In late February 1949 Abraham Levitt and his son Alfred sent replies to the thousands of veterans who had previously applied for inexpensive Levitt houses. The first 350 in line on Monday, 7 March, the Levitts wrote, would get houses in a new group under construction; other applicants, if any, would get slips entitling them to houses as they went up. The price: $7,999 — $90 down and $58 a month. The Levitts anticipated that the line would start forming Sunday night. But at 11 P.M. Friday night, Newsweek reported, former-GIs began showing up with chairs, sleeping bags, cushions, and food. The GIs organized guards to ward off claim jumpers and made sure that some could go eat without losing their places. By Sunday the line was longer than anyone had imagined, with applicants far outnumbering available houses. The Levitts gave out numbers for 350 houses, took names and addresses for...