Wooden spools in Levittown

A planned town of the 1950s

Levittown, Pennsylvania, was built by Levitt & Sons in the 1950s as one of the largest planned communities in the country, with more than 17,000 houses arranged in neighbourhoods whose streets each start with the same letter. It is not a municipality of its own: it spreads across Bristol Township, Falls Township, Middletown Township and Tullytown borough. The houses were built quickly to a handful of models, and most are now around seventy years old.

Seventy-year-old houses

Houses built in the 1950s were wired for a very different way of life. Many of Levittown's homes have had their wiring, panels and services upgraded more than once, and many more are being upgraded now for heat pumps, air conditioning, car chargers, solar panels and kitchen and bathroom renovations. Every one of those jobs leaves a little behind:

• plywood or plastic spools of building wire;
• a small reel of service entrance or underground feeder cable;
• offcuts and half-used spools that the electrician has no use for.

Individually, those are small. Across thousands of houses, they add up to a lot of spools, and electricians who specialise in this work often have a garage full of them.

Shopping centres and the highway strips

US 13 (Bristol Pike) and US 1 run along the edges of Levittown with shopping centres, car dealers, restaurants and light industry along them. The old Levittown Shopping Center has been redeveloped, and other retail sites are refitted regularly. Those jobs produce mid-size reels as well as spools.

Getting a truck through Levittown

The neighbourhoods are laid out on curving streets, many of them loops and cul-de-sacs, which can be awkward for large trucks. New Falls Road runs through the middle, and US 13 and US 1 run along the edges. I-95 and the Turnpike are close by. For pickups at houses, a small truck is usually enough; tell us whether the reels are in a garage, a back yard or on the driveway. The Burlington-Bristol Bridge is the nearest crossing to New Jersey.

Spools for gardeners and makers

Levittown's yards are full of gardens, and many gardeners ask for small spools to hold hose or to use as plant stands. Makers ask for table-size reels. When we are collecting in the area, we can drop off as well as pick up. See farm and garden reels.

Collecting from an electrician's garage

An electrician who works in Levittown might have fifty or a hundred spools and small reels at home or in a rented garage. That is a good single pickup. Tell us how many there are, roughly what sizes, and whether there are any larger reels mixed in. Spools in good condition go back into use; broken ones go to recycling.

Pools, sheds and backyard projects

Levittown's lots are roomy for their era, and many homeowners have added above-ground or in-ground pools, sheds, workshops, decks and patios. Each of those needs power: a pool pump circuit with its own bonding wire, a feeder to the shed, lighting on the deck. The electrician's leftovers might include a short reel of direct-burial cable, a spool of bare copper bonding conductor, and part-used spools of building wire. Homeowners who did the work themselves often have similar spools in the garage.

Shopping, schools and churches

Levittown's neighbourhoods were built around schools, churches, pools and small shopping areas, many of which are now being renovated. Bristol Township, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts serve the area, and their building upgrades bring electricians with mid-size reels. Churches and community halls replacing old lighting and wiring leave smaller amounts.

The famous house models

Levitt's houses came in a few standard models, among them the Levittowner, Jubilee, Country Clubber and Colonial. Their original electrical systems were simple by modern standards, and most owners have long since upgraded the service to handle air conditioning, dryers and electric ranges. The current wave is heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers, which often need another service upgrade.

Neighbourhood names

From Appletree Hill to Yellowood, each section's streets start with one letter, which makes addresses easy to find. Give the street, the section and the nearest crossroad on US 13 or New Falls Road.

Estate clear-outs

As original owners' families sell up, clear-out crews empty garages packed with decades of tools, lumber, cords and the odd drum. Rather than paying a dumpster fee by the cubic yard, set reels aside and ask us.

Ground-mount solar and battery storage

Some owners add backyard solar arrays or garage battery units, whose trenching needs direct-burial conductors from compact drums.

Questions

Which ZIP codes do you cover?

All of Levittown's: 19054, 19055, 19056 and 19057, along with the surrounding parts of Bristol, Falls and Middletown townships and Tullytown.

Do you take a single spool?

Yes, when we are already in the area. It may wait a little for the next run through Lower Bucks.