tried to explain this contraption to puzzled friends.

Long after the attic became two bedrooms and the trap door was gone, that heavy thing had a home in the garage. Then a full driveway was installed and it was laid to rest amid the poured cement.