The only requirement for employment at the time, was good physical condition and no fear of heights. They had some good times, some bad times, but all (very) high times…
Apparently, these photos are all fakes intended to show the American people how great their construction workers were. In actual fact (well, apparently anyway) most of the skyscrapers in NYC were built by ‘fearless’ native indian tribes who had no fear of heights whatsoever.
FYI.
# 10 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
patg said:
The pictures are very real, the indians that were brought in were Mohawks from Canada that aided in the construction of the empire state building
# 10 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Neil said:
Carlos: [citation needed]
# 10 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Tyler said:
Well whoever did it kudos cause what an amazing feat. I barely have the balls to clean the gutters on my house much less build a sky skraper… Human being can still amaze me
# 10 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Casey said:
Wow. My palms are sweaty just from looking at those pics!
# 11 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Benny said:
Are you blind? These people are white.
# 11 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Sarah said:
Carlos: whilst there were a few hundred Mohawk workers, the majority of the 3,400 workers used were white Europeans.
# 11 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
ghostwriter said:
A friend of mine is constantly referring to that lunch-box photo as the most iconic photo ever taken. I tend to agree with him.
# 11 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Christian said:
Hah!!! That’s right… we Europeans are fearless!!!
# 11 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Deborah said:
The 6th photo from the top (and possibly some of the others) was taken by Charles C. Ebbets during the building of Rockefeller Center. It’s a very interesting story, his family didn’t realize that he had taken what would become Getty Images best selling photograph until a few years ago when Ebbet’s widow saw the poster in a bagel shop and told her daughter, “I think your father took that picture.” Take a look at their website http://www.ebbetsphoto-graphics.com
# 11 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Ivan said:
well you know what it is great that someone wants to be a racist about what was done in the past. No matter what race worked on any skyscraper it is an incredible feat that they did; the lack of fear by those men in the pics is phenomenal. grow up Carlos quit being so bigoted.
# 11 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
janzie said:
Just looking at these photos gives me that stabbing feeling in my toes associated with paralyzing fear! I can’t get over how they did that, it’s truly amazing! I would have died before they get me up there >.<
# 11 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
kissmo said:
They are really fearless..They can do anything.
# 11 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
eydie said:
i am afraid of heights and i honestly got a little dizzy just looking at those pics. i wonder how many men died? some of them had to have fallen, right?
# 11 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Taylor said:
What ivan said. also, the game.
# 12 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Zizzyzezzy said:
Those ppl are either very very brave or….very very stupid. I’m gonna go w/ a bit of both. (more stupid though, since it’s not wise to get drunk while doing anything dangerous…Maybe that was they plan- have ‘em sign a waver, then after you feel they’ve done enough, get them drunk, and see how many less ppl you have to pay. *LOL*)
# 12 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
nikkodelumen said:
I have fear of heights. Good thing I’m not born to do those things. I won’t stand those kind of work, anything associating heights.
# 12 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Willy Brown Balls said:
It is quite impressive to be able to tolerate such heights but what you need to remember is that those same people were there from the start of the building at ground level so they were gradually getting used to the height as the building got higher bit by bit.
This post was mentioned on Twitter by CtrlFollow: iT Was High Times! http://bit.ly/4mJUck...
# 12 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
SharlzG said:
Hmm… Interesting proposition Carlos, but I would suggest that this may not be 100% correct since there are thousands of photgraphs taken during this time and it’s highly unlikely that they are “all fakes”. Maybe “a few”, but I doubt “all”
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
louis said:
The first one look a bit fake, as does the third from the end, both seem to be in the same place. The white mist around the beam gives it away.
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
loverbox said:
They are really fearless and so brave..
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Liza said:
Wow, high times is correct
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
reese said:
who cares who built it. immigrants and slaves built the united states. what is important about these pics is how they were fearless men and risked their lives to build to expand this country.
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
daveN said:
The shots are real, but the way the shots have been angled is a ‘forced perspective’, a similar technique was used in the early Harold Lloyd films. The guys are indeed very high up, but there isn’t a big drop below them, its just down to the angle of the shot (one exception to the above pics may be the 3rd from the top). But they are still excellent photographs.
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
martin james said:
Ask a Pro (Ironworkers) google it
pics are real
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Stacy said:
This is what my husband does for a living, with a little better safety measures these days. We have the lunch picture hanging on our wall. And to all you who say this is fake, it is an insult to all the men died doing their job!
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Cody B said:
Well considering that how tall this building would have to have been (or atleast one of them pictured) compared to the Empire State Building in the background that atleast a couple of these are not 100% authentic. Most of them I’m sure are, and are very cool.
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
B said:
@louis The “white mist” that “gives away” the photo is actually an effect from a darkroom technique called dodging, as in dodging and burning. It is a technique used to lighten up certain areas of the picture by physically covering it up(dodging), while letting other areas of the photo expose longer(burning). Amazing as it may seem, Adobe didn’t make this phrase up.
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Fred said:
No hard hats, safety glasses,safety harnesses, lanyards,or steel toed boots either. That’s what working was like at least until after WWII. By the 60’s most large industries required at least hard hats and safety glasses. The insurance rates drove requirements for safety gear. People get used to working around dangerous conditions. How many people now work daily with hazardous chemicals, high voltages, pressured vessels,or mechanical devices that can chop off an appendage in a micro-second?
Iron workers make good wages when they work. That’s the main reason that they do this kind of work. They work strange hours, sometimes double shifts, twelve hour days, followed by long periods of unemployment. They are proud of their accomplishments. Who amongst us could look at a skyscraper that you had helped build, without a feeling of accomplishment and pride. Yeah and they drank heavy, almost a requirement for a job in the old days.
Whether you come home at the end of the day is mostly connected to attitudes towards safety. Whether you take an “acceptable risk” or find an other way to do the job. What is important to the employer? Is it a “get er done” attitude, or one where safety violations will be cause for discipline. I have worked construction at Intel where every day starts with a pre-task plan where all potential hazards are written down and the method to mitigate the dangers. Someone hurt on the job by something not covered by the pre-task plan had better have a good reason or they might not work at Intel again.
Such stringent safety practices are rare. The “get er done” attitude prevails. Ultimately workers will not get the safe working conditions necessary to come safely home until they have power to stop production. Current labor organizations offer little hope.
Work safe and organize!
Fred
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
LJR said:
Actually, if you want to see this happen now… there are a team of workers that climb and paint the Golden Gate Bridge every year.
I, personally, won’t even climb a ladder… so….
# 13 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
FreddyNoe said:
Awesome pictures of awesome brave men!
How many of them workers fell to their death building
those giants edifices, one wonders!
Well done to the photographer, very adventurous
considering the heavy equipment he had to
set up for these shots.
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
greg said:
Carlos….you seem to piss people off where and when ever you leave comments!!!!
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
adelaide dj hire said:
wow, those guys had a lot of guts to do that!
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Sevi said:
As many have said before, these pictures are incredible. I had only ever seen the lunch box one.
I also think that what Willy Brown said had a lot to do with it. The fact that they progressively got higher must have influenced a great amount to how normal the felt up high.
I would have loved a job like that, I always on rooftops and climbing. i think an honest job is a hard job. And i don’t think there’s much harder and hazardous work than think
Props
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
just an old guy said:
I’ve noticed over time that every time (without fail) when anyone posts any pics on the net there is invariably one moron that wants to show their superior intelligence by declaring them fake. All they invariably do is make fools of themselves. Get a clue Carlos. I was there and I know what’s real and what isn’t. But then maybe I’m not real? Oh dear, now what?
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
kent said:
No way i can ever do that !
Remember Vertigo, the movie ?!
Ahahaha…
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Sarah said:
Re. drinking on the job… apparently roofers, at least, often drink a little as they work, because they’re much more likely to survive a fall tipsy than they are straight. Not sure if the same applies from these heights though!
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Me2 said:
After they were hired the foreman would inform each and every one that they if they fell they were fired just BEFORE hitting the ground. Saved the company a lot of paperwork.
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
john b. said:
OBVIOUSLY ALL THESE ARE PHOTOSHOPPED. YOU CAN TELL BY THE PIXELS. DONE WITH PHOTOSHOP CS4, NOT CS3. IT’S QUITE OBVIOUS IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY.
I’M AN EXPERT AT THIS STUFF; TRUST ME.
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
BobMeat said:
The rule of thumb in skyscraper construction at that time was that for every floor of the building, one construction worker was severely injured or killed on the job while the building was being built.
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
e said:
Yeah, my palms are a lil sweaty, too (to whoever said it above)…I think common sense would’ve dictated SOME sort of harness, I mean, technology wasn’t amazing then, but if they can build a building like that, then they certainly could’ve developed some safety mechanisms.
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Michael said:
I can’t tell if john b is an ass or is serious…overall its bad jpeg quality.
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Dan said:
@Ivan, Taylor- How is Carlos’ comment “bigoted?” He in no way insulted the people/demographic he mentioned and was merely stating what he believes to be fact.
Case in point: At a darker point in our nation’s history, Southern farmers forced the strongest and most physically capable blacks they could find to labor on their plantations. Does saying this make me a bigot? I sure hope not, because if so all my history lessons have been gleaned from some of the most “bigoted” professors I have yet encountered.
# 14 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
johnny H said:
@johnB.
I remember seeing these images when i was about 7 or 8 (I am nearly 45) so unless you have travelled back in time with a development team from Adobe……
@carlos
Most of the workers who built the new York Skyline were first and second wave european migrants. Fact There were a number of Indigenous people involved in the building, and these were highlighted recently for political gain. Repeating such vicious racial diatribe just should make you review your source of news.?
# 15 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Col. D J Cooper said:
The following link takes you to a book that might help the discussion.
the pictures are suposed to be taken during construction of the rockefeller center, only one problem there.
in the backgroun you can see the chrysler building wich is 319 meters tall.the rockefeller center is only 259 mtrs.
so the pictures where you can see the chrysler building being quite a bit lower then where the picture were ( supposed) to be taken from, MUST be fakes,
and so the rest of them are probably also fakes.
# 15 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Dave said:
Cody B, actually that is not the Empire State Building in the background, but the Chrysler Building. You can see roughly the same view of the Chrysler Building from the observation deck of the ESB.
# 15 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
editec said:
I recognize every one of these photos from a book my parents owned about the building of the Empire State Building (probably purchased at that building in the early 50s) in during the depression.
And the guy who thinks these are faked because he cannot see if the workers are AmerIndians is just plain nuts.
Steelworkers are not all Mohawks, fool.
# 15 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Jan said:
My grandpa from Macedonia helped build also he worked on the railroad too. And no these are not fakes.
# 15 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
matt said:
these look pretty real, and carlos, you look like a pretty big idiot..
# 15 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Casey said:
definitely REAL. they were Irish immigrants mostly … probably drunk, hence the fearlessness.. hahaha <3 <3 represent
# 15 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Victoria said:
Hahaha wow. I really hope Carlos isn’t still reading these posts. His heart is probably breaking. I don’t even remember what he was talking about. Indians? What?
And then, why did I just read all those other posts directed at Carlos?
Why are you reading this comments? It’s like the 80th one. I’m not making fun of you if you are, I got sucked in too. But…go check out something more interesting.
You’re on the internet for goodness sake.
# 15 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Paul said:
I’m an Ironworker out of L.A. local 433, and these pictures are real. It takes a certin type of individual to do this kind of work.I love my job, and get respected when doing it.Yeah I guess you could say we(Ironworkers)are a little nuts, but we do what alot of others,wouldn’t,or couldn’t do.
# 15 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Van said:
It’s so nuts how these guys can do this stuff with a total lack of fear. Amazing.
# 15 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Dan said:
Why do you hate America Carlos? (dead serious)
# 16 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Ben said:
If that was today and in Britain those steel erectors’ bosses would have to fill out reams of risk assessment forms and no one would be allowed within 100 yards of a girder without a hard hat, fluorescent jacket, and a safety harness. Some might argue that doing so is a good thing but I sometimes wonder if all the precautions we take these days have eroded confidence in our own capabilities.
# 16 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Chels said:
Honestly, these are probably real. My dad is an iron worker and he has an entire album of him up on the skyscrapers and many of them look just like this. I’ve always thought it was amazing.
# 16 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Alex Ludd said:
First!
# 16 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Fuzzybear said:
These pictures were taken in the 1930’s. They have not been digitally remastered. That’s why the clarity is not that great.
And even tho Native Americans helped build skyscrapers back then doesn’t mean there wasn’t any white people that worked on them too.
Why can’t you just accept what was trying to be done here? Showing pictures of people working in very high places. That’s all that was intended. Not name calling nor I know more than you syndrome. My god people get a grip. It’s only pictures meant for you to look at not argue about.
# 16 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
louis t said:
I can remember studying these pictures at collage and my tutor told me about some pictures people had taken on 9 11 showing the obvious but with the same style as these pictures; if anyone knows where these pictures are i would like to see them. Most of the pictures we see of new york from when it was first built make it look very glorious and we will never really know the truth obviously people from new york would want it to look glorious so wouldn’t want to show or take any other pictures.
Now because of tools mainly the internet it is harder to pick and choose what pictures are shown and what aren’t since nearly everyone owns a means of taking photos. Personally I can’t make my mind up if this is good or not since pictures like this and ‘the falling man’ pictures will offend many people but I’m sure a historian would think of it as an achievement to have a more accurate photographic evidence of history.
Saying all this these pictures are truly amazing, New York is not like any other place i have ever been to it must have taken great courage and curiosity of what could be achieved to make the city.
# 16 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
reneebar said:
good thing OSHA wasn’t around then, those buildings would never had been built! How many people fell to their deaths back then? Probablly more than anyone wants to admit!
# 16 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Sharon K. said:
I loved looking at the photos. I always enjoy looking at Black and white photos from yesterday. They were really nice!
# 16 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Murry said:
There is always someone who say’s ‘This is a fake’ in every comment on just about anything on the net.
I am sure some intelligent American folk will know weather these are real or not. After it’s their city and their history.
# 16 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Stacey said:
These are classic images. How about the one with all women called “Women on the Rise?” Hasn’t anyone seen that one?
# 16 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
jobu said:
What an ignorant comment to start things off. lol
Yeah, I’m sure 100% of the people who built them were Natives, bro…yeah.
Bolsa de douche.
# 16 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
nicole said:
WOW My palms got sweaty when i saw these pics, smeems some are white,construction workers, how hard working condition they will face and have, risk at falling down to death.
they should be supplied enough security guaranteen and welfare,nsurance is also a must !
my heart beaten hardly
# 17 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Buffet said:
Fearless? Perhaps. Stupid? Definitely! OSHA would never allow any of that anyway. I’m nearly half Sequoia. Don’t make native Americans seem stupid.
# 17 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Dj said:
Just glad everyone got along on the job or youd be screwed..
# 17 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
pinkshrimp said:
The photos were taken by Lewis Hine and are of the construction of the Empire state building. Google it, its simple to find out….
# 17 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Cosmo Donato said:
Did anyone notice that they work with no safety equipment or harness.
# 17 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
john said:
This guy is the man
# 18 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
QuizTwit said:
Wow – that is so scary looking!!
# 18 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
June said:
These pictures are scary as sh”t. I don’t care who built them and if they were 10 feet off the ground. Well done to them.
But critics of Carlos should read what he said instead of jumping on the hating bandwagon. He used the word apparently twice, suggesting that he’s of an open mind as to who the builders were. No-one else got the same level of criticism for suggesting that the pictures themselves might be fakes.
# 19 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Seawitch said:
I feel a tad giddy looking at these! I never got used to the rock climbing I HAD to do as a British Soldier.
I’ve once heard it said many of these men were former ‘masthead’ sailors….well, the error of sail was dying out around this time in the 1930’s and there lay a pool of people with a head for heights…but this?
# 19 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
paul said:
hitting the ground at terminal puts fear into me
# 19 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
reyrob12 said:
In ToK (theory of knowledge), we talked about this image and related it to our senses, and how they have developed. And according to my ToK teacher, Arctic Indians (idk if that’s what they’re called) were employed because they had no fear of height. They don’t have any fear of height due to the fact that that most of the arctic is more or less flat (apart from edges of icebergs..etc), and through that, the Arctic Indians never developed a fear of heights. Interesting, huh?
# 19 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Cara said:
Wow! These pictures are amazing.
I think it’s interesting that people have to start a debate about race and/or whether these pictures are fake. Can’t we just enjoy the pictures themselves? No…doesn’t seem that is possible.
# 19 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Dom said:
My grandfather worked at building skyscrapers like these…and he was Italian.
# 19 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
MoneyReasons said:
Having worked in construction for a small period of time. A good percentage of the contruction workers have fallen (but lived obviously). On the skyscapers, I wonder what percentage died while trying to build them. 14 died in the contruction of the empire state building…
You really would have to be a focused individual to do that type of work.
# 19 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
morgan thomas said:
Those pictures make the ol’ toes tingle.
# 19 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
TheSerbian said:
Are ya’ll blind. Can’t u see that all this pics are fake. Dumb americens
# 19 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Sara said:
Jesus Christ, Carlos. Race doesn’t matter! And who the hell are YOU to say the photos are so fake? You play us Americans up to be such horrible people.
# 20 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
D Money said:
Twilight New moon kicks ass!!
# 20 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
natewagoner said:
The game. Lulz. btw carlos you def need to sauce that shit
# 20 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
ten13 said:
Aparently American bashing is some peoples way of compensating for feelings of inadaquency
# 21 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Eta said:
Saying that these men were either fearless or stupid is ridiculous. These men were workers who did what they had to do to feed their families, at the cost of their own safety. They most likely thought themselves lucky just for having a job. And let’s face it, there are non-natives who aren’t afraid of heights… Race is a non-factor here. Also that is indeed the Chrysler building. Fun pictures… I wonder how many of them dropped stuff down below…
# 21 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Mike Kennedy said:
We need to get back to building things in this country.
# 21 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
wr3nch said:
Fake! These were obviously photoshopped.
I can see it in the pixels.
# 22 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
jeff said:
Carlos… your an idiot, and ijust had to waste my time to tell you that… you are an idiot… go eat a dick
# 22 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
bigironjim said:
“Hanging iron” is dangerous work and getting the job done and done safely is a huge reward for us ironworkers. The pictures, including the somewhat staged ones are real for the height of the fall doesn’t typically matter after about 40′, the sudden stop at the end has the same result. In other words it really doesn’t matter if you fall 50’, 100’ or 1000’. As an ironworker we also know that nothing but sky is there until we put it there so no one is ahead of us “making it safe”, we do that for the other crafts.
As an ironworker from a large family of ironworkers with hundreds of years of experience dating back to 1924 I can tell you that ironworkers come from a large cross section of the population with varying backgrounds. Ironworkers are a brotherhood (and know sisterhood in some cases) that doesn’t care what your genetic makeup is, we only care that you do your job well and that you work together with the rest of the “gang”.
For those who try to make this a race issue they could not carry the drinking water (canteen) of an old time ironworker or a modern day one. They are already overburdened with hate, discontent and excuses. Please enjoy the pictures for what they are, a bunch of old time ironworkers hamming it up!
Union Ironworkers have been “building America since 1898″ and we are proud of the heritage those in the pictures have provided us today.
# 22 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Andrew Alexanderr said:
Looking at this photos I got scared. I can fly an airplane and yet I have not problem with the hights, but these photos really frighting to me. I would never be able to do that kind of work.To scary.
kind regards
Andrew.
# 25 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Unit_1 said:
Carlos, buuuuuuuddy.
Americans are all races Indians included.
Why do you feel the need to be a separatist/racist/victim-crat?
I personally have the Genetic heritage of Navajo, Cherokee, English, Irish, Scottish, Dutch, German, German Jew and French (of pirate persuasion).
BUT I AM AN AMERICAN
United we stand.
# 27 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Mr Urbano said:
Great photographs. Do you have any information about the photographers? Many are probably unknown.
# 28 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Terry said:
There’s not enough money in the world that would make me do that. I’m not afraid of heights, but why temp fate?
Doood….I just got nauseaus looking at these incredible photos!
# 30 December 2009 at %I:%M %p
Reesa mckenzie said:
My hat goes off to these individuals that were so brave to under take this feat. Today we have something to be be proud of about because of them.
# 6 January 2010 at %I:%M %p
jmj godville said:
photoshop tricks
# 8 January 2010 at %I:%M %p
FullMetalBlunt said:
It’s still awesome, fake or not.
# 9 January 2010 at %I:%M %p
Itsashirt T shirts said:
Fearless workers, just looking at the images gives me the chills
# 13 January 2010 at %I:%M %p
Anonimo said:
“As an ironworker from a large family of ironworkers with hundreds of years of experience dating back to 1924″
Bigironjim: somehow that doesn’t seem like hundreds of years! But yes, those were brave men.
# 14 January 2010 at %I:%M %p
laura said:
for those that say these are photoshopped, you are dumb asses because these are some of the most famous pictures. they are real. do your research before you write ignorant things.
# 23 January 2010 at %I:%M %p
KC said:
Carlos you are wrong, I am a NYC union ironworker, these are real pics and are icons of my trade. Yes some of the trade were native americans, but it is nieve to think that all the work was done by them. A large part of the union at that time was Irish-american. So next time you want to insult them by calling them fakes do a little research on the subject first. These men are fearless heroes.
# 29 January 2010 at %I:%M %p
Jeffrey Wisniewski said:
Not so amazing, people did what they had to do. If they offered me a job like that now, I would jump at the chance…
I got very close to a panic attack looking at those pictures. The 6th one down is the scariest one for some reason.
Amazing how nonchalant they all are.
# 5 March 2010 at %I:%M %p
seanoairborne said:
A lot of guys from the Canadian province of Newfoundland were responsible for the building of the high rises in the 20 and 30s and 40s in these United States.Most were fishermen who were used to climbing the rigging of the old fishing schooners off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in rough seas and were as sure footed as cats.Look it up….you’ll find the truth about who exactly these ballsy guys were.Of course there were Mohawks too and Cognawagan indians from Quebec,Canada.
# 7 March 2010 at %I:%M %p
Johnny Zee said:
You know what, many different people raised these giants. The pictures are as real as the sun coming up in the east, although over the years I believe they have been touched up a wee bit.Not doctored just cleaned up as to keep them for historic and romantic reasons.
Picture number 3: How did he get there? And how is he going to get down?
# 7 April 2010 at %I:%M %p
bubbalouis said:
You can get used to hieghts, but what you won’t fet used to is the wind; it is always blowing at those heights. I have been there, but don’t believe me go up in a 20 story building (low compared to these) and open a window, even on a calm day.
Apparently, these photos are all fakes intended to show the American people how great their construction workers were. In actual fact (well, apparently anyway) most of the skyscrapers in NYC were built by ‘fearless’ native indian tribes who had no fear of heights whatsoever.
FYI.
The pictures are very real, the indians that were brought in were Mohawks from Canada that aided in the construction of the empire state building
Carlos: [citation needed]
Well whoever did it kudos cause what an amazing feat. I barely have the balls to clean the gutters on my house much less build a sky skraper… Human being can still amaze me
Wow. My palms are sweaty just from looking at those pics!
Are you blind? These people are white.
Carlos: whilst there were a few hundred Mohawk workers, the majority of the 3,400 workers used were white Europeans.
A friend of mine is constantly referring to that lunch-box photo as the most iconic photo ever taken. I tend to agree with him.
Hah!!! That’s right… we Europeans are fearless!!!
The 6th photo from the top (and possibly some of the others) was taken by Charles C. Ebbets during the building of Rockefeller Center. It’s a very interesting story, his family didn’t realize that he had taken what would become Getty Images best selling photograph until a few years ago when Ebbet’s widow saw the poster in a bagel shop and told her daughter, “I think your father took that picture.” Take a look at their website
http://www.ebbetsphoto-graphics.com
well you know what it is great that someone wants to be a racist about what was done in the past. No matter what race worked on any skyscraper it is an incredible feat that they did; the lack of fear by those men in the pics is phenomenal. grow up Carlos quit being so bigoted.
Just looking at these photos gives me that stabbing feeling in my toes associated with paralyzing fear! I can’t get over how they did that, it’s truly amazing! I would have died before they get me up there >.<
They are really fearless..They can do anything.
i am afraid of heights and i honestly got a little dizzy just looking at those pics. i wonder how many men died? some of them had to have fallen, right?
What ivan said. also, the game.
Those ppl are either very very brave or….very very stupid. I’m gonna go w/ a bit of both. (more stupid though, since it’s not wise to get drunk while doing anything dangerous…Maybe that was they plan- have ‘em sign a waver, then after you feel they’ve done enough, get them drunk, and see how many less ppl you have to pay. *LOL*)
I have fear of heights. Good thing I’m not born to do those things. I won’t stand those kind of work, anything associating heights.
It is quite impressive to be able to tolerate such heights but what you need to remember is that those same people were there from the start of the building at ground level so they were gradually getting used to the height as the building got higher bit by bit.
It’s true you become used to the heights.
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Hmm… Interesting proposition Carlos, but I would suggest that this may not be 100% correct since there are thousands of photgraphs taken during this time and it’s highly unlikely that they are “all fakes”. Maybe “a few”, but I doubt “all”
The first one look a bit fake, as does the third from the end, both seem to be in the same place. The white mist around the beam gives it away.
They are really fearless and so brave..
Wow, high times is correct
who cares who built it. immigrants and slaves built the united states. what is important about these pics is how they were fearless men and risked their lives to build to expand this country.
The shots are real, but the way the shots have been angled is a ‘forced perspective’, a similar technique was used in the early Harold Lloyd films. The guys are indeed very high up, but there isn’t a big drop below them, its just down to the angle of the shot (one exception to the above pics may be the 3rd from the top). But they are still excellent photographs.
Ask a Pro (Ironworkers) google it
pics are real
This is what my husband does for a living, with a little better safety measures these days. We have the lunch picture hanging on our wall. And to all you who say this is fake, it is an insult to all the men died doing their job!
Well considering that how tall this building would have to have been (or atleast one of them pictured) compared to the Empire State Building in the background that atleast a couple of these are not 100% authentic. Most of them I’m sure are, and are very cool.
@louis The “white mist” that “gives away” the photo is actually an effect from a darkroom technique called dodging, as in dodging and burning. It is a technique used to lighten up certain areas of the picture by physically covering it up(dodging), while letting other areas of the photo expose longer(burning). Amazing as it may seem, Adobe didn’t make this phrase up.
No hard hats, safety glasses,safety harnesses, lanyards,or steel toed boots either. That’s what working was like at least until after WWII. By the 60’s most large industries required at least hard hats and safety glasses. The insurance rates drove requirements for safety gear. People get used to working around dangerous conditions. How many people now work daily with hazardous chemicals, high voltages, pressured vessels,or mechanical devices that can chop off an appendage in a micro-second?
Iron workers make good wages when they work. That’s the main reason that they do this kind of work. They work strange hours, sometimes double shifts, twelve hour days, followed by long periods of unemployment. They are proud of their accomplishments. Who amongst us could look at a skyscraper that you had helped build, without a feeling of accomplishment and pride. Yeah and they drank heavy, almost a requirement for a job in the old days.
Whether you come home at the end of the day is mostly connected to attitudes towards safety. Whether you take an “acceptable risk” or find an other way to do the job. What is important to the employer? Is it a “get er done” attitude, or one where safety violations will be cause for discipline. I have worked construction at Intel where every day starts with a pre-task plan where all potential hazards are written down and the method to mitigate the dangers. Someone hurt on the job by something not covered by the pre-task plan had better have a good reason or they might not work at Intel again.
Such stringent safety practices are rare. The “get er done” attitude prevails. Ultimately workers will not get the safe working conditions necessary to come safely home until they have power to stop production. Current labor organizations offer little hope.
Work safe and organize!
Fred
Actually, if you want to see this happen now… there are a team of workers that climb and paint the Golden Gate Bridge every year.
I, personally, won’t even climb a ladder… so….
Awesome pictures of awesome brave men!
How many of them workers fell to their death building
those giants edifices, one wonders!
Well done to the photographer, very adventurous
considering the heavy equipment he had to
set up for these shots.
Carlos….you seem to piss people off where and when ever you leave comments!!!!
wow, those guys had a lot of guts to do that!
As many have said before, these pictures are incredible. I had only ever seen the lunch box one.
I also think that what Willy Brown said had a lot to do with it. The fact that they progressively got higher must have influenced a great amount to how normal the felt up high.
I would have loved a job like that, I always on rooftops and climbing. i think an honest job is a hard job. And i don’t think there’s much harder and hazardous work than think
Props
I’ve noticed over time that every time (without fail) when anyone posts any pics on the net there is invariably one moron that wants to show their superior intelligence by declaring them fake. All they invariably do is make fools of themselves. Get a clue Carlos. I was there and I know what’s real and what isn’t. But then maybe I’m not real? Oh dear, now what?
No way i can ever do that !
Remember Vertigo, the movie ?!
Ahahaha…
Re. drinking on the job… apparently roofers, at least, often drink a little as they work, because they’re much more likely to survive a fall tipsy than they are straight. Not sure if the same applies from these heights though!
After they were hired the foreman would inform each and every one that they if they fell they were fired just BEFORE hitting the ground. Saved the company a lot of paperwork.
OBVIOUSLY ALL THESE ARE PHOTOSHOPPED. YOU CAN TELL BY THE PIXELS. DONE WITH PHOTOSHOP CS4, NOT CS3. IT’S QUITE OBVIOUS IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY.
I’M AN EXPERT AT THIS STUFF; TRUST ME.
The rule of thumb in skyscraper construction at that time was that for every floor of the building, one construction worker was severely injured or killed on the job while the building was being built.
Yeah, my palms are a lil sweaty, too (to whoever said it above)…I think common sense would’ve dictated SOME sort of harness, I mean, technology wasn’t amazing then, but if they can build a building like that, then they certainly could’ve developed some safety mechanisms.
I can’t tell if john b is an ass or is serious…overall its bad jpeg quality.
@Ivan, Taylor- How is Carlos’ comment “bigoted?” He in no way insulted the people/demographic he mentioned and was merely stating what he believes to be fact.
Case in point: At a darker point in our nation’s history, Southern farmers forced the strongest and most physically capable blacks they could find to labor on their plantations. Does saying this make me a bigot? I sure hope not, because if so all my history lessons have been gleaned from some of the most “bigoted” professors I have yet encountered.
@johnB.
I remember seeing these images when i was about 7 or 8 (I am nearly 45) so unless you have travelled back in time with a development team from Adobe……
@carlos
Most of the workers who built the new York Skyline were first and second wave european migrants. Fact There were a number of Indigenous people involved in the building, and these were highlighted recently for political gain. Repeating such vicious racial diatribe just should make you review your source of news.?
The following link takes you to a book that might help the discussion.
DJC
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=IxDUUqut-XkC&pg=PA122&dq=mohawk+indians+and+skyscrappers&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false
the pictures are suposed to be taken during construction of the rockefeller center, only one problem there.
in the backgroun you can see the chrysler building wich is 319 meters tall.the rockefeller center is only 259 mtrs.
so the pictures where you can see the chrysler building being quite a bit lower then where the picture were ( supposed) to be taken from, MUST be fakes,
and so the rest of them are probably also fakes.
Cody B, actually that is not the Empire State Building in the background, but the Chrysler Building. You can see roughly the same view of the Chrysler Building from the observation deck of the ESB.
I recognize every one of these photos from a book my parents owned about the building of the Empire State Building (probably purchased at that building in the early 50s) in during the depression.
And the guy who thinks these are faked because he cannot see if the workers are AmerIndians is just plain nuts.
Steelworkers are not all Mohawks, fool.
My grandpa from Macedonia helped build also he worked on the railroad too. And no these are not fakes.
these look pretty real, and carlos, you look like a pretty big idiot..
definitely REAL. they were Irish immigrants mostly … probably drunk, hence the fearlessness.. hahaha <3 <3 represent
Hahaha wow. I really hope Carlos isn’t still reading these posts. His heart is probably breaking. I don’t even remember what he was talking about. Indians? What?
And then, why did I just read all those other posts directed at Carlos?
Why are you reading this comments? It’s like the 80th one. I’m not making fun of you if you are, I got sucked in too. But…go check out something more interesting.
You’re on the internet for goodness sake.
I’m an Ironworker out of L.A. local 433, and these pictures are real. It takes a certin type of individual to do this kind of work.I love my job, and get respected when doing it.Yeah I guess you could say we(Ironworkers)are a little nuts, but we do what alot of others,wouldn’t,or couldn’t do.
It’s so nuts how these guys can do this stuff with a total lack of fear. Amazing.
Why do you hate America Carlos? (dead serious)
If that was today and in Britain those steel erectors’ bosses would have to fill out reams of risk assessment forms and no one would be allowed within 100 yards of a girder without a hard hat, fluorescent jacket, and a safety harness. Some might argue that doing so is a good thing but I sometimes wonder if all the precautions we take these days have eroded confidence in our own capabilities.
Honestly, these are probably real. My dad is an iron worker and he has an entire album of him up on the skyscrapers and many of them look just like this. I’ve always thought it was amazing.
First!
These pictures were taken in the 1930’s. They have not been digitally remastered. That’s why the clarity is not that great.
And even tho Native Americans helped build skyscrapers back then doesn’t mean there wasn’t any white people that worked on them too.
Why can’t you just accept what was trying to be done here? Showing pictures of people working in very high places. That’s all that was intended. Not name calling nor I know more than you syndrome. My god people get a grip. It’s only pictures meant for you to look at not argue about.
I can remember studying these pictures at collage and my tutor told me about some pictures people had taken on 9 11 showing the obvious but with the same style as these pictures; if anyone knows where these pictures are i would like to see them. Most of the pictures we see of new york from when it was first built make it look very glorious and we will never really know the truth obviously people from new york would want it to look glorious so wouldn’t want to show or take any other pictures.
Now because of tools mainly the internet it is harder to pick and choose what pictures are shown and what aren’t since nearly everyone owns a means of taking photos. Personally I can’t make my mind up if this is good or not since pictures like this and ‘the falling man’ pictures will offend many people but I’m sure a historian would think of it as an achievement to have a more accurate photographic evidence of history.
Saying all this these pictures are truly amazing, New York is not like any other place i have ever been to it must have taken great courage and curiosity of what could be achieved to make the city.
good thing OSHA wasn’t around then, those buildings would never had been built! How many people fell to their deaths back then? Probablly more than anyone wants to admit!
I loved looking at the photos. I always enjoy looking at Black and white photos from yesterday. They were really nice!
There is always someone who say’s ‘This is a fake’ in every comment on just about anything on the net.
I am sure some intelligent American folk will know weather these are real or not. After it’s their city and their history.
These are classic images. How about the one with all women called “Women on the Rise?” Hasn’t anyone seen that one?
What an ignorant comment to start things off. lol
Yeah, I’m sure 100% of the people who built them were Natives, bro…yeah.
Bolsa de douche.
WOW My palms got sweaty when i saw these pics, smeems some are white,construction workers, how hard working condition they will face and have, risk at falling down to death.
they should be supplied enough security guaranteen and welfare,nsurance is also a must !
my heart beaten hardly
Fearless? Perhaps. Stupid? Definitely! OSHA would never allow any of that anyway. I’m nearly half Sequoia. Don’t make native Americans seem stupid.
Just glad everyone got along on the job or youd be screwed..
The photos were taken by Lewis Hine and are of the construction of the Empire state building. Google it, its simple to find out….
Did anyone notice that they work with no safety equipment or harness.
This guy is the man
Wow – that is so scary looking!!
These pictures are scary as sh”t. I don’t care who built them and if they were 10 feet off the ground. Well done to them.
But critics of Carlos should read what he said instead of jumping on the hating bandwagon. He used the word apparently twice, suggesting that he’s of an open mind as to who the builders were. No-one else got the same level of criticism for suggesting that the pictures themselves might be fakes.
I feel a tad giddy looking at these! I never got used to the rock climbing I HAD to do as a British Soldier.
I’ve once heard it said many of these men were former ‘masthead’ sailors….well, the error of sail was dying out around this time in the 1930’s and there lay a pool of people with a head for heights…but this?
hitting the ground at terminal puts fear into me
In ToK (theory of knowledge), we talked about this image and related it to our senses, and how they have developed. And according to my ToK teacher, Arctic Indians (idk if that’s what they’re called) were employed because they had no fear of height. They don’t have any fear of height due to the fact that that most of the arctic is more or less flat (apart from edges of icebergs..etc), and through that, the Arctic Indians never developed a fear of heights. Interesting, huh?
Wow! These pictures are amazing.
I think it’s interesting that people have to start a debate about race and/or whether these pictures are fake. Can’t we just enjoy the pictures themselves? No…doesn’t seem that is possible.
My grandfather worked at building skyscrapers like these…and he was Italian.
Having worked in construction for a small period of time. A good percentage of the contruction workers have fallen (but lived obviously). On the skyscapers, I wonder what percentage died while trying to build them. 14 died in the contruction of the empire state building…
You really would have to be a focused individual to do that type of work.
Those pictures make the ol’ toes tingle.
Are ya’ll blind. Can’t u see that all this pics are fake. Dumb americens
Jesus Christ, Carlos. Race doesn’t matter! And who the hell are YOU to say the photos are so fake? You play us Americans up to be such horrible people.
Twilight New moon kicks ass!!
The game. Lulz. btw carlos you def need to sauce that shit
Aparently American bashing is some peoples way of compensating for feelings of inadaquency
Saying that these men were either fearless or stupid is ridiculous. These men were workers who did what they had to do to feed their families, at the cost of their own safety. They most likely thought themselves lucky just for having a job. And let’s face it, there are non-natives who aren’t afraid of heights… Race is a non-factor here. Also that is indeed the Chrysler building. Fun pictures… I wonder how many of them dropped stuff down below…
We need to get back to building things in this country.
Fake! These were obviously photoshopped.
I can see it in the pixels.
Carlos… your an idiot, and ijust had to waste my time to tell you that… you are an idiot… go eat a dick
“Hanging iron” is dangerous work and getting the job done and done safely is a huge reward for us ironworkers. The pictures, including the somewhat staged ones are real for the height of the fall doesn’t typically matter after about 40′, the sudden stop at the end has the same result. In other words it really doesn’t matter if you fall 50’, 100’ or 1000’. As an ironworker we also know that nothing but sky is there until we put it there so no one is ahead of us “making it safe”, we do that for the other crafts.
As an ironworker from a large family of ironworkers with hundreds of years of experience dating back to 1924 I can tell you that ironworkers come from a large cross section of the population with varying backgrounds. Ironworkers are a brotherhood (and know sisterhood in some cases) that doesn’t care what your genetic makeup is, we only care that you do your job well and that you work together with the rest of the “gang”.
For those who try to make this a race issue they could not carry the drinking water (canteen) of an old time ironworker or a modern day one. They are already overburdened with hate, discontent and excuses. Please enjoy the pictures for what they are, a bunch of old time ironworkers hamming it up!
Union Ironworkers have been “building America since 1898″ and we are proud of the heritage those in the pictures have provided us today.
Looking at this photos I got scared. I can fly an airplane and yet I have not problem with the hights, but these photos really frighting to me. I would never be able to do that kind of work.To scary.
kind regards
Andrew.
Carlos, buuuuuuuddy.
Americans are all races Indians included.
Why do you feel the need to be a separatist/racist/victim-crat?
I personally have the Genetic heritage of Navajo, Cherokee, English, Irish, Scottish, Dutch, German, German Jew and French (of pirate persuasion).
BUT I AM AN AMERICAN
United we stand.
Great photographs. Do you have any information about the photographers? Many are probably unknown.
There’s not enough money in the world that would make me do that. I’m not afraid of heights, but why temp fate?
Doood….I just got nauseaus looking at these incredible photos!
My hat goes off to these individuals that were so brave to under take this feat. Today we have something to be be proud of about because of them.
photoshop tricks
It’s still awesome, fake or not.
Fearless workers, just looking at the images gives me the chills
“As an ironworker from a large family of ironworkers with hundreds of years of experience dating back to 1924″
Bigironjim: somehow that doesn’t seem like hundreds of years! But yes, those were brave men.
for those that say these are photoshopped, you are dumb asses because these are some of the most famous pictures. they are real. do your research before you write ignorant things.
Carlos you are wrong, I am a NYC union ironworker, these are real pics and are icons of my trade. Yes some of the trade were native americans, but it is nieve to think that all the work was done by them. A large part of the union at that time was Irish-american. So next time you want to insult them by calling them fakes do a little research on the subject first. These men are fearless heroes.
Not so amazing, people did what they had to do. If they offered me a job like that now, I would jump at the chance…
I got very close to a panic attack looking at those pictures. The 6th one down is the scariest one for some reason.
Amazing how nonchalant they all are.
A lot of guys from the Canadian province of Newfoundland were responsible for the building of the high rises in the 20 and 30s and 40s in these United States.Most were fishermen who were used to climbing the rigging of the old fishing schooners off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in rough seas and were as sure footed as cats.Look it up….you’ll find the truth about who exactly these ballsy guys were.Of course there were Mohawks too and Cognawagan indians from Quebec,Canada.
You know what, many different people raised these giants. The pictures are as real as the sun coming up in the east, although over the years I believe they have been touched up a wee bit.Not doctored just cleaned up as to keep them for historic and romantic reasons.
Thanks. A member of the Adobe Photo-shop team.
looks like one big tea break
Picture number 3: How did he get there? And how is he going to get down?
You can get used to hieghts, but what you won’t fet used to is the wind; it is always blowing at those heights. I have been there, but don’t believe me go up in a 20 story building (low compared to these) and open a window, even on a calm day.
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