Washington thus Almighty boss of the FBI j

At the beginning of summer 1947, a pack of journalists surrounds John and Philomène Dougherty, the lesser of their facts and actions and collecting their comments carefully. The couple is not yet famous. It is even ordinary Americans, members of the middle class there are both in the United States. If the radio, the press and even television are interested in them, it is in fact for a specific reason: the Dougherty is one of the first couples to move to Levittown, the prefabricated city invented by William "Bill" Levitt and located in the suburb of New York. An event which is the one of all media.

Levittown... This surprising concept embodies perfectly the "American way of life" which emerged in the aftermath of the second world war. A way of life that binds inseparably oil in the car and the car in the suburbs. If the inventor of this concept, William Levitt, was never of interests in oil, it was a huge network of gas stations throughout the territory of the United States, one of those who best understood how black gold was transforming in depth as a Frank Phillips developing twenty years ago the daily lives of Americans. More than the American dream, William Levitt actually symbolizes the entry of an entire people in the "petroleum way of life."

At the outset of this stunning saga, there is indeed the influx of black gold to the United States. A black gold came from Texas and Pennsylvania, South America but also, and more and more, the remote Arabian peninsula. A black gold, especially with the price decrease, lowering production costs dramatically. It is then, at the end of the 1940s, American Society enters fully into the automobile age. In fact, the number of vehicles in circulation in the United States literally explodes from 45 to 120 million between the mid-1940s and the beginning of the 1970s. The consequences are also spectacular: with the automobile, it is any American landscape which is turned in. And how! Across the United States, the suburbs developed on the outskirts of major cities. Launched at the beginning of the century, the movement will soon make the fortune of William Levitt. To link these new residential areas and in historic cities, States embark on major road works. In 1949, the State of California and opens the first Expressway four lanes and urban interchanges in the United States. A few years later, in 1956, President Eisenhower signs the Interstate Highway Bill, which provides for the construction of nearly 100,000 kilometres of motorways. Along these avenues appear to hotels to a new genus: motels. Invented in 1926, they multiply in the second half of the 1940s, arousing the suspicion of the authorities. Washington thus Almighty boss of the FBI, j. Edgar Hoover, like against these establishments "benchmarks of thugs and illicit love", and gives his men training monitor closely.

Prefabricated at low price

The explosion of the car park, the development of the suburbs and road networks it transform in depth the world of trade. In 1949 appear first giant shopping malls located in the outskirts of major cities, while in California, two brothers by the name of McDonald opened the first restaurant accessible by automobile. Will in 1955, associated with a certain Ray Kroc, they open in the suburbs of Chicago the first McDonald's...

The history of William Levitt and prefabricated cities lies at the heart of these transformations. Better! This real estate agent to the physics of ideal son-in-law, this man who only shines by no particular gift and will be always a few simple ideas, will accompany and amplify these mutations, giving to the phenomenon of the suburbs an unknown scale. In 1944, before Levitt, 118.000 American families only live on the outskirts of major cities. They will be 3 million ten years later, time at which the first three Levittown were inaugurated. On that date, a House on eight built in the United States was by the firm of Levitt & Sons. Behind William Levitt, there is indeed a firm, even today one of the main developers of the United States: Levitt & Sons. It is the father of William, Abraham Levitt, who created in 1929. At a time when the crisis strikes the United States, this prosperous attorney specializing in real estate has understood that the future was manufactured on the same model houses and, especially, sold at low prices. From the outset, it surrounds of his two sons, William and Alfred. Born in 1904, the first follow-up studies of law at the University of New York. It is not an intellectual. However, he is a man to the inexhaustible vitality and, above all, a great seller with the beguiling smile and engaging mine are havoc. Of the American middle class which is derived, he also shares all the values: love of the "home", a functional vision of things that will lead to regulate its suburbs down to the smallest detail, a fierce anti-communism, a nothing of Puritanism and prevention marked against black Americans. These values heavily imbued the first Levittown. Alfred, his eight-year cadet, is just the man. Later, it will focus specifically on the design of the houses.

Throughout the 1930s, Abraham Levitt and his two sons lead all construction of nearly 3,000 houses. Edifiées prefabricated elements, they are sold 11,000 dollars on average. More than individuals, the main client of the firm of Levitt & Sons is the US Army, which entrusted the construction of several residential areas for the military. The army... It is she who will be at the origin of ideas Pioneer William Levitt. It really starts at the end of the year 1945. The contacts he had with the military and the countless trips he made to the

At the beginning of summer 1947, a pack of journalists surrounds John and Philomène Dougherty, the lesser of their facts and actions and collecting their comments carefully. The couple is not yet famous. It is even ordinary Americans, members of the middle class there are both in the United States. If the radio, the press and even television are interested in them, it is in fact for a specific reason: the Dougherty is one of the first couples to move to Levittown, the prefabricated city invented by William "Bill" Levitt and located in the suburb of New York. An event which is the one of all media.

Levittown... This surprising concept embodies perfectly the "American way of life" which emerged in the aftermath of the second world war. A way of life that binds inseparably oil in the car and the car in the suburbs. If the inventor of this concept, William Levitt, was never of interests in oil, it was a huge network of gas stations throughout the territory of the United States, one of those who best understood how black gold was transforming in depth as a Frank Phillips developing twenty years ago the daily lives of Americans. More than the American dream, William Levitt actually symbolizes the entry of an entire people in the "petroleum way of life."

At the outset of this stunning saga, there is indeed the influx of black gold to the United States. A black gold came from Texas and Pennsylvania, South America but also, and more and more, the remote Arabian peninsula. A black gold, especially with the price decrease, lowering production costs dramatically. It is then, at the end of the 1940s, American Society enters fully into the automobile age. In fact, the number of vehicles in circulation in the United States literally explodes from 45 to 120 million between the mid-1940s and the beginning of the 1970s. The consequences are also spectacular: with the automobile, it is any American landscape which is turned in. And how! Across the United States, the suburbs developed on the outskirts of major cities. Launched at the beginning of the century, the movement will soon make the fortune of William Levitt. To link these new residential areas and in historic cities, States embark on major road works. In 1949, the State of California and opens the first Expressway four lanes and urban interchanges in the United States. A few years later, in 1956, President Eisenhower signs the Interstate Highway Bill, which provides for the construction of nearly 100,000 kilometres of motorways. Along these avenues appear to hotels to a new genus: motels. Invented in 1926, they multiply in the second half of the 1940s, arousing the suspicion of the authorities. Washington thus Almighty boss of the FBI, j. Edgar Hoover, like against these establishments "benchmarks of thugs and illicit love", and gives his men training monitor closely.

Prefabricated at low price

The explosion of the car park, the development of the suburbs and road networks it transform in depth the world of trade. In 1949 appear first giant shopping malls located in the outskirts of major cities, while in California, two brothers by the name of McDonald opened the first restaurant accessible by automobile. Will in 1955, associated with a certain Ray Kroc, they open in the suburbs of Chicago the first McDonald's...

The history of William Levitt and prefabricated cities lies at the heart of these transformations. Better! This real estate agent to the physics of ideal son-in-law, this man who only shines by no particular gift and will be always a few simple ideas, will accompany and amplify these mutations, giving to the phenomenon of the suburbs an unknown scale. In 1944, before Levitt, 118.000 American families only live on the outskirts of major cities. They will be 3 million ten years later, time at which the first three Levittown were inaugurated. On that date, a House on eight built in the United States was by the firm of Levitt & Sons. Behind William Levitt, there is indeed a firm, even today one of the main developers of the United States: Levitt & Sons. It is the father of William, Abraham Levitt, who created in 1929. At a time when the crisis strikes the United States, this prosperous attorney specializing in real estate has understood that the future was manufactured on the same model houses and, especially, sold at low prices. From the outset, it surrounds of his two sons, William and Alfred. Born in 1904, the first follow-up studies of law at the University of New York. It is not an intellectual. However, he is a man to the inexhaustible vitality and, above all, a great seller with the beguiling smile and engaging mine are havoc. Of the American middle class which is derived, he also shares all the values: love of the "home", a functional vision of things that will lead to regulate its suburbs down to the smallest detail, a fierce anti-communism, a nothing of Puritanism and prevention marked against black Americans. These values heavily imbued the first Levittown. Alfred, his eight-year cadet, is just the man. Later, it will focus specifically on the design of the houses.

Throughout the 1930s, Abraham Levitt and his two sons lead all construction of nearly 3,000 houses. Edifiées prefabricated elements, they are sold 11,000 dollars on average. More than individuals, the main client of the firm of Levitt & Sons is the US Army, which entrusted the construction of several residential areas for the military. The army... It is she who will be at the origin of ideas Pioneer William Levitt. It really starts at the end of the year 1945. The contacts he had with the military and the countless trips he made to the