Daily LIFT #1676

Maria Vlasova, Soviet crane operator, 1953 -- Daily LIFT #1676

From the Soviet Press:

If anybody asks Marla Vlasova what her job is, she gives a mischievous look and says: "Guess!"

Nobody can.

If you should find yourself in Lipetsk, look for the fine building with the airy towers and many entrances at No. 17a, May Ninth Street. Opposite if stands another big apartment house—No. 56— already tenanted by workers from the metallurgical plant. All the material that went into those buildings—bricks, steel, cement, wood—was raised from the ground to the various floors by Marla Vlasova, tower crane operator.

Now her crane stands on a new site, huge and clumsy-looking, like an elephant towering over a pile of children's building blocks. The operator's cabin is located among beams and trusses at the height of a four-storey building. The woman climbs up to her lofty perch as nimbly as a sailor and sets her "elephant" carefully moving load after load.

As a rule Marla Vlasova goes well over the quota which her crane Is supposed to handle. If one asks her how she does it, she smiles and her clear, melodious voice again says: "Guess!"

Then looking at her crane with a quick change to seriousness she will say: "People are looking forward to celebrating housewarmings where that crane is standing now. That's why we've put our shoulder to the wheel and are speeding up things."