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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. Click here
is visit Magarac Steel & Iron a.k.a. Joe Magarac's Journal
(scroll down a little when you get there.)