Photo by Charles Clyde Ebbets
"Lunch atop a Skyscraper" photo by Charles Clyde Ebbets
"Lunch atop a Skyscraper" photo by Charles Clyde Ebbets (1932).
The famous 1932 photograph Lunch Atop a Skyscraper was taken by newsman Charles Clyde Ebbets on September 20, 1932. It depicts 11 ironworkers sitting 850 feet above the ground at the RCA Building (now 30 Rock). The photograph was staged as part of a campaign to promote Rockefeller Center’s construction and New York City’s other recovery efforts following the financial ruin of the Great Depression.
Photo courtesy of the Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum
"Lunch atop a Skyscraper" inspired Bobblehead
The "Lunch atop a Skyscraper" inspired bobblehead inspired by Charles Clyde Ebbets' famous 1932 photo.
To celebrate the photo’s 94th anniversary, the Milwaukee-based National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum created a one-of-a-kind bobblehead in which all 11 of the worker’s heads actually move. “We’re thrilled to honor this New York Herald-Tribune photograph from 1932,” museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “The run was limited to 1,932 bobbleheads to commemorate the year the photo was taken.” Each of the units is individually numbered, Sklar said.
Researchers agree that the eight-year Rockefeller Center construction project employed somewhere around 40,000 Irish, Italian, Scandinavian, Eastern European and German immigrants along with Black and Native American workers between 1931 and 1939. But there was a catch: laborers had to work hundreds of feet in the air with little safety gear. “The pay was good, but you had to be willing to die,” said one of the city’s 15 daily newspapers. The best available evidence indicates that five workers lost their lives during construction. But the massive undertaking conveyed a message of hope to families just trying to put food on the table. The project was remarkable not only because of its sheer size but also because of the economic impact it had on the local economy. It also illustrated how the cultural hub of America was built by a melting pot of international citizens.
Despite the photo’s worldwide appeal, no one knew who the men or the photographer was until producers of the award-winning film, Men at Lunch, asked for help. Rockefeller archivists identified (from left) Matty O’Shaughnessy (1) Gustav (Gusti) Popovic (2), Joseph Eckner (3) Peter Rice (6), Joe Curtis (9) and Sonny Glynn (11). Five more faces are waiting to be named.
Phil Sklar said the Bobblehead Hall of Fame has close to 11,000 bobbleheads on display at any given time. Some of the best-selling figures have been Dr. Anthony Fauci and Bernie Sanders’ Inauguration Day, he said. “People loved it when we depicted the election of Pope Leo to the papacy or honored 106-year-old Sister Jean,” Sklar said. “We have a set of bobbleheads coming soon with the cast from the Rocky Picture Horror Show.”
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