Saturday, August 8, 2009

skyscraper lunch

most people i know are pretty scared of heights, myself included. however i might fall into the category of terrified of heights. these photos are preposterous to me. i am utterly amazed that men (maybe women?) actually did this sort of thing back in the day before we had the harnessing and suspension doo-dads we have now. seriously, these photos are not doctored. i wonder how many lives were claimed due to this type of work. you know it must be up in the hundreds if not thousands. this is how our skyscrapers were built!! think of that the next time you're in NYC.

"These photos depict scenes of workers who participated in the construction of skyscrapers between 1920 and 1935."


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This post made me think of this:

Dinner In The Sky

They are strapped in though :] I desperately want to do it!

Maria Killam said...

Those images are classic! Love them! Although my sister doesn't like the massive one my brother-in-law has in his office :)

carly k said...

I'm with you... terrified of heights! Just looking at these pictures makes my stomach lurch!

Sarah Klassen said...

Very classic, indeed! Makes my heart race just looking at them, though!

Also, thanks so much for the birthday comment - it was such a great day!

:)

mike said...

Dinner in the Sky -
How do you know they are strapped in. I've looked before and can find no information from the original photo 'Lunch on a Skyscraper' (1932) to confirm that they are strapped in. This is something I've always wondered myself.

The Townhouselady said...

I'm contacting OSHA immediately!

I had a few of these hanging in my old office down in the financial district and am so mad at myself for leaving them when I left.

Jean said...

What kills me is the guy on the far right (top pic). Looks like a bottle of booze he's holding in his left hand.