This iconic photograph was taken during the construction of 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. At the height of the Great Depression.

It made its public debut in the New York Herald Tribune newspaper in October 1932.

In the decades since, Lunch Atop a Skyscraper has inspired documentaries; other works of art; and the American Spirit of grit, determination, and progress.

For archivist and photo historian, Ken Johnston, the photo is a priceless piece of American history; and a testament to the brave immigrants who helped build this New York City landmark.

Two of the men in the photo are believed to be immigrants from Ireland; another from Sweden; and another from Spain's Basque Country. Meanwhile, the man on the far right is a Slovak immigrant named Gustáv Popovič.

"I think a number of things make [this image] perennially popular," Johnston says.

"There’s the incongruity between the action – lunch – and the place – 800 feet in the air – and that these guys are so casual about it.

It’s visceral: I’ve had people tell me they have trouble looking at it out of fear of heights.

And these men – you feel you get a very strong sense of their characters through their expressions, clothes and poses. They are very much of their time. Jimmy Cagney could play a screen version of any of them.

There’s also something about the values and contradictions of the American 1930s in the image.

That these are workers during the Great Depression.

That they are building. Not stopping."