This gentleman, shown on the cover of the April 1951 issue of Popular Mechanics, is a lot braver than I am, but he was a critical part of the radio-TV industry.

Since TV and FM signals require line of sight propagation, antennas need to be up high, and steeplejacks were the men who made sure they were up there. According to the magazine, some of the employees were old timers used to working jobs up high, but some were young men. There were few accidents, because the one thing all workers had in common was that they could have only one accident.

In New York, the 1250 foot Empire State Building had just grown 222 feet with the installation of the antennas for five New York TV stations. The idea was to eliminate ghosts and extend the range 50 miles.

The magazine pointed out that the building came with a “spike” originally designed as a mooring spot for Transatlantic dirigibles. It came in handy providing a solid base for the antennas.