Behind The Scenes In A Chicago Skyscraper In 1980s

Behind The Scenes In A Chicago Skyscraper In 1980s

I have got to say, this was a fun job. Just going into the Chicago Sears classic skyscraper ad knocking on people’s doors and asking them if we could film what they were doing at that moment was surprisingly interesting. Most people’s jobs were interesting and people seemed involved. The jobs were probably more interesting then than they are today if I had the same responsibility to knock on people’s doors in any skyscraper in America.

50 Comments

  1. Mrs. Paro on March 31, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    Goddamit Bob wake the frick up 😀

  2. Robert G. Durant on March 31, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    2:51 He sounds like Beavis

  3. Billkwando on March 31, 2022 at 6:23 pm

    A lot of these folks are being rather, ahem, _performative_ ($100 a week guy). Of course, nobody’s used to have a camera in their face, or at least not back then.

  4. Will Moffett on March 31, 2022 at 6:23 pm

    The claustrophobic era of interior building design.

  5. Michael Dineen on March 31, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    Where’s the hot girl in the photo, ie. the reason I clicked on this??

  6. Western Values on March 31, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    4:19 I’ll bet you a billion dollars he’s talking to an empty line and just wants to look badass😃

  7. Edward Barney on March 31, 2022 at 6:27 pm

    It’s really not that long ago. Even so, the picture looks so dated.

  8. Insignificant Speck Of Dust on March 31, 2022 at 6:27 pm

    The women were so pretty and dressed so feminine…men were men and they knew that women wanted it that way.

  9. John Jaco on March 31, 2022 at 6:31 pm

    Thank god I worked my whole entire working life not Being in a high rise.

  10. BostonSmitty on March 31, 2022 at 6:32 pm

    I LOVED this. Thanks so much for posting.

  11. 8avexp on March 31, 2022 at 6:33 pm

    And back in the 60s, the Prudential Building was one of Chicago’s tallest buildings. Then came the John Hancock Building and the Sears aka Wilson Tower.

  12. J Dubya on March 31, 2022 at 6:34 pm

    I’m watching this in February 2022. 46 years later! Surely you would think that all of the people in this film are retired. Even young Bill the maintenance guy changing the light bulb while the older experienced guy, Bob, gives careful instructions only to drop and break the bulb at the end! That was too funny! Great film! Loved it!

  13. tjbjjtkd on March 31, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    Reminds me of the films we use to watch in school. My Aunt work at the McCormick building in Chicago back in the 80s.

  14. Rob Gatzke on March 31, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    9:07 Napoleon Dynamite

  15. B Jolly on March 31, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    Loved it!!
    I have always been curious about the goings on in these monstrous skyscrapers

  16. RI Outboards on March 31, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    wow that lightbulb thing was absolutely HILARIOUS. best comedy is unscripted. those 2 should not be allowed near lightbulbs. just saying.

  17. Shaun L on March 31, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    Lady in the thumbnail is hot

  18. عابر القارات on March 31, 2022 at 6:38 pm

    you did a great jop there , who was the Documentary announcer ?

  19. Jordan Williams on March 31, 2022 at 6:38 pm

    My mom was around 22 somewhere in South Florida being Fly AF & never knew my dad exsited When this was filmed lol thats so crazy. i love this channel! tthanks for all the Gems 😘😘

  20. ObiWanBillKenobi on March 31, 2022 at 6:40 pm

    2:00 I’m watching this in March 2022 and wondering why these people aren’t wearing masks. 😷 Good grief. 😓

  21. Joe Stocking on March 31, 2022 at 6:40 pm

    Bob dropped the light bulb.

  22. citizen stranger on March 31, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    1976 is when my parents met, they used to go to bar/club called mothers. i was born a few years later in the next decade.

  23. Analog IDC on March 31, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    It’s impressive to see a filmmaker capture the spirit of an era in only ten minutes.

  24. Kent Wood on March 31, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    "Wake up, man!" (smash) 😄

  25. Marc LaGuardia on March 31, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    It is so fascinating to me to watch this old footage from the 70s and 80s, and to be reminded how different sensibilities used to be, as compared with today. I wouldn’t say that people were naïve, back then, but they were not seemingly as encumbered by societal baggage. There was a sense of decorum and respect for everyone’s role in what was happening.

  26. jshowa o on March 31, 2022 at 6:42 pm

    You filmed a lot of interesting things David. I’m glad video streaming sites were invented so you can share it for years to come.

  27. Troy L on March 31, 2022 at 6:43 pm

    "I got a philly cheese steak on a Manhattan sidewinder!"

  28. Stephen Midnight on March 31, 2022 at 6:48 pm

    I 100% blame that rude ass lady with the dumb questions for the glass breaking @3:45

  29. GeneralChangOfDanang on March 31, 2022 at 6:48 pm

    *SMASH*
    Come on, Bob. Wake up.

  30. Marbury on March 31, 2022 at 6:52 pm

    For a brief moment, I felt like I was there watching this.

  31. li0n heart 05 on March 31, 2022 at 6:55 pm

    3:47 kaboom.
    Also very good video 👍🏻

  32. ObiWanBillKenobi on March 31, 2022 at 6:57 pm

    This reminds me of the movie “Return from Witch Mountain” (1978) which features inside and outside footage of an industrial nuclear power plant of the time. (At least, that’s what it was in the story. I actually don’t know for certain if they used an actual nuclear power plant.)

  33. William Bell on March 31, 2022 at 6:57 pm

    all that being careful talk and they still dropped and busted the light bulb lol

  34. Christian Constitutionalist on March 31, 2022 at 6:58 pm

    Smart phones have ruined our lives & we don’t even realize it yet.

  35. Mark Hendry on March 31, 2022 at 6:58 pm

    You can tell this is legit historical footage because everyone is slim

  36. Richard Mills on March 31, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    Is this film available in its entirety? I’d LOVE to see this. Please let me know how I can view/buy a copy. Thank you!

  37. Chris Sanders on March 31, 2022 at 7:01 pm

    That was fantastic! Im 29 and i feel as though i should’ve been 29 back then.

  38. Mr N on March 31, 2022 at 7:03 pm

    Should have been a 3 hour doc!

  39. el goog on March 31, 2022 at 7:04 pm

    It would seem Bob has some attention issues.

  40. Yay Hoo on March 31, 2022 at 7:05 pm

    I grew up in a suburb of Chicago and this footage is depressing to me because Chicago is cold and miserable during the winter, hot and humid during the summer, with buildings that are industrial, clinical and devoid of humanity.

  41. PrinceHakim._ on March 31, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    Click bait the Charlie’s Angel n the thumbnail is about 70 years old now 😩 I thoroughly enjoyed the video nonetheless 💯

  42. berlinteo on March 31, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    @5:10 i’m curious how CB Radio works inside a building with so many concrete walls

  43. ObiWanBillKenobi on March 31, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    So, was this in the 1980s, like the video title says, or 1976, like the introduction says? Going by the computers shown, and that the narrator mentions “by 1990” about the computers, I’m more inclined to estimate this was the 1980s.

  44. thillerism on March 31, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    What camera was used at the time of making this

  45. T W on March 31, 2022 at 7:07 pm

    nope…cant do it. 8 years ago I quit my desk job and became an electrician. Never again will I sit behind a desk or be glued to a computer. fuck that.

  46. Qbabxtra on March 31, 2022 at 7:07 pm

    Love these time capsules of yours David

  47. T on March 31, 2022 at 7:07 pm

    People were no BS back then it just different their mannerisms.

  48. Kevin Mahoney on March 31, 2022 at 7:09 pm

    Hey David, you mention the Sears tower in the description. Is some of the footage here from the Sears tower (currently named the Willis tower?) It seems that the Prudential building is a different tower than the Sears one, which is much larger.

  49. MrGMFan on March 31, 2022 at 7:09 pm

    A small part of me is wishing I was still that young guy making the trip to Michigan ave. We worked hard, but played equally as hard. Many late night trips on metra. We were all trying to “move the needle”!

  50. Liberty Springs on March 31, 2022 at 7:09 pm

    Wonderful. People today can’t imagine what life was like before everyone had a cellphone and computer with the internet. How was life possible?🤣

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