Behind The Scenes In A Chicago Skyscraper In 1980s 

Here are some amazing office scenes that I filmed in the early 1980s. - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ciJgWj84pSM.html

Today is the 35th anniversary of my grandpa Burt Spitz’s passing. My siblings and dad have never had a chance to hear him speak so these clips of him are awesome! Brought a huge smile to my moms face! Thank you so the other viewers who brought this to our attention!

David Hoffman, thank you so much for this!! My dad, Burt Spitz was featured in your Prudential video and my daughter showed it to me today. Someone googled him to see what he was doing today and came across my post about him on the AIDS Memorial page. He passed away at the age of 49 35 years ago today. My husband and children never knew him. This video allowed me and my family to see him and hear his voice today. Thank you for this gift today on a day that I am especially missing him.

"Smell of smoke on 22nd floor" Everyone: Smoking on all the floors.

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

"Norman, wake up, man" *Norman drops lightbulb"

I could’ve watched two hours of this. I love this old footage.

Next up: “Office buildings are slowly becoming obsolete due to massive amount of employees working from home due to the coronavirus”

My mom was probably one of Chicago’s first female CEOs of an international company. After a smaller skyscraper on Ontario, she worked in the Standard Oil Building (later Aon Center) on the 65th floor. It’s the huge white skyscraper on the right you see when they pan over the loop from the lakeside (edit: look@6:30). I used to love to visit her in the office because there was always so much stuff I could take (client products). I would later work on the 66th floor and I hated the feeling you would get if you looked straight down for too long. The building also swayed a lot in violent winds, but I got so many beautiful pictures from up there.

Man I just love this Slice of Life stuff. It makes history actually REAL.

I never would've thought I'd find something like this so interesting

This was vintage early 80’s (which was still the 70’s). The flowing, nonchalant style of this feature made it seem like you were actually there. There is no such thing as a time machine, but there is RU-vid.

Love the camera angles, the views of the escalators, the diversity of the workforce. The conversations of every day business quandries... LOL... "I don't know what I will say to her?" Great film, awesome music. Definately a well done peice.

David, I worked for CBS TV 2 in Chicago in 1981, 1982 at the Hancock building. Our transmitter was on the 98th floor. If there was a strong storm or wind, you could see the water in the toilets sloshing side to side. Some times the clouds would actually be below our floor. I only worked there for vacation relief as I was a studio engineer. They found out I had transmitter experience and I was assigned there now and then. Chicago was not as messed up as it is now. I would ride to work from the suburbs on the Chicago Northwestern RR. That was the best parts of the day. I had been a rail fan since my dad used to take me to South Station in Boston a couple of times a year in the mid 50's. Have a Happy New Year.

They’re still photographing those corn flakes to this day.

Narrator: "They're like little communities where people get to know each other" Woman: "I didn't know you drank coffee" 🤣

I lived on the north side from 75 to 87. I can't always find 80s videos of Chicago, but there are always a few gems from the 70s that I come across. This one was really lovely. Brought back memories of people smoking stogies indoors, echoing lobbies and stomach woozing elevator rides. Thanks for sharing this!

the cornflakes porn was a bit unsettling, but with therapy I'm getting over it

I used to work on the 78th floor of the Sears Tower. It sways so much more than I ever thought it would. Wish I could find some old video I shot of my office door swinging back and forth on its hinges. Once or twice the winds were so bad that they had to shut down the elevators to the upper floors and I got to leave early. Views were incredible. Being on the 78th put you just above the building next door and it felt so surreal looking down on it. Same with the clouds--sometimes it seemed like you were walking on them. Other times you were in the clouds and couldn't see anything, which was cool for other reasons. One day building security made us go through terrorist attack drills, which was interesting. My favorite memory is probably the first time I turned around at my desk and saw a man standing outside my window as he washed it. So bizarre haha.

I love this! My mom had a best friend who worked at Bell Pacific in the 80s as a telephone operator. My mom worked at a clothing store nearby and would always go visit her during her lunch hour. She would tell me what life was like in the tall office buildings and I would always wonder. Life was so much simpler back then. It’s so great to see this!

I would love if this existed for the World Trade Center. I’m born and raised in New York City. That day changed a lot. I remember my teachers crying, parents panicking, and the streets being empty. My mother picked me up from school and rushed home. We saw the news and my mother was crying. I remember the screams when the towers fell and then complete silence. Still feels eerie and surreal to this very day. The architecture of the WTC was one of a kind and the offices inside were unique. This video just reminded me and I felt to share my sentiments. Thank you for this video.

It’s weird to think that someone just entering the workforce when this was made is now exiting it.

Gone are the days when every office had guys photographing corn flakes.

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!

3:18 “Don’t get nervous”. Every single time someone has said that to me before completing a daunting task, I get nervous.

Man, those cornflakes look god damn beautiful. THAT'S how you shoot cornflakes.

"The boiler needs more asbestos....you got a cigarette?"

"There are already 2 million computers in America today..." - the good old days.

"I didn't know you drank coffee!" - weirdest pickup line

This is making me miss the 80's. It had it's problems. But I'm glad I had my childhood before the 21st century.

Dingy faux wood paneling and nicotine stains. That’s how I remember 1970s offices.

Legend has it, they're still adjusting the cornflakes

I have to say one thing- There were offices in ancient Rome; There were many bureaucracies related to the maintenance of their cities, including but not limited to the governance and engineering of water aqueducts. You can read about Frontinus and his administrative oversight of the complex waterways and aqueducts in "De Aquadeducta" .... Which chronologues his time as the head Roman Water Commissioner. They also had offices for architects, and engineers(Which in most cases were one in the same back then) Surveyors, and offices for tax collection. So yes, Offices were around before the medieval era, probably reaching as far back as the egyptians

The edit was spot on here, love it! Those Chicago accents are the best.

I can imagine some executive in a big Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, rolling up to the building with a golf club in hand

When I was a kid in the early 1960s the Prudential was the tallest in Chicago. It was a super big deal to go up to the observation deck. There was a fancy restaurant up there were businessmen would take their secretaries trying to romance them. I'm sure that is closed now. Probably filled with old furniture and junk filing cabinets.

The corn flakes photographers. Give them a raise that was some good photos.

The things I noticed: + People smoked openly everywhere. + People were far thinner than today. + The women dressed much more conservatively (and no tattoos).

This is so amazing. As a 35 year old in 2020, the 70's and 80's seem so out of this world to me, like a fever dream. At the same time, as an amateur photographer, I wish I could go back there or before and do what David Hoffman has done. He's an inspiration but it's just not the same these days. Everything is so clean and fake now

Might sound weird, but this is one of the most thrilling posts on you tube I've seen in a while. Great work then and still holds up today. Thanks for bringing it back

i love how Hoff's videos are like a time capsule we all get to peek into... love the content!!

Guy comes out of the elevator smoking a cig ! I can remember people drinking and smoking at their desk.

Haha the footage of the people unscrewing the light bulb just to break it always cracks me up

Mr. Hoffman, I work in a large insurance office building in Illinois - outside of Chicago. Been there nearly 20 years. One notable difference I see is that people dressed their best for work in the 70s and 80s...only to smell like ashtrays when they returned home. Now...it is casual dress ( maybe too casual) ..and you cannot smoke within a hundred yards of our building.

In the late 70s I got my first writing job at Leo Burnett, where your crew clearly spent a lot of time. People commenting on all the smoking might like to know that there was no non-smoking policy at Burnett, who did advertising for Marlboro cigarettes, among others. If you were a smoker you were expected to smoke the client's brands, and any noob that put up No Smoking signs was forced to take them down. I loved seeing the 70s office non-fashions I used to wear and the apple bowl at the 13th floor reception (best apples in the agency). Thanks for the memories.

Burt Spitz! Perfect name for the guy with the gold chains and chest hair!

No cornflakes were harmed during the production of this movie.

This is great film! I love seeing snippets of time like this. I worked in the Mary Kay building in Addison, Texas in the early 2000's as a IT specialist. It was only 13 floors but it was state of the art, beautiful. The inside had granite tile and granite slabs everywhere. I was the Mac expert and supported the Creative Department on the 7th floor. They had top of the line Mac Pros. They had photo shoots for their makeup products and often had models come in standing in line to audition to be in their catalog. The dress code was very strict since at Mary Kay, image is everything. For men, shirt and tie every day. Women dressed to impress. Now I am working from home wearing my T-shirt and shorts. I work for a different company now and although it was an interesting experience, I don't miss the shirt and tie routine AT ALL!

Changing the lightbulb today requires a 2000 sq ft taped-off perimeter and a beeping Hy-Lift.

When the fire drill completed on the 22nd floor, in a big empty office, I just imagined them running in and interrupting Hans Gruber, and everyone getting taken hostage... Fascinating footage, David. Thank you.

This is phenomenal, David!! Your works that I’ve seen thus far have been nothing short of American film gold! I look forward to watching many more! 👏👏👏

One of the MANY things my family and I enjoy about your films, David, is that you bring up parts of America that make us feel proud of who we are and where we’ve come from. Once again, my hat is off to you, sir.

It’s strange to see people walking without phones in their hands.

When I was a boy, the Prudential Building was the tallest in Chicago. Thank you for an amazing journey into the past.

8:39 guy thinks he's about to start a conversation with the tall blond, as he starts talking and tapping his stomach thinking to him self," finally". She turns around mid sentences as the guy is speaking to her and starts a conversation with her coworker completely disregarding what he had to say. She's like " so how you doing linda"

What a wonderful clip! Did anyone also notice how greatly enjoyable the editing is? Lady flushes toilet, "were back in business" *cut to next shot* man is washing windows, men appears behind the 'waterfall-like' image, that flushing and the water really connect nicely. Then some folks are shaking (moving) plants, which appear as trees *another cut* and then we see people shove huge package of (waste)paper. There is a lot of interesting associations going on among the different shots and scenes. Clearly made with passion for film work as well a lot of pleasure has been put into the process I assume.

I couldn't stop watching/laughing at Bill and Bob changing that light bulb 🤣

Fascinating. I've worked in IT for 20 years, but I have never worked in a skyscraper. I wonder how the necessary infrastructure to support segmented networks looks now compared to back then. I assume they were using terminals on a mainframe which means they were probably using BNC cabling. Can you imagine how much time, effort and money to probably took to switch to ethernet? The big tool was the phone. Now it's the mobile device. The one I have to put away at night just so I can relax. Back then you could go home at night and leave work at the office. Now we carry the office around in our pocket. I'm sure back then that might have sounded cool, but in practice it's stressful. Anyway, interesting video.

The bulb changers was hilarious!

The good old days when we had many many jobs and getting one was so much easier then it is now, no drug tests, no background checks, no multiple interviews, etc. Also you had better benefits, often had a pension, and pay vs cost of living ratio was higher.

Fascinating slice-of-life documentary about 1970s-era office work. I was doing that at the time. I recall there always being some pressure to be productive, but nowhere near what today's pencil pushers endure. Little did we know that our new-fangled computers would become employer surveillance systems, and that email and text messages would be beamed to our cell phones on holidays and weekends. I am so glad to be retired. But at the same time I’m sad for us all because the future seems as if it will be even more bleak than the present.

god I love the 70s aesthetics, especially in the office buildings.

I absolutely love this channel! Thank you for uploading this. In less than 10 minutes I felt immersed in a day in the life of someone in the late 70s in Chicago! I wasn’t even born then. Haha love it!

Imagine if they'd been called Skyscratchers.

Love the “behind the scenes“ stories like this. Fascinating.

I love the editing. I wonder where all these folks are now, how they feel about their work so many years ago. I was a teen at the time. I couldn't have imagined spending my life working in a high rise like that. I don't mean to sound judgmental about it. Very interesting piece of our recent history.

1976, love the history!!!

There’s an art to these types of videos that parallels that of cinematic masterpiece. Amazing work!

Some people say that to this day you can still smell those smokey corn flakes on the 22nd floor.

75-76 my favorite years,was 18 and 19 years old, we had so much more freedom and elbow room back then.

So Nostalgic! More People Oriented at that Era! Thank You So Much for Sharing! ♥️🌷🕯

Thank you mr. Hoffman for these glimpses into the past. They somehow make me nostalgic for a time I was too young to remember!

Can i say from someone whom now is 41 and was only one in 1979 lol =) That you really should do something like archive. I would buy the huge collection what you have or heck give it away. I would love my children to have the chance to watch anything to do with history and this is really history. I can watch this all day over anything that is currently popular to be honest. Thank You David it's wonderful

And the reverse is true now. People are moving out of office buildings and back into their homes to work.

When I was 5 or 6 my dad brought me up to the observation deck of the tallest building in Chicago, the Prudential building! We looked out onto Grant Park below and it seemed that we were very high back in 1965 or 66. This film was shot after The John Hancock Building was built because we could see it in the film’s opening. I was really glad you spent a little time on the history of the skyscraper. Thanks for posting this. I’m 60 now.

Wow. Just wow. I work downtown in various skyscrapers almost every day, and seeing old architecture and styles still in some of these buildings makes me wonder what it used to look like or how things used to run. Thankyou for this david.

This doco is a piece of gold, a time capsule. Thx for making it and sharing it!

That's an excellent film. Congratulations! It was like being there for 10 minutes. In late 70s early 80s footage everything feels right; peoples' style, behavior, surroundings, etc. Must be because it was the time I was growing up, so it's imprinted in my memory as the norm.

I can't explain why but I can't help but love the 70s decor you see in things like this. Probably the nostalgia- this is from before my time but I still can remember a few older buildings rocking the 70s stuff when I was quite young...

David, you were officially the first RU-vidr, in an era long before that term ever arrived. Great stuff. Thank you for sharing.

@3:40 "Hey Bawb..." - "Coming down" - "...Wake up man" [Crash!] "Doh!"

Seems like another planet now.thevworld has changed so much that even the air looks different.

What a gem! I've been watching your videos on this channel and it has always truck me that there always? appeared to be a curiosity about the camera - not like today where people, myself included, avoid the camera at any time. Today it's endless blurred faces and speech. The 1970's and 1980's are the decades that I just want to jump into if I could. I was born in the lates 1970's so the 1990's was where I remember most things from, and let me tell you that I can't say I want to jump back in. The present is too much for me. I live to dream. Thank you, David Hoffman. For sharing videos of things that touches deep down the good feelings. I can't explain what it is about these years; the 70's and 80's, but they feel good.

Just beautiful as always, thank you David. Keep them coming...

Found an article - Burt Spitz passed away in 1985 at the age of 49. I wonder if his family knows of this film. He clearly wanted to play up the part for the documentary - seems like a fun character to say the least.

8:28 "Hi Andy, how are you? I didn't know you drank coffee." "Sometimes, when I'm tired in the morning." "Wild night?" "I should say so." "(Chuckles) On a Monday?" ...uhhhhh... *Awkward, uncomfortable* "So, how are you doing, Linda?" Got called out.

Thank you for sharing these cool old videos Mr. Hoffman

I always love the haircuts and fashion of these kinds of videos. Thank you for putting this gem up on RU-vid, sir! Greetings from The Netherlands.

I’ve gotta say I really enjoy your movie clips! I’m 63 and many of these clips are a slice right out of my era. It’s so interesting to see the amazing all the way to the mundane... it is authentically so much of what I remember, whether it be typical daily living to many of the music pieces. Thanks David for what you did all those years ago, and how you knit this into today as historical proof. 🙌🏻

Who came here to see the lovely lady in the thumbnail image? And more importantly, where is she?

Another Great Documentary. I'm from Chicagoland. I Grew Up. In A Middle class. Chicagoland Landscape. Thank You. Now I can understand My Parents. And My Neighbors.

I am so happy I stumbled across your channel almost a year ago. So many wonderful videos over a broad range of subjects. Thank you for sharing all your great work!

I'm amazed at all the people smoking. Not allowed here in Canada. Changing light bubs. I did that, at night when everyone has gone home. It is amazing, I was just a teen aged kid back then. Well done. Thanks.

I always thought of Office Buildings as White Collar Factories without the sweat and smoke and labor of a Blue Collar Factory. Wondering how expensive the Rent was in the building in relation to the time period of 1975. Another Slice of Americana Mr. Hoffman....these really are Treasures to watch decades later! Can't wait to see what you deliver for your Fans in 2020 Mr. Hoffman....Much Appreciated! Cheers From Ohio

And to the film maker behind this extraordinary film Mr. David we have only one thing to say. Thanks, this was pure gold man!

Sir, it's 23:20 here in the UK, I have work early tomorrow, and for the last 2 hours I've been promising myself 'just one more video' I've been subscribed for a good few years now, but your contribution not only to film, but history, is so varied and so REAL that I still find myself falling down the rabbit hole that is your channel every few weeks. Just wanted to thank you. You've got an amazing story, and I'm glad you're sharing it.

People were more sharply dressed back then. Now you're lucky to see people dressed in business casual attire--nowadays they look more like they just rolled out of bed lol

Who else clicked cause the chick was fiiiiine

What a superbly assembled piece! Very much of its time, yes, but a surprise of "what was going on" behind those doors when I was growing up. Thanks for posting this, David. Cheers from western New York!

I’m so glad you put out this content of what would other wise be lost to the televisions abundance of tapes