Steel Town 1944

[marinegrunt76]

Your vote means nothing.Your either voting for the devil in blue or the devil in pink.

[Wa3ypx]

Wilson and South are both gone. No more stell valley football cause there aint no more steel valley cause there aint no more steel. Last guy out shut off the lights!

[mikejones1003]

I can't believe this was my hometown. The part about the mills being quiet, and streets empty hit me especially hard. That's how it is now. The city I saw in this video is totally different and indistinguishable from what is there now.

[marinegrunt76]

Hi, hey does anyone know where this steel plant is located in Youngstown? I would love to work there.It looks like good work and probably pays good.Ok thanks

[mikejones1003]

@marinegrunt76 All gone...there is nothing left. Just an open field and a few old buildings.

[Wa3ypx]

@marinegrunt76 two miles East of nowhere. If you find the market street bridge, there will be an office building there for Republic steel. Go in tell 'em who you are, then tell 'em who you want to be. That cant get enough people for the all the jobs.

[gopconservative78]

it was wonderful in the 50s No Negroes here!

[marinegrunt76]

Plastics,aluminum,and reinforce concrete destroyed the steel industry not foreign steel.

[TheOpposed50]

@marinegrunt76

Really?? If you worked in steel, you'd see almost every sheet is stamped "port of los angles" ... Meaning it was IMPORTED from other nations.

[marinegrunt76]

Hi,ok does anyone know the address of this steel plant?I really would like to work at this plant.

[bowler811]

@marinegrunt76 This is the Campbell Works of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube company. The blast furnaces and open hearth furnaces are now a flat brownfield site.

[MisterMacross]

So clean, so prosperous, so white.

[YtownWolfAxis]

Perhaps if we did what General Patton suggested and hooked up with the Wehrmacht in Moscow - fighting a greater evil, communism - we wouldn't have our current problems of Semitic outsourcing to foreign countries, and inner mongrelization and cultural decay.

[totalfestorganizer]

@YtownWolfAxis You're an ass

[bandito468]

thank wal mart for losing manufacturing to china

[LuvsIdol]

My dad operated a crane in the open hearth at the Sheet & Tube until he retired in 1976. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 66 in 1980, but he and my mom raised four kids (two graduated from college) and had a good life. I consider myself very lucky to have grown up in the area. My husband's from Girard and we moved away in the early 60s because of the lack of jobs. We still go back for reunions and to see family. It was a great place to live.

[torchkit]

@LuvsIdol

A lack of jobs in Youngstown/Warren in the early 60's????

[AMULET72]

ISN'T THIS JUST PART OF THE WHOLE STORY OF CAPITALISM AND HOW IT WORKS, OR MORE RECENTLY, HOW IT DOESN'T? THE WHOLE THING SPINS AROUND MONEY AND GREED. IF IT'S CHEAPER TO MAKE STEEL IN ASIA THEN THATS WHERE IT'LL BE MADE. THE TRANSITION OF MOVING HEAVY INDUSTRY TO DEVELOPING ECONOMIES TAKES A FEW YEARS OR MAYBE EVEN A GENERATION BUT GREED AND PROFIT WILL MAKE SURE IT BECOMES A REALITY.

[ManowarxManowar]

MANOWAR

[westonsz]

Makes me wish I was born 80 years ago to enjoy the good jobs, benefits and opportunity America once had. These days things suck. There is little opportunity and a person makes very little for knowing alot. Congress is clueless and has killed America. I wish congress would just go on a permanent recess and save all of us tax payers some money. They have failed America. They should all be tarred and feathered in the streets of the capitol.

[westonsz]

There was a time when we had an economy with jobs and did not require the government to constantly try to prop things up with new stimulus packages or unemployment extensions that our government can't afford. Time to see the truth for what it is. We have no jobs because nearly every product we buy here is produced somewhere else. Our country would not have a healthcare problem or budget deficit if we still had these jobs. We need to form a lobby and buy congress back.

[bphutchins]

Youngstown is a really rough town, rivaling detroit

[cjjack123]

They are using the same scare tactics as they have in the past.Pretty soon you will have a degree and work for $10/hour if you are lucky enough to have a job. People are more apt to stab in each other in the back then to work together to make it better. It is time for a CHANGE and not what is currently running this country.

[porter4]

@ 4:48 - those children grew up, worked in the mills, got laid off in the 1970's and have bided their time for 30+ years. Thank you USW.

[maganaonline]

Free Trade AND Unions are to blame. Coupled with stupid government policies. I'm not saying unions or trade are bad... just out of control... look a General Motors.

[Zerstuhrer]

Worked there, done that. I can only think of James McMurtry's song "We Can't Make It Here Anymore".

[cjjack123]

And something else to think about - the blue collar men who had a dirty job and then got cancer from working in the mills were greedy when they wanted good health care from the great coporate leaders, Right? They knew they were putting those men in danger to fill their pockets.

[Iwent2Jared]

fill their pockets ? They were trying to fight friggan' nazis when this happened.

[cjjack123]

You are a moron. Unions do have their issues, have a place & are not to blame.The people in this country should have the opportunity to work & make a decent living to provide shelter & food for their families as well as have an opportunity to do better. I am not talking about a handout. Corporate greed & the gov. go hand in hand. Wake up, it has been this way for a long time. How about middle & upper mgmt who have to be paid millions & a gov.that taxes everything even going to the bathroom.

[lakewood85]

This was when America was great. Then the unions got greedy so the company owners shipped technology and plants overseas to people who work cheap, speak no english and hate America. Blame the greedy unions and the politicians they have in their pockets for this mess. It makes me sick.

[SteffanLlwyd]

You lost me there. The owners can place their capital wherever they wish, but people are much less mobile. Result: capital flight and the global 'race to the bottom'.  Blame isn't the issue. It's just how the system is allowed to operate. It creates the extreme imbalances which triggered the current banking crisis...

[ajrproductions]

Awesome!!!

[cjjack123]

You people are clueless. The rust belt made this country what it is as an economic and military power.  The rust belt is gone and hence so are both. It is time for the people of this country to have an actual say in what they want instead of it being dictated to them. Do not put your faith in any politicans, both parties, you will only be disappointed. The people built the towns and without them they have decayed. It is horrible to see our country falling apart in front of our very own eyes.

[ajrproductions]

Right on

[joshuaj2323]

You are totally right and anyone who disagrees should take a look at our deficit and trade imbalances. Globalization is simply lowering us to 3rd world standards and yes...its happening right before our very eyes. Corporate greed wants to lower OUR standards, not raise Cambodias. People are so stupid.

[MrJamieSanderson]

@cjjack123 So true!

[brammatron]

you're absolutely right, god damn those workers for wanting fair wages. I completely support those in charge wanting to make more of a profit sending their companies to less developed parts of the world to get cheaper labor. They have every right to.

[ajrproductions]

you're a moron

[ccmaryann]

This is awesome yet depressing at the same time. It is so sad what we have lost as a city and as a nation. Our "service" economy hardly instills such a sense of pride. I really dont think these "rich" unionized steelworkers ruined this. It was the greedy corporate faction and the politicians, Republican AND Democrat that achieved this. Wake up! They are all the same! They have it all now. I would love to see American made goods again. I would love to see this wonderful city alive again.

[gopconservative78]

@ccmaryann no it was the Communist unions that ruined it........this is a thing of the past and not coming back

[traditionalsmith]

@gopconservative78 first off, unions are there to keep the workers from becoming slaves (at least more slave-like). Secondly, I'm assuming you don't know what communism really is (hint: stalin wasn't a communist and neither is Obama)

[gopconservative78]

@traditionalsmith Unions are communist leeches that ruin the economy just like your Magic Negro and Stalin

[traditionalsmith]

@gopconservative78 first off, if you imply that I am a supporter of Obama, I am most certainly not. Obama is just another scumbag politician. Also, I suggest you give your definitions of "communist" and "communism" before going any further.

[jmasotto07]

i really dont think the politics here are necessary, do that somewhere else. this is an amazing depiction of how good life and the area used to be. i only wish i got the opportunity to experience such an amazing era.

[rickster348]

over-regulations, taxes, and the unions picked at what was left. God Bless the men, (and women) that worked in these places.

[pghpa611]

Reagan , Bush and every Republican who has ever held office has brought this country to its knees. The last great Republican was Abraham Lincoln, wait a minute that party became the Democratic Party. Do me a favor listen to your 40 million dollar man RUSH who has all the answers but doesn't run for office. Such an ass.

[ASONOFUNCLESAM]

Your full of shit.. Liberals have always been democrats and conservatives have always been republican.. no party ever changed anything. democrats started the KKK and enacted the Indian removal act. read a book ass..

[pghpa611]

He broke the air traffic controllers' union, too. Brave guy. Pittsburgh recovered with no thanks to the GOP-run federal government -- so much so, the G-20 conference will be held in Pittsburgh in September. And the new air traffic controllers unionized anyway.

Why people revere Reagan is beyond me. Even Bush called his economic plan "voodoo economics."

[pghpa611]

Unlike Obama, Reagan did not lift a finger to help a beleaguered industry -- in Reagan's case, steel. The Rust Belt is still struggling from the effects of steel practically dying 20 years ago. Reagan had to run out a side door of a Pittsburgh hotel when he heard union steelworkers were planning a demonstration.

[marcusreedus]

That one just about broke my heart. There's a simple wisdom and somewhat cautionary aspect to the narration. It's almost like it was made to be shown to the post-industrial rust-belt U.S. As if to say "Look at all you've abandoned. Not just mills and jobs - but an entire way of life."

[OhioRails]

Wonderful, inspiring, and chilling... all at once. Thanks for sharing

[opusfaux]

Though..let me be clear. If it were not for these mills..these hard working people and towns like Youngstown, OH. Duquesne and Clariton, PA and Gary, IN WWII might have been won but at a much steeper cost in lives and many years later.

[opusfaux]

Yeah. Ronald Reagan destroyed 80 years of industry in 8 years in office. Right. The mill owners and Unions suckled at the tit of the pig thinking neither had to do anything to advance their business. Steel in the "rust belt" died because of UNION and CORPORATE greed, environmental concerns and, most importantly, competition from modern, efficient, clean steel plants in the Southern US and overseas. (This is a neat WWII Propaganda piece however.)

[Reubenhubert]

I agree. Greed is the reason we are in the recession now. I'm still working, thank God, but I'm going to college part time. I don't see a good future for blue collar workers so I'm going into the medical field. I'll hit my 25th aniversary at work and my 50th birthday before I graduate.

[newredsun]

I grew up in Y-town and worked at Republic and LTV. The mills collapsed in 1977-78. Ronald Reagan took the oath in 1981.

[redrockerdude]

Agree with all that you say with the exception of Reagan, they knew the mills were closing in the late 60's, after passing the clean air act.

[opusfaux]

Actually, I'm being sarcastic in replying to the comment accusing Reagan causing the collapse of the steel industry. The industry in Youngstown and the Mon-valley had taken it's last breath by 1980.

[pghpa611]

Truly a piece of American History which I am proud of, The Rust Belt was left to die by Corporate America and The Washington Elite. From Pittsburgh to Gary Indiana and all in between Cleveland , Buffalo and so many others lives were ruined and cities devastated . Thank You Ronald Reagan you ruined our country.

[boazrg]

This is G-d's truth! Thanks to that senile fool Reagan, we are becoming a second rate country. Our grandchildren will never forgive us for these blunders. (Bitter ex-Chicagoan)

[redrockerdude]

Reagan? Have you gotten a taste of Obama & the Dems in Congress? Tim Ryan?

[saminnd]

Wrong, the lazy, overpaid, union workers ruined the country. Other countries produced things better and cheaper while you guys sat on your ass drunk, protected by a useless union that gave companies no choice but to move thier operations overseas. Our grandchildren will never forgive us for bankrupting our country with a useless stimulus that has done nothing to improve the economy. Yet these clowns want to spend even more money we don't have to provide health care to illegal aliens.

[sean121982]

It's pretty easy to try to blame just one person, but if you go back and do some reading on the steel industry's history in America, you will find that the seeds of the devastation were planted as far back as the late 1940s, when the Marshall Plan aided foreign competition. The boom of the 1950s gave everyone a false sense of security. By the time the 60s rolled around and the cracks started to show, it was already too late to invest and make most mills economically viable for the future.

[redrockerdude]

Don't worry, you haven't seen nothing yet, with Obama & cap and trade.

[PHLivingston]

Wow this was great to watch! Depressing too. I worked in Republic Steel's bar mill (on the hot bed--ouch!) right up until the mills shut down. Can't count how many times I walked across that bridge. Those were dirtier, harder and simpler times. Way better than now in many ways.

[CJSLMusic]

Wonderful, inspiring, and chilling... all at once. Thanks for sharing!

[fishlover44]

move out! I did, there is much more to life then living in a poop hole. it was a great place until the 1980s.

[Candacesp]

Really good stuff, that work was hard as hell. We all have it so good, we are so spoiled.

Those guys are not acting. When they hold their hand up in front of their face, it was because the heat hurt.

OSHA could write a 10000 page report on that 15 minute video.

Thanks for sharing.

[lakewood85]

Fluck OSHA, The AQMD, and MSHA

[verngla]

wish Ytown was still like it was in 40's and 50's.

[keithlockup]

We must show this to our children. Only I can remember the old Youngstown. My kids only see whats happening today there. Show your kids! Wonderful Video.

[thirtysford]

Absolutly Great Video! Thanks so much for sharing it.

[Touch0fGrey]

Please for the Future of our Children Youngstown VOTE and VOTE McCain

God Bless America Land Of The Free Because of OUR Brave

[radarengineer]

I cried for a solid hour after watching this, the old hometown sure used to be a nice place to live, thank the tree hugger assholes for making steel to expensive to produce in medium sized communities like youngstown.

[SteffanLlwyd]

You have a point, but have you seen the YouTube vid on new German steel plants. They are pretty clean. But I like the look of old Youngstown better!

[vikingjim666]

As if that was the only problem -- how about lack of modernization of the plants in face of more efficient European and japanese mills? How about unions so intractable that they did nothing to save their jobs until it was too late? Food for thought my friend -- MANY things contributed...

[Phenobarbidoll]

Ah! That's my great Uncle Michael Ficocelli conducting the orchestra! I didn't know he worked in the steel mill!

[imalive3010]

Was he the guy that taught flutophone classes to all the 4th grade parochial kids in Y-town?

[martinijodi]

Neat. My dad went into skilled trades rather than the mills but his dad and brother were there. I too can remember orange skies from a Pointview Street vantage as a young girl.

[sl95765]

I grew up in the Ytown area. I regret not having taken the time to tour the mill when my uncle who worked there offered to get me in. This video has helped me to see what my uncle did and what the process was. I remember driving across the Center Street Bridge and seeing the fires burning. For years the skies were orange with smoke from the mill. It took almost 10 years for the blue skies to return but now it's a ghost town. On a side note, Mr. Ficocelli was my music teacher!!

[TexasLady04]

This was awesome.Greatly admire the men ,who helped make the valley what it became.

[Flackack]

Fantastic video. I'm from Warren, age 36 so I missed the heyday of the Valley. Unfortunately, it's been nothing but rough times here, my whole life. Think about that.

[Buckeyebill212]

My Dad was a crane operator at Republic Steel in the Bessemer which was under the South Ave. Bridge. I worked for Republic Steel for 1 year before I went to work for Ohio Bell. Very nice to see this film. Thank you

[jojoman09]

My father , uncles, and I worked at U.S. Steel

Ohio works from 1940 till 1981. Generations of family members had good paying jobs and at one time a great place to live. Thanks for the video it brought back old memories.

[galfromchitown]

My grandfather was also a crane operator for 40+ years. He also was from Czechoslovakia, just like one of the men in the film. Very interesting - thanks!

[memphismama3]

my dad was a crane man in the mill i found this very interesting and sad very mixed emotions .......what happened to our valley!!!!!

[tribefan1955]

The first helper(Mike Hubinsky)is my grandfather. He worked at U.S. Steel for about 50 years without ever missing a day! The hard work must have added length to his days because he lived to 93 years of age.

[vikingjim666]

My great uncle was head roller at the Ohio WOrks! I still have some of his old pay stubs!