# Does anyone believe this photo is genuine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 30, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351 "2015-03-30T17:29:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/1 "2015-03-30T17:29:10Z")
Pretty much everyone has seen this photo [https://fluix.io/collaborative-document-management-construction-industry-part-1/](https://fluix.io/collaborative-document-management-construction-industry-part-1/) of what is alleged to be construction workers in the 1920s sitting hundreds of feet up in the air on a girder, casually having lunch. The more I look at this photo the more I think something ain’t right. I don’t think this was photo shopped because I remember seeing this pic in the 1950s. But I still think this must be some sort of trick. I don’t care if these construction guys are used to working high up. The whole setup looks dangerous and improbable. How did all eleven of them get out on that girder? When the noon whistle went did they all file out one by one? What if the guy in the middle needs to go to the washroom? What about sudden gusts of wind that can arise way up there? Have they never heard of those? What if one of them has allergies and starts sneezing? What if one of them talks with his hands and accidentally smacks the guy next to him? Does anyone know the history of this classic picture? Because it sure seems improbable to me! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/2 "2015-03-30T17:33:46Z")
Notice you can’t actually see the girder. And the contrast/focus between their feet and the background looks off. [I found the original.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/13/Lunch-atop-a-skyscraper-c1932.jpg) The girder has been shopped out. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/3 "2015-03-30T17:36:12Z")
[Wiki on the photo.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunch_atop_a_Skyscraper) Just for contrast, another photo of [lunch in the air.](http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/505b32b569bedd860a000001/rockefeller-beam-workers-lunch-construction.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/4 "2015-03-30T17:39:30Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Notice you can’t actually see the girder. And the contrast/focus between their feet and the background looks off. > > [I found the original.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/13/Lunch-atop-a-skyscraper-c1932.jpg) The girder has been shopped out. Thank you, but I am not sure what you mean. I am pretty sure I once saw this photo in the 1950s. Way before photo shop. You say the girder was “shopped” out? So were they originally sitting on a girder? I am a bit dense, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/5 "2015-03-30T17:44:06Z")
So there actually was a floor under both these groups of men, that does not show up in the frame? That explains a lot. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/6 "2015-03-30T17:45:41Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > Thank you, but I am not sure what you mean. I am pretty sure I once saw this photo in the 1950s. Way before photo shop. You say the girder was “shopped” out? So were they originally sitting on a girder? I am a bit dense, sorry. The photo in your OP has the girder shopped out for who knows what reason. It looks really stupid. But, yes, the original photo with the girder (the photo that most people are familiar with) was set-up as a publicity shot. It is not a documentary image. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/7 "2015-03-30T17:47:29Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > Thank you, but I am not sure what you mean. I am pretty sure I once saw this photo in the 1950s. Way before photo shop. You say the girder was “shopped” out? So were they originally sitting on a girder? I am a bit dense, sorry. I used “shopped” since i don’t know when it was altered. I linked to the original which shows the girder. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/8 "2015-03-30T17:51:50Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > What if one of them has allergies and starts sneezing? What if one of them talks with his hands and accidentally smacks the guy next to him? These sorts of people probably wouldn’t make it to lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/9 "2015-03-30T18:04:17Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I used “shopped” since i don’t know when it was altered. I linked to the original which shows the girder. I understand now, thank you. Okay, I guess this is a short thread. So the pic was a staged publicity shot, the workers actually had a floor under them, and workers did not normally take such stupid risks when they could have had lunch on a much safer flat surface. Another thing that makes the shot look staged is that each of the workers is interacting with the guy next to them and have sheepish smiles as if they had been told to do that by the photographer and are slightly embarrassed. And nobody seems to be actually eating lunch. Thanks to everyone. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/10 "2015-03-30T18:11:51Z")
nm. Missed a sentence in the article. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/11 "2015-03-30T18:12:10Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > . . . Way before photo shop. . . . You know, Photoshop wasn’t the first means of altering images in the history of photography. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/12 "2015-03-30T18:14:30Z")
I don’t see anything to indicate that there’s a floor under them, altho the article did say it was a publicity shot of the nearly-completes building, so it’s possible they were no more than 10’ or so above a solid surface. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/13 "2015-03-30T18:18:37Z")
The shot may have been staged, they really are way up there, and i don’t see anything that indicates a safety net or floor underneath. These guys are iron workers. They spent their days moving those girders around and riveting them in place with little or no safety equipment. Just sitting down on one having a smoke would have been the least taxing part of their day, staged or not. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/14 "2015-03-30T18:19:17Z")
Floor underneath or not, you couldn’t force me at gunpoint to walk (or crawl) out there. I get dizzy just looking at the picture. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/15 "2015-03-30T18:21:29Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I don’t see anything to indicate that there’s a floor under them, altho the article did say it was a publicity shot of the nearly-completes building, so it’s possible they were no more than 10’ or so above a solid surface. Look at the bottom of the frame in **running coach** ’s link. You can see the planks. It might not look like the floor is below the girder, but that’s just perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/16 "2015-03-30T18:23:34Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > So there actually was a floor under both these groups of men, that does not show up in the frame? That explains a lot. > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I don’t see anything to indicate that there’s a floor under them, altho the article did say it was a publicity shot of the nearly-completes building, so it’s possible they were no more than 10’ or so above a solid surface. The wiki article says that one of the photographed workers sent a letter home to his family suggesting there was a floor directly beneath them. I had suspected some Harold Lloyd type trickery: [http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/Lloyd,%20Harold/Annex/Annex%20-%20Lloyd,%20Harold%20%28Safety%20Last%29\_01.jpg](http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/Lloyd,%20Harold/Annex/Annex%20-%20Lloyd,%20Harold%20%28Safety%20Last%29_01.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/17 "2015-03-30T18:28:06Z")
No floor under these guys… [http://pixdaus.com/files/items/pics/7/8/210708\_0662197e0ed6c9a0d2c2ec73b5c8641a\_large.jpg](http://pixdaus.com/files/items/pics/7/8/210708_0662197e0ed6c9a0d2c2ec73b5c8641a_large.jpg) I think suggestions of a floor underneath in the OP’s photo were put out just to ease some people’s fears. in reality, these guys worked at extreme heights on beams and girders as a matter of course. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/18 "2015-03-30T18:29:06Z")
Not much underneath here as well: [http://www.gompers.umd.edu/ironworkers.jpg](http://www.gompers.umd.edu/ironworkers.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/19 "2015-03-30T19:01:45Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > Not much underneath here as well: > > [http://www.gompers.umd.edu/ironworkers.jpg](http://www.gompers.umd.edu/ironworkers.jpg) Hopefully 3-martini lunches were frowned upon. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351/20 "2015-03-30T19:26:07Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Hopefully 3-martini lunches were frowned upon. Actually no. A friend was an ironworker for years. Many coworkers would drink as much as they could over lunch, and drug use was pretty common. My friend couldn’t do it, but drinking at lunch was the norm. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-believe-this-photo-is-genuine/716351.md?page=2)