Lunch atop a Skyscraper

 

The iconic 1932 photograph "Lunch atop a Skyscraper" shows 11 ironworkers eating lunch while sitting on a steel beam 850 feet (260 meters) above the ground on the 69th floor of the RCA Building (now 30 Rockefeller Plaza) in New York City.

Key Facts About the Photo

• Date Taken: September 20, 1932 (published October 2, 1932, in the New York Herald-Tribune).

• Location: 69th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Rockefeller Center, Manhattan, New York.

• Photographers: The shoot was part of a promotional campaign for Rockefeller Center, with credits often linked to photographers like Charles C. Ebbets.

• Safety Gear: The workers wore no safety harnesses, helmets, or fall protection.

• The Workers: Many were immigrant or Native American ironworkers (including Mohawk ironworkers) accustomed to walking and working on high steel girders.

• Staged Nature: Archival notes reveal it was a coordinated publicity stunt designed to generate headlines and showcase the building's progress during the Great Depression.