122707 Lamp Bethlehem Steel industrial map drawing Steelers artifact folk art
Map of Steel Mill property and structures
Dimensions: 40" x 8" Base diameter is 11 1/2"
Illuminated by spiral wrapped16 feet of 110 volt L.E.D. strip with controller for brightness control & color selection.
The focal point of this piece is a machine copy on mylar (polyester) of a map from the Bethlehem Steel Corp. Polyester (mylar) was used from the 1950s up until the advent of C.A.D. drawings. The original integrity of the drawing is intact. Magnets are used to secure the drawing as a “lampshade” to the frame constructed of MIG welding wire spools. Unlike 99% of the drawings I have acquired over the years , this is one Bethlehem made a machine copy of the original hand drawing. The drawing is an overview of the ill property that housed the rolling mills and blast furnaces. The "H" blast furnace was in a scene where Tom Cruise met his father coming from work to celebrate his acceptance to college in the movie "All the Right Moves"
This drawing was recovered from Johnstown, Pa. Bethlehem Steel plants, contractors and successors. Much of the steel mills are demolished but the oldest buildings are on the Historic Registry and preserved. https://www.jaha.org/attractions/heritage-discovery-center/johnstown-history/history-steel-johnstown/
Over the years, I salvaged a large inventory of mill drawings and foundry patterns from my customers at Bethlehem Steel and U.S. Steel. We had both mills here in Johnstown, Pa.
Along with the Drawings, I collected original photos of the plant and its products, and employees, plant documents and catalogs of the machines and rail cars they built beginning in 1901. I also took my own photos of the plants before and during demolition. It was painful to be on site as demolition took down my old customers buildings. My works are a celebration of the ingenuity and labor of the people who dedicated their lives to the industry.
Dr. Zaborowski with the Digital Public Library of America has devoted her time and expertise to digitize most of these drawings and other artifacts for posterity, since I am using the originals on these pieces and they will be scattered to winds. So using the drawing number you may find your drawing along with photos of the plant ,its employees and ephemera dating back to the turn of the century : https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Aacacc-jsic
In its’ heyday, Bethlehem provided @25,000 employees with family sustaining wages in exchange for labor in their mines and Steel Mills in the Johnstown, Pa region.
When the jobs went overseas, they left their clothes, gear, old spice and girly calendars in their lockers and walked away from their family sustaining jobs. I have attached photos that roughly parallels the sequence of events that the drawing subject followed. Some I shot & some are vintage commercial photos that I purchased.
I spent 16 years servicing the mills and mines as a Westinghouse representative. The last 6 photos are me in my time on the job and later salvaging remnants of my customers as they faded into rustbelt brownfields.
These are remnants of Big Steel that remind us why the Pittsburgh football team is called STEELERS!
____loc. made___
