Eating Lunch On A Beam

The photograph was taken on september 20 1932 on the 69th floor of the rca building during the last months of construction.

Eating lunch on a beam.

The famous photo of the new york construction workers lunching on a crossbeam was taken during construction of the rca building at 30 rockefeller center in manhattan new york city. But most famously all 11 ate lunch on a steel beam their feet dangling 850 feet above the city s streets. The photograph depicts eleven men eating lunch seated on a girder with their feet dangling 256 meters 840 feet above the new york city streets. A few pretended to nap.

Part detective story part homage to the american immigrant experience and ultimately a tribute to the simple dignity of hard work the documentary film men at lunch examines the mysteries behind. According to filmmaker séan ó cualáin whose documentary men at lunch attempts to uncover the secrets of the famous lunch atop a skyscraper photo taken in 1932 matty and sonny are two of the 11. According to archivists the photograph was in fact prearranged. Overview the photograph depicts 11 men eating lunch seated on a girder with their feet dangling 840 feet 260 meters above the new york city streets.

A tribute to america s heroes sculptures inspired by the famous photograph of the eleven workers eating lunch on a beam during the construction of rockefeller center in 1932. One of the most iconic photos of american workers is not what it seems but lunch atop a skyscraper has come to represent the country s resilience especially on labor day. Some of the tradesmen tossed a football. It showed the world that new york.

The sight of 11 rockefeller center construction workers casually eating lunch across a beam hanging 850 feet in the air was a hopeful look at life in the 30s.