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The two comics were produced by the United States Steel
Corporation in
1951, and featured (signed) art by Jack Sparling!
To see covers, Click On Link Below
Original Joe Magarac Comic
Second Joe Magarac Comic
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Joe Magarac is a folk hero of the
Pittsburgh area steel mills. Historians debate whether he was an
authentic folk legend or manufactured by newspapermen to give the
Pittsburgh steel industry a much needed folk hero. Many believe the
legend originated 100 years ago among Hungarian immigrant steel
workers. In any case, by the 1930s, the stories of Joe Magarac
were well established. He was a huge steel man who would appear out
of nowhere to right a falling 50-ton crucible that threatened the
lives of the steelworkers. One story alleges that he when he melted
himself down in a Bessemer Furnace to make steel for a new mill.
Others maintain he’s waiting among the rusting ruins of old
Pennsylvania steel mills for the day that the furnaces are burning
again. In Hungarian, "Magarac" means "jack ass," a fitting name for
a folk hero who worked like a donkey 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year. |
Joe Magarac
(Text and tune by Jacob A. Evanson, 1946. Based on the famous
legend.)
After learning the many stories about Joe Magarac, steelworkers'
folk hero, I wrote this ballad in our folk-song tradition. Joe is a
legendary superman who performs incredible feats of strength and
skill, as great as the steelworkers' imagination can invent. He is
the Paul Bunyan of the steel mills. They say he makes horseshoes and
pretzels out of iron ingots with his bare hands. From cooling steel
he makes cannon balls as easily as boys make snowballs. He's so
tough he can spit right into a Bessemer, and it doesn't dare to spit
back at him,
And the way he can work! Everybody wants him on his crew, for the
tonnage then shoots right up, and likewise wages. More over, it's
more comfortable when he's around. For instance, there was the time
he caught a ladle with fifty tons of hot "soup" in it when the crane
chain broke right above his crew. Not a drop splashed on anybody.
And there was the time the dinkey engine with a whole train of
loaded ingot-buggies broke loose and headed full steam downhill,
right into the front office full of people. Fortunately, Joe caught
the last buggy just in the nick of time and pulled the whole train
back up hill. No doubt about it, Joe Magarac is the greatest
steelworker that ever lived.
The Hungarians pronounce his name "Mah-zhe-rahk," the Slovaks, "Mah-geh-rahts,"
but there are some in Pittsburgh who hold that he is really Joseph
Patrick McGarrick! This apparently is the first time the Irish got
into the dispute. After a diligent search to determine Joe Magarac's
origin, I must acknowledge that the evidence is inconclusive. |
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JOE MAGARAC
I was born in a mountain of
red iron ore
I was raised in the furnace by the blast and roar
Got no time for sleeping, give me food I can't eat
Hot steel soup, cold ingots for me.
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Red hot steel running down my back
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Now if you doubt my word don't you call me a liar
When you play with me, you play with fire
I'm solid steel and the good lord he knows
If you're tired of living, just step on my toes>
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Red hot steel running down my back
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
I was pulling that shift for twenty nine men
And I had that furnace eating out of my hand
But the blasted furnace wouldn't get enough
So I jumped on in, I'm made that tough
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Red hot steel running down my back
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Now when you see a building climb a mile high
And you see a bridge reach across the sky
There's a little bit of steel and a whole lot of man
In every girder, in every span.
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Red hot steel running down my back
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
This version was recorded by
the Phoenix Singers |
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JOE MAGARAC
I'll tell you about a steel
man,
Joe Magarac, that's the man!
I'll tell you about a steel man,
Best steel maker in all the land
Steel-heart Magarac, that's the man.
He was sired in the mountain by red iron ore
Joe Magarac, that's the man!
He was sired in the mountain by red iron ore
Raised in a furnace - soothed by its roar
Steel-heart magarac, that's the man.
His shoulders are as big as the steel-mill door
Hands like buckets, his feet on half the floor
With his hands he can break a half-a-ton dolly
He stirs the boiling steel with his fingers, by golly
He grabs the cooling steel - his hands like wringers
And makes eight rails between his ten fingers
Joe can walk on the furnace rim
From furnace to furnace - just a step for him
Joe never sleeps, but he's got to eat
Hot steel soup, cold ingots for meat
Now, if you think this man's not real
Then, jump in a furnace, see him cook the steel. |
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Joe Magarac
- by William
Gropper
- Collection of
University Art Gallery, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
www.pitt.edu/~upglib/gimbel.html |
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Joe Magarac, the
mythical steelworker of legend dominates this panel, shown bending a
steel bar. Above Joe are the coke batteries, shown with doors, and
without doors, dipicted with the fire within. Rising above the
batteries is the hot mill runout table with a steel plate. This
table is known as a transfer table.
www.dbkstudio.com/joe.htm
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Joe Magarac. The
miraculous steelworker who was made of solid steel, so the mill
hands insist, and who could squeeze out railroad rails from between
his fingers.
www.clpgh.org/exhibit/ptp19a.html |
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"Joe Magarac"
by Kapajen
www.kapajen.com |
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www.flickr.com/photos/44124349872@N01 |
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