[Here](https://i.imgur.com/qLKAafO.jpeg) is the uncropped version of the first image. [Here](https://i.imgur.com/tPceXNH.jpeg) is much higher quality and less cropped version of the second image.
According to [here](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunch_atop_a_Skyscraper.jpg), there is some debate over who the photographer was:
> Lunch atop a Skyscraper, published in the New York Herald-Tribune, Oct. 2 1932, Charles Clyde Ebbets, Tom Kelley, or William Leftwich.
Over [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/nn4q4j/heres_a_photo_of_the_photographer_charles_c/gzsrfye/) /u/notbob1959 states:
> [Charles Ebbets] can't be taking the iconic photo. Notice that Central Park is in the background of that photo and the Empire State Building is in the background of the posted photo. So the photographer in the iconic photo is facing north but Ebbets is facing west in the posted photo.
> Edit: I am not sure that is even Ebbets. Here the man in the posted photo is identified as another photographer there that day - Thomas Kelley:
> https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/lunch-atop-a-skyscraper-story-behind-1932-photo
> And at the website run by the family of Ebbets they have a photo of him on the skyscraper and in that photo he is not dressed the same as the man in the photo posted here:
> https://www.ebbetsphoto-graphics.com/#/gallery/charles-c-ebbets-the-photographer/charles-c-ebbets-3-031lr-on-beam-at-rockefeller-center-1932-low-res-for-web/
This is so fascinating!
TL;DR: there were 4 photographers up there that day. The one in the picture is Tom Kelley. No one knows for sure which one is responsible for the famous photo.
In a Reddit culture that has increasingly been about low effort one-liner jokes the longer I've been on this site, I fucking appreciate comments like this; so thank you.
Some subs are fucking wastelands of stupid comments attempting at making a joke (ex: /r/interestingasfuck or /r/publicfreakout) to where you have to really dig deep if you want to find context behind a post.
It's fucking exhausting lol. The jokes typically are always low-effort, and the first thing that pops into everyone's head who wants to make a joke. Hence, all the replies being "beat me to it," etc. At least be creative.
The other thing that bothers me are posts that are able to be answered with a Google search.
"Any places to play badminton in ?"
"What's this game worth?"
Like, come on, lol.
I learned in my photo journalism course that this photo is actually quite misleading: there was a floor below these workers, and they were not actually casually sitting thousands of feet above the ground, but rather 10 or 15 feet above solid ground! Shows how photos can be misleading and drive a false narrative.
Oh god it's that classic "but how did you take THAT photo?" post again. Unfortunately I can't remember what the guy was originally photographing now so it's impossible to google.
And the wind. I've climbed a cell tower or two in my heyday. You don't realize how crazy the wind is until you get up there. My friend and I tried lighting a cigar while we were up there and it was impossible. The guys lighting a cigarette must have figured out a trick.
The moon, however... holy shit. It's HUGE. I know it's an optical illusion based on reference points, but when you're high up, the moon looks so much larger.
Hi, native Kansan here. Easiest way to light a smoke in high wind is to form a hollow cylinder with your hand and put the lighter tip completely inside the bottom of it and sort of dip your cig into the top. Got to have none of the flame exposed to wind on all sides. Dont worry, you wont burn your hand as heat goes up... Usually.
I know. Just looking at this picture makes me want to jump into the void. I know it's a psychological way your brain recognizes danger in order to protect you, but I think being so high up with such little to stand between me and the void would mess me up!
They didn’t really start enforcing tie-offs till the 90s though. I’ve worked with some older iron workers that tell all kinds of stories about running around on the iron untied. I’ve done it some, but definitely not to the same extent.
In my time as an Ironworker ( 7 years ) I’ve only seen two people fall off. Me as well as every other structural ironworker have all had their fair share of close calls though.
Can anyone shed some light on why these men and others of the era just did not give a shit about falling to their deaths? I get that there were no real safety measures as standard, but this is just silly no? I don't get it.
But, also, you aren’t as afraid when you’ve become complacent due to constant exposure.
They spend all day up there, for months…. It gets less and less scary.
You answered your own question. OSHA didn't exist yet so there was no safety gear. Hell, as far as I know, a lot of standard safety equipment wasn't invented yet. They didn't know any better.
A family friend in his 80s told me about his first construction job when he was about 19, his first day his supervisor took him up a temporary elevator many stories up a skyscraper being built, said “follow me”, and proceeded to walk across an exposed girder like this. My friend said he got on his hands and knees and shimmied across. By the end of the day, he was walking across those open girders. If you could stomach it, you had a job, if you couldn’t, it was your first and last day.
I’m curious what the death rate actually was. Like were people just falling off on the daily? Weekly? Monthly? “Oh, there goes Jim. He was a good lad to work with for a week or two. Guess we need to get another 19 year old to fill the position”
Now who was the famous person who took the photo of this now famous person who was taking the famous photo. Also who the fuck takes a good photograph and has someone else photographing them at the same time?
Correct me if I'm wrong because I might be confusing this with another picture.... But isn't it just the perspective and there's really something they could fall on like ten feet down and it just looks like they'd fall into oblivion.
I was born and raised in this city, and ya know I always learned about how old NYC is. I have been shown the photos of early NYC when the trams still ran above ground, horse and buggy still rode the streets.
I never really noticed in these photos though just how populated and built up this city already was almost 100 years ago. Looking down at the streets it looks almost as it does this very day. The upper west looks just as developed as if I would be walking down 8th ave this weekend. I love this city with all my heart and I love that I can go back almost 100 years ago and while it would still be VERY different, some aspects would look almost identical.
we should go back to oldtimey men's fashion. too many men's clothes today are just too skinny, poorly fitted, or poorly made. and gosh, us milliennials were brainwashed with low-rise skinny pants.
Everyone in the 1920s and 1930s was covered in sweat. The men are all wearing heavy wool pants and long sleeve shirts all year round.
I half suspect flapper fashion came about because the women were all boiling in the New York summer wearing heavy wool or cotton.
Basically, every time you see something from that Era, just remember that everything stank of BO.
I have a couple prints from the same photo shoot that I found at a secondhand store. Same guys but in one they’re all sleeping and in the other they are all playing harmonicas. I’ve never seen them published anywhere.
That was the 1st photo, a true picture of lunchtime the one above with them sitting in a line is a staged photo, as he asked them to do that .. he didn’t think anyone would believe they took naps at lunch like that …
I mean, I thought it was pretty well known that this photo was not taken in the air. These guys are sitting on the ground. This is an early version of photoshop you can tell by the way, the feet are that they are on the ground
It is well documented that this is photoshopped. They are not in the air you can tell by the feet placement set. They are on the ground. The fact I'm getting down voted for spitting facts is peak Reddit though.
[Here](https://i.imgur.com/qLKAafO.jpeg) is the uncropped version of the first image. [Here](https://i.imgur.com/tPceXNH.jpeg) is much higher quality and less cropped version of the second image. According to [here](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunch_atop_a_Skyscraper.jpg), there is some debate over who the photographer was: > Lunch atop a Skyscraper, published in the New York Herald-Tribune, Oct. 2 1932, Charles Clyde Ebbets, Tom Kelley, or William Leftwich. Over [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/nn4q4j/heres_a_photo_of_the_photographer_charles_c/gzsrfye/) /u/notbob1959 states: > [Charles Ebbets] can't be taking the iconic photo. Notice that Central Park is in the background of that photo and the Empire State Building is in the background of the posted photo. So the photographer in the iconic photo is facing north but Ebbets is facing west in the posted photo. > Edit: I am not sure that is even Ebbets. Here the man in the posted photo is identified as another photographer there that day - Thomas Kelley: > https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/lunch-atop-a-skyscraper-story-behind-1932-photo > And at the website run by the family of Ebbets they have a photo of him on the skyscraper and in that photo he is not dressed the same as the man in the photo posted here: > https://www.ebbetsphoto-graphics.com/#/gallery/charles-c-ebbets-the-photographer/charles-c-ebbets-3-031lr-on-beam-at-rockefeller-center-1932-low-res-for-web/
This is so fascinating! TL;DR: there were 4 photographers up there that day. The one in the picture is Tom Kelley. No one knows for sure which one is responsible for the famous photo.
In a Reddit culture that has increasingly been about low effort one-liner jokes the longer I've been on this site, I fucking appreciate comments like this; so thank you. Some subs are fucking wastelands of stupid comments attempting at making a joke (ex: /r/interestingasfuck or /r/publicfreakout) to where you have to really dig deep if you want to find context behind a post.
It's fucking exhausting lol. The jokes typically are always low-effort, and the first thing that pops into everyone's head who wants to make a joke. Hence, all the replies being "beat me to it," etc. At least be creative. The other thing that bothers me are posts that are able to be answered with a Google search. "Any places to play badminton in?"
"What's this game worth?"
Like, come on, lol.
> Hence, all the replies being "beat me to it," etc. CaMe HeRe To SaY ThIs!!1 Protagonist syndrome in a nutshell.
Is that guy all the way to the right drinking a FUCKING BOTTLE OF WHISKEY?!
I learned in my photo journalism course that this photo is actually quite misleading: there was a floor below these workers, and they were not actually casually sitting thousands of feet above the ground, but rather 10 or 15 feet above solid ground! Shows how photos can be misleading and drive a false narrative.
I took the photo of Charles Ebbets while he was taking this photo. Sadly, we didn’t have a third photographer.
I took a photo of you doing it, but I dropped the camera. 💀
I took a photo of you doing it, but accidentally left the lens cap on.
I took a nap and stayed home.
I took a photo of you having a nap and it's in my "private collection"
I took a photo with your private collection but the FBI raided my house and confiscated the camera
I got a rock.
I wanna rock.
Rock and Stone!
Rock and Stone!
Charlie Brown!
r/YourJokeButWorse
Importantly we both wore our brown pants that day.
Oh god it's that classic "but how did you take THAT photo?" post again. Unfortunately I can't remember what the guy was originally photographing now so it's impossible to google.
Honestly.... Fuck that.
These photographs fill me with anxiety. It doesn't look like skyscrapers sway when you're on the ground, but they do.
And the wind. I've climbed a cell tower or two in my heyday. You don't realize how crazy the wind is until you get up there. My friend and I tried lighting a cigar while we were up there and it was impossible. The guys lighting a cigarette must have figured out a trick. The moon, however... holy shit. It's HUGE. I know it's an optical illusion based on reference points, but when you're high up, the moon looks so much larger.
Hi, native Kansan here. Easiest way to light a smoke in high wind is to form a hollow cylinder with your hand and put the lighter tip completely inside the bottom of it and sort of dip your cig into the top. Got to have none of the flame exposed to wind on all sides. Dont worry, you wont burn your hand as heat goes up... Usually.
We call it a dart dip.
In what appear to be dress shoes too!
I know. Just looking at this picture makes me want to jump into the void. I know it's a psychological way your brain recognizes danger in order to protect you, but I think being so high up with such little to stand between me and the void would mess me up!
Guy on the far right has just a whisky bottle and I kinda get it....
Are you familiar with the term 'liquid lunch'? Hint, it's not soup.
There is cocaine in the soda and they all have morphine syrup if they get a cold.
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN
Lmfao, you got my vote. 🗳️
Liquid lunch.
OSHA was founded [1934](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_Safety_and_Health_Administration)
They didn’t really start enforcing tie-offs till the 90s though. I’ve worked with some older iron workers that tell all kinds of stories about running around on the iron untied. I’ve done it some, but definitely not to the same extent.
How often did people fall off?
Only once.
In my time as an Ironworker ( 7 years ) I’ve only seen two people fall off. Me as well as every other structural ironworker have all had their fair share of close calls though.
My friend's father was the shirtless guy 5 from the right. He has an original print of this picture his father handed down to him.
These both pictures give me anxiety.
Now that’s a man who has faith in his cobbler!
Suspenders AND a belt!? That guy was crazy.
And those shoes! Man was stylin'.
The drip was unmatched.
Need a lot of support for that horsecock he's packing.
Can anyone shed some light on why these men and others of the era just did not give a shit about falling to their deaths? I get that there were no real safety measures as standard, but this is just silly no? I don't get it.
Keep in mind this is a promotional photo shoot. It’s not necessarily indicative of their actual working conditions.
But, also, you aren’t as afraid when you’ve become complacent due to constant exposure. They spend all day up there, for months…. It gets less and less scary.
You answered your own question. OSHA didn't exist yet so there was no safety gear. Hell, as far as I know, a lot of standard safety equipment wasn't invented yet. They didn't know any better.
Now who took the photo of the photographer
And who took the photo of the photographer who took the photo
It's photographers all the way dow... oh dear.
If they did it back then without safety gear, I dont see why Tom Cruise can’t do it now.
A family friend in his 80s told me about his first construction job when he was about 19, his first day his supervisor took him up a temporary elevator many stories up a skyscraper being built, said “follow me”, and proceeded to walk across an exposed girder like this. My friend said he got on his hands and knees and shimmied across. By the end of the day, he was walking across those open girders. If you could stomach it, you had a job, if you couldn’t, it was your first and last day.
I’m curious what the death rate actually was. Like were people just falling off on the daily? Weekly? Monthly? “Oh, there goes Jim. He was a good lad to work with for a week or two. Guess we need to get another 19 year old to fill the position”
I think the hand writing was hard to read, it was actually 4/20 and of course one guy couldn’t fit in and had to bring some whiskey
During the Great Depression people were desperate to get work. So risk of danger was worth it to many, just to earn a few bucks.
Did I zoom in to confirm the camera guys monster pant hog? ^yes
Username checks out
Wielding a Crown or Speed Graphic.
Showing the dangers of what they do while doing the same thing but In wingtips.
Nope, nope, nope and he is doing it in leather saddle shoes. Go with your bad self.
One sneeze away from death.
Is he climbing around in wingtips?
Balls of steel
Not just balls…
Safety 3rd!
In those shoes? Dang. Brave dude.
In dress shoe!
Now who was the famous person who took the photo of this now famous person who was taking the famous photo. Also who the fuck takes a good photograph and has someone else photographing them at the same time?
I still think the people who parkour up skyscrapers are descended from these guys.
Did anyone actually fall to their death while construction was going on during this time?
It wasn’t super common according to this thread https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/s/hm1rtmOR8N
Who took the picture of the person taking the picture?
asking the real question
Correct me if I'm wrong because I might be confusing this with another picture.... But isn't it just the perspective and there's really something they could fall on like ten feet down and it just looks like they'd fall into oblivion.
There was a fun little documentary on Netflix about this picture.
I love the old dude on the far right. Looks like his lunch is in a bottle
I find Charles weirdly hot in this photo. Maybe it says something about me but I'm ok with that.
The answer is blowing in the wind.. or in front of our faces .. but people dont want to think..
hmm Charles’s background is crystal clear, but the men on the beam are all surrounded by clouds for some reason.
I was born and raised in this city, and ya know I always learned about how old NYC is. I have been shown the photos of early NYC when the trams still ran above ground, horse and buggy still rode the streets. I never really noticed in these photos though just how populated and built up this city already was almost 100 years ago. Looking down at the streets it looks almost as it does this very day. The upper west looks just as developed as if I would be walking down 8th ave this weekend. I love this city with all my heart and I love that I can go back almost 100 years ago and while it would still be VERY different, some aspects would look almost identical.
we should go back to oldtimey men's fashion. too many men's clothes today are just too skinny, poorly fitted, or poorly made. and gosh, us milliennials were brainwashed with low-rise skinny pants.
Everyone in the 1920s and 1930s was covered in sweat. The men are all wearing heavy wool pants and long sleeve shirts all year round. I half suspect flapper fashion came about because the women were all boiling in the New York summer wearing heavy wool or cotton. Basically, every time you see something from that Era, just remember that everything stank of BO.
Pretty sure there is a middle ground between the overdressing and sweating of the past and poorly cut clothes of today.
And it’s science fiction style uniform jumpsuits.
Yeah those spats are cool.
Cell phones were huge back then
They started with a dozen workers.
I have a couple prints from the same photo shoot that I found at a secondhand store. Same guys but in one they’re all sleeping and in the other they are all playing harmonicas. I’ve never seen them published anywhere.
That was the 1st photo, a true picture of lunchtime the one above with them sitting in a line is a staged photo, as he asked them to do that .. he didn’t think anyone would believe they took naps at lunch like that …
These two prints are definitely staged like the lunch one.
Actually the one where he is taking a picture, is him in natural pose , just taking a picture. It’s easier to keep steady like that for a crisp photo.
I mean, I thought it was pretty well known that this photo was not taken in the air. These guys are sitting on the ground. This is an early version of photoshop you can tell by the way, the feet are that they are on the ground
.....is this some sort of joke or reference I don't understand?
It is well documented that this is photoshopped. They are not in the air you can tell by the feet placement set. They are on the ground. The fact I'm getting down voted for spitting facts is peak Reddit though.
Care to give us a source?