Drinking on the highrise?

May 6, 2008 3:35 PM

I'm sure you've seen Construction Workers Lunching on a Crossbeam. (link inside) Is that a bottle of booze in the hands of the guy on the right?

Construction Workers Lunching on a Crossbeam

Doesn't seem like the best place to get tipsy.

posted by emptyinside to media & arts (15 comments total)

I highly doubt it. That photo was taken during Prohibition.
posted by doublesix at 3:39 PM on May 6, 2008

People were drinking more during the Prohibition, according to this article
posted by emptyinside at 3:47 PM on May 6, 2008

So what else would the guy have taken water or whatever in to work in the 30's? Not a plastic thermos. Probably not even a metal thermos - he probably used a bottle lying around the house, filled it with water and went to work.
posted by GuyZero at 3:49 PM on May 6, 2008

I'd say it's a water bottle.

All those guys are frickin' crazy by the way. Looking at that photo makes me feel like I'm about to fall to the ground and cry.
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:54 PM on May 6, 2008

Heh, I'd never noticed that before. It looks like a bottle of vodka. Maybe he needed a nip during lunch to steel his nerves.

On preview: during Prohibition it might have been a bottle of home-made stuff. But GuyZero's guess makes sense too.
posted by amyms at 3:54 PM on May 6, 2008

AS a couple of the guys have their shirts off it could have been a warm enough day to merit taking up a bottle of water.
I think it's a flat bottle which is possibly because it was a conveniences size/shape to put in a pocket.
And booze would be very insane, just looking at that makes me light-headed.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:02 PM on May 6, 2008

I think it's probably water... they didn't have nalgene bottles back then!
posted by belau at 4:03 PM on May 6, 2008

My vote is booze. Having a nip during the day wasn't a big deal back then.

Remember, too, that the photo was most likely posed, so it's entirely possible that the bottle is a prop, used to inject a bit of "WTF?" into the scene.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:20 PM on May 6, 2008

All those guys are frickin' crazy by the way.

This photo was taken in 1932, which was essentially the worst time of the Great Depression.

They're not crazy. They're desperate.
posted by Flunkie at 4:23 PM on May 6, 2008

boy, it really looks like a pint bottle, doesn't it? But I bet it was innocent. As you can see on this incredibly awesome page all about bottle typing and shapes, lots of different shapes were used for lots of different things. Reused chemist's bottle, liquor bottle, who knows?

(This photo has NOTHING on Resting Atop a Girder, taken by the same photographer at the same site. Dizzy, cringing panic-maker, that one.)
posted by peachfuzz at 4:31 PM on May 6, 2008

Also, if I were a habitual drunkard, that'd be the last place I'd want to be when I got the shakes. Maybe a little nip to keep the hands steady.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 4:49 PM on May 6, 2008

Its most likely a water bottle. Look at these 2 links selling water bottles from the 30's

http://www.rubylane.com/shops/hickorylaneantiquesandcollectibles/item/njs0438?gbase=1

http://www.cyberattic.com/stores/malon/items/635340/item635340cyberattic.html
posted by amedia at 5:26 PM on May 6, 2008

I think you'll find, amedia, that the Constitution Water of your second link is a patent medicine and not, in fact, H₂O.
posted by mumkin at 5:43 PM on May 6, 2008

I worked with a guy that would smoke crack while "hanging iron". It takes a special sort to be an ironworker. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was drinking on the job, esp. in the 30s... it's not standards for anything were stringent, nobody is tied off or anything. And just 'cos it was prohibition doesn't mean booze was hard to find.
posted by glip at 8:19 PM on May 6, 2008

I just can't stop thinking about what would happen if he dropped the bottle.
posted by Joleta at 9:36 PM on May 6, 2008