#L147722 Floor Lamp original vintage architectural drawing US Steel industrial dated October 7, 1960
Dimensions: 60 x 12"
The focal point of this piece is the original hand drawn Ink on Drawing Cloth, mechanical drawing from the United States Steel. 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 to the “lampshade” frame which are MIG welding wire spools and a PVC pipe spine. Complimented with a period mill drawing and Illuminated by 110 volt LEDs and cordset & LED controller. Or for @ $9.00, you can buy an adapter on Amazon to use your smartphone to control it. You can choose any LED color.
This drawing was recovered from the drawing fire vault in the 1800s steel mill that eventually became U.S. Steel, Johnstown Works. U.S.S. sold the Johnstown plant in 1984. It operated until @ 2019 when the HQ building was demolished with most of the mill.
The process from design to metal fabrication is illustrated in the photos here.
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 that the patterns were used to build.
Dr. Zaborowski with the Digital Public Library of America has devoted her time and expertise to digitize much of the drawings and ephemera for posterity. So, if you like further connection to these works, visit: https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Aacacc-jsic
In its' heyday, USS Johnstown Works employed @1700 workers. The engineers designed and drew the plans along with a pool of draftsmen. They melted iron ore, converted it to steel, shaped it, rolled it. Expert carpenters made the wood patterns for the foundry pieces they poured. Then skilled steelworkers fabricated and assembled machines, industrial railroad and minecars. They shipped the final products to sister US Steel plants and third-party customers in Pittsburgh, nationally and worldwide.
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 included photos of the mills that follow the journey of the subjects on the drawings.
These are remnants of Big Steel that remind us why the Pittsburgh football team is called STEELERS!
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, including flat-rolled and tubular products for customers in industries across automotive, construction, consumer, electrical, industrial equipment, distribution, and energy. Operations also include iron ore and coke production facilities.[2]
Once the largest steel producer and largest corporation in the world, (after the Mafia re: The Godfather Part II) It was the eighth-largest steel producer in the world in 2008. By 2022, the company was the world's 24th-largest steel producer and the second-largest in the United States behind Nucor Corporation. Though renamed USX Corporation in 1986, the company was renamed United States Steel in 2001 after spinning off its energy business, including Marathon Oil, and other assets, from its core steel concern.
Pending regulatory and shareholder approval, US Steel is set to be acquired by Nippon Steel, Japan's largest steel producing company, for US $14.1 billion. The deal, announced in mid-December 2023, retains US Steel's name and headquarters in Pittsburgh.
