Iron Workers In The 1930's

Life of Iron Workers In The 1930’s Even though the economy then was not so great, Men at Lunch directed by Seán Ó Cualáin, men still risked their lives every day. The 1930’s were not easy. Money was low, people were in debt, the great depression, segregation and more. Being able to make money and have a job was a blessing at that time. Men every day risked their lives to build the Rockefeller Center, which is now one of the most visited places in NYC (Visit New York City's Most Popular Sights). While the men were up there, building the skyscraper, men down on the ground would wait for a man to fall so he himself could go up there and risk his life helping to build the skyscraper. Unemployment during this time was at 24.1%. Between 1929 and 1933, banks collapsed causing more than seven billion dollars vanished. Since the economy in America at the time was so bad, people were applying at an office to emigrate to a foreign country hoping to find a place that has a better economy. “The problem with American capitalism in the 1930s was that there was too much of everything: too much supply and not enough demand” (Shmoop Editorial Team).

The film explained biographies about two of the men, Joseph Eckner and Joe Curtis. “Two others — at each end of the row, one lighting a cigarette, the other holding a bottle and glaring at the camera — were traced to Ireland, which is where the O Cualain brothers, natives of Galway, entered the story” (Anderson). The director of the film added video and animation of how life was to show the viewers how it really was. He also made the film mostly black and white, except for the interviews to make it have that older feeling and depression feeling, as that is what was happening at the