Kudos to reader Joel, who spotted this rare find: A complete set of Levitt steel kitchen cabinets for sale on ebay in — yes: Levittown, New York. This makes at least 81 brands of vintage metal kitchen cabinets — almost all of them steel — in my master list. 10+ years of Retro Renovation, and we’re still discovering things — woot!
But what? UPDATE:
Overnight I received photos of the logo on these cabinets — and howdy hudee, they are Tracy steel kitchen cabinets — not “Levitt” brand. We already had Tracy on our list — so, we are back to 86! Interesting to know that these were the featured cabinets in Levittown houses in New York in any case!
There are a lot of cabinets!
Thanks to ebay seller jdiior01 for permission to show the photos.
Link love:
- Levittown steel kitchen cabinets for sale on ebay.
- My overview story on the history of vintage metal kitchen cabinets .
- “Encyclopedia” where I keep the complete list.
- All my stories on steel kitchen cabinets.
Thank you, Joel — awesome discovery!!!!
Do you know where I can get the steel/metal kitchen cabinets here in South Africa?
Hi Thabile, I do not, as my research is focused on the U.S.
It would be fun to see original photos of the house and kitchen layout. Any Levittown historians have brochures?
I live in Levittown Pa and grew up with this exact sink and cabinets in our Levittown Jubilee. I still live in Levittown in a Pennsylvanian and have all of the original metal cabinets including the wall oven, all in excellent condition, they have about four layers of paint on them and I think about restoring them to their original splender, but in aqua this time, not pink, as they were originally. Maybe one day! Love my little mid-mod world????
That’s interesting as the wall and base cabinets seem so different from the sink unit, as if it was meant to be freestanding. What was supposed to be under the window? Seems like that’s where the sink might have been. That’s great that you yourself still have an original kitchen, wonder how many still survive.
The link with the Levittown turquoise and pink kitchens had me wondering why we haven’t seen more of them. They were gorgeous.
Looks like a mash up of several styles. I think the original kitchen was jiggered with. The sink unit is probably original to the house.
Interesting! You can go down a rabbit hole exploring the history of the Levittowns (NY, PA & NJ)
That’s the original kitchen. The original built-in dishwasher died and the homeowner cut out that section and installed a convertible. The plus side of those all-in-one-kitchen units was that it saved Levitt money and simplified installation. The down side is planned obsolescence – when one unit died, you either got out the metalcutting tools or you remodeled the kitchen! The PA Levittown is right across the river from me, and the NJ Levittown (Willingboro) is a few miles away. I pretty much became a Levittown historian merely from where I live, plus knowing lots of the homeowners. There’s quite a contrast between the two Levittowns – they’re so much alike in layout and appearance – but completely different in everything else. The NJ one has always had a high turnover rate of owners, and no one really interacts, The PA one has strong roots – original owners sell to their children, who sell to their children, etc., and a strong sense of “one big suburban family” and community pride prevails. The NY Levittown is very much like PA in spirit.
Thanks! That’s a big kitchen. I’m mostly familiar with early Capes – living, kitchen and two beds, one bath. They were a big attraction for those wanting to move out of Phila.
I do envy my parents’ generation. The geography of our country became a whole new world after WW2. My parents told me they spent every weekend going to see model homes of new developments in NJ and PA. My mom was really obsessed with wanting to live the lifestyle of what we now call MCM. She really wanted to move to one of the Levittowns because she loved how every section had its own self-contained world of shopping and conveniences within walking distance – plus the homes were all-electric. She really got caught up in that 50’s “live better electrically” campaign. They never made the final leap because my mom felt that the street layouts were very confusing! I can’t laugh at that because it’s obvious I inherited that trait of hers!
Mystery solved!
We are in suburban Maryland and near us are some Levittown-style homes (“Rancher” and “Jubilee” models, I believe), though ours is not one.
Our cabinets have been moved to the basement laundry room and painted at least 4 times, and looks like bright yellow of the 70s was the last color, but still sturdy as ever. They are the style of the base cabinets in the second picture and uppers in the third, but only the uppers remain. The house was built in 1946, if only I could have seen this kitchen back then. If we owned, I would definitely consider purchasing those base cabinets and restoring the kitchen.
Sorry, meant the sink base cabinets and the uppers to the left of the window.
Levitt in Levittown – whoda thought? I like that little bit of detailing under the sink with the silver columns (that’s what I see). so…what’s the story on Levitt kitchens? I found this (a few entries AFTER RetroRenovation!)
http://www.levittowners.com/house_kitchen.htm
and then my yahoo search went to current offerings (except houzz which mentioned…RR!)
Because I haunt a realty site, I see a boatload of steel kitchen components that, if I had the storage space, I’d contact the seller to see if they’d consider parting with it since the new owner would undoubtedly throw it away.
I know we discuss ebay & Craigslist but has anyone ventured onto Letgo?
I like those columns too! And I especially like the double drainboard stainless sink. These would make a lovely kitchen all painted up. I wonder if they are mixed make? Some of the upper cabinets have matching handles, some have no handles, some have different vertical handles. Since it seems to me the sink may have originally been under the window, they might have at some point enlarged the kitchen, put in a dishwasher, and combined two sets of cabinets. That is a lot more cabinets than most kitchens had back then.
I live in Levittown, NY, and that sink until is my exact one, a Tracy. A previous owner replaced the handles, unfortunately, and the side columns have been painted over in white. Mine has a white ceramic tile backsplash, not stainless steel. The sink is not under the window, because the kitchen has large floor-to-ceiling windows designed to bring the outside in. A lot of people have closed in the windows and put in more cabinets. The steel drainboard is in great shape, the steel cabinets not so much. Under the sink is pretty rusted out and bent. The uppers are right above the sink. I’m debating about taking out the cabinets and replacing them with a simple white wood.
How interesting! Thank you for sharing, Patricia!