Lunch Atop a Skyscraper Photograph: The Story Behind the Famous Shot
For 80 years, the 11 ironworkers in the iconic photo have remained unknown, and now, thanks to new research, two of them have been identified
- By Megan Gambino
- Smithsonian.com, September 20, 2012, Subscribe
On September 20, 1932, high above 41st Street in Manhattan, 11 ironworkers took part in a daring publicity stunt. The men were accustomed to walking along the girders of the RCA building (now called the GE building) they were constructing in Rockefeller Center. On this particular day, though, they humored a photographer, who was drumming up excitement about the project’s near completion. Some of the tradesmen tossed a football; a few pretended to nap. But, most famously, all 11 ate lunch on a steel beam, their feet dangling 850 feet above the city’s streets.
You’ve seen the photograph before—and probably some of the playful parodies it has spawned too. My brother had a poster in his childhood bedroom with actors, such as Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio, photoshopped in place of the steelworkers. The portrait has become an icon of 20th century American photography.
But how much do you know about it?
For the Irish filmmaker Seán Ó Cualáin, the mystery surrounding the photograph is a large part of its appeal. “There are so many unknowns,” he says. Who was the photographer? And who are the men?
“They could be anybody,” says Ó Cualáin. “We can all place ourselves on that beam. I think that is why the photograph works.”
Ó Cualáin did not plan to tell the story of the photograph, but that’s exactly what he has done in his latest documentary, Men at Lunch, which debuted earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival.
“It was a happy accident,” says Ó Cualáin. He and his brother, Eamonn, the film’s producer, were in a pub in Galway, when they noticed a copy of the photograph hanging in a corner. Beside the photograph was a note from the son of a local immigrant who left Ireland for New York in the 1920s: "This is my dad on the far right and my uncle-in-law on the far left." They asked the bartender about the note, and "like all good Irish barmen," says Ó Cualáin, he put them in contact with Pat Glynn, the Bostonite who penned it, that very night.
The filmmakers’ curiosity led them on a journey from the supposed relatives of a couple of the men pictured to the Rockefeller Center photography archives in New York City and a storage facility in Pennsylvania where the licensing company Corbis holds the original glass plate negative.
In the process, the Ó Cualáin brothers confirmed that the photograph is real, and not a darkroom trick, as has been speculated. They turned up three possible photographers and, for the first time ever, unquestionably identified two of the men on the beam.
Click on the highlighted portions of the famous photograph, below, to learn more about its long-held secrets. The notes have been prepared based on conversations with Seán Ó Cualáin and Ken Johnston, director of historical photography at Corbis. The photograph is part of Corbis’ prestigious Bettmann Archive.
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Comments (19)
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Since I´ve heard a totally different opinion about the identity of the fifth man from the left ("a Swedish guy, mr Svensson") I would be most grateful if Carly Stagg could contact me for a discussion about the evidence. I´m a Swedish journalist and you reach me through hakan.bergstrom@hn.se
Posted by Håkan Bergström on November 30,2012 | 09:04 AM
The 5th one over from the left is my great grandfather Claude Stagg from Newfoundland and Labrador . Contact me if you would like to find out more information..
Posted by Carly Stagg on November 24,2012 | 03:56 AM
I also claim the 3rd man from left as a relative. It is amazing that so many claim that same man as their relation. I do have another photo of him sitting on a beam, that was sent to him from a newspaper. My family for years has been trying to prove his identity.
Posted by Jean bottone on October 10,2012 | 11:43 AM
I remember visiting the Top of the Rock, and if I recall correctly, there is a huge reproduction of this picture (wall-length) in the gift shop. After being all the way up there, seeing how high it is with my own eyes, just looking at the picture gives me vertigo. It is quite unbelievable that those workers were able (and willing!) to walk a top the beams with no protecting straps. But then again, cheap labor abounded during the great depression, and people must have been desperate enough for jobs and money to risk their lives this way. Two other things come to mind when I see the picture, more contemporary examples of high-rise danger: the Chinese workers on the bamboo scaffolding and Tom Cruise's Burj Khalifa crazy stunt (and crazier behind-the-scenes video) though willingly performed (unlike the worker's danger), it makes my palms sweat every time I watch that scene!
Posted by Ana S on October 3,2012 | 02:00 PM
Hi, I just read similar article in Slovak news paper (http://spravy.pravda.sk/pred-osemdesiatimi-rokmi-oddychovali-v-oblakoch-fui-/sk_svet.asp?c=A121002_134232_sk_svet_p12) and according to this article, the first man from right is Gusti Popovic (not Patrick "Sonny" Glynn), worker who came from eastern part of Slovakia (part of Czechoslovakia at that time). In that article it's written he sent this photo to his wife where he holds bottle of Whiskey, despite of prohibition ... Hope this helps to clarify it Greetings Rudolf
Posted by Rudolf Gutten on October 2,2012 | 12:18 PM
The fifth man from the left is my grandfather. If the author would like more information, please contact me. :)
Posted by Dawn Carl on September 29,2012 | 10:40 AM
Since 2009 I have been seriously researching this photograph trying to notify its "owner(s)" through inquiries with various entities that I could identify my grandfather as the man on the beam (third from left). It was common knowledge in the family that it was indeed he, an ironworker, at that time. His image has been without question to his sons for years and I tried to speak to a number of people about this identification to establish the fact. I have met with disregard and difficulty in contacting appropriate or interested parties. I am surprised to learn that someone "believes" the third man from left has now been identified. This cannot be the case. For history's sake and that credit be given where due, I would like to see the record clarified. Perhaps the Smithsonian might be willing to assist me.
Posted by Valerie on September 27,2012 | 08:05 PM
Based on what you've written here, I'll dispute the "evidence of multiple photographers". " using large format Graflex Speed Graphic-type cameras. "You couldn't change film that fast," " Not true. Using a Grafmatic back or a Graphic Film Pack, 4x5" sheet film could have easily been changed in about a half second. For a professional, it would be as fast & easy as advancing film on an SLR. Instead, I would try overlaying the images to see if there is a significant change in the camera point of view.
Posted by T. Wynne on September 26,2012 | 03:39 PM
Bostonite English Adjective Bostonite Bostonian: of, from, or pertaining to Boston. Noun Bostonite (plural Bostonites) (uncountable) A fine-grained, pale-colored, grey or pinkish intrusive rock, which consists essentially of alkali-feldspar. [quotations ▼] A Bostonian: a person who lives in or comes from Boston.
Posted by on September 24,2012 | 01:19 AM
I read - long ago - that most men who worked on the early skyscrapers were Red Indian. It was said they had less fear of heights.
Posted by Moira on September 23,2012 | 01:53 AM
Johnston is stating that the decision to question Ebbets as the photographer who is credited with the photo is the fact that there were two other photographers present that day. This is not new information, but is something that has been known to Johnston for quite some time. Johnston knew that other photographers could have taken the photo and it was this fact that caused him to come to the home of Ebbets’ daughter to review the rest of Ebbets work and dozens of supporting documents in 2003. He immediately discerned that the work of Charles C. Ebbets was different from any of the other photographers that “may” have taken the photo and the supporting evidence confirmed their claim. One of the other photographers mentioned was an 18 year old who was still learning the trade, and the other worked in New York throughout 1940s-1950s. There is however, no evidence whatsoever that either of these men took the famous photo. In the past 15 years, during its worldwide circulation, neither they, nor any of their family members has ever come forward to claim any association with the photograph. In fact, all of the evidence has always pointed to Charles C. Ebbets as the author. Mr. Johnston neglected to tell any of the news agencies that were provided this recent “news” release that Corbis’ own private investigators from the prestigious firm of Marksmen Investigations, a world leader in intellectual property claim investigations and used by 75 of the Fortune 500 companies, investigated everyone ever associated with the image, including the estates of the Hamilton Wright family and the Lewis Hine foundation, and found no evidence of anyone but Ebbets as the author. This issue is not about any new discovery of other photographers being present, but instead it is about the money that has been generated by the iconic photograph and the fact that it will continue to generate a vast sum of money for Corbis, provided they can continue to claim uncontested copyright.
Posted by Tami Hahn on September 23,2012 | 02:01 PM
The photo may be real, but the article was written by someone not from NYC, or ever visited it. There's no tall buildings along 41st St, and Rockefeller Center and the GE building are between 49th and 50th St.
Posted by Gary Bauer on September 23,2012 | 12:28 PM
These people's names can for sure be found in the building archives. If blue prints can be found, then the payrolls can be found. These workers' grand children can be proud of their hard working grand fathers who helped build New York in a time of strife, three years after the great depression.
Posted by Noureddine on September 23,2012 | 10:34 AM
it's amazing
Posted by jinay on September 23,2012 | 08:19 AM
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