It seems 1938 was as chock full of terrible puns as 2012: the vintage newsreel below, from the digital archives of British Pathe, shows window washers cleaning up the Empire State Building in 1938. The name of the gravity-defying reel? "Paneful Business." That at least accurately describes the jobs of the videographers who lean over the edge (early signs of planking!) to get their shots around the :30 second mark.
They're just lucky they didn't get vertigo. For more pictures and video documenting life in NYC in the 1930s, check here. And while our brains are gazing backward, check out a classic vintage video below of the Empire State Building being built—and keep in mind they didn't have any safety ropes back then!
