The longshoreman's hook was historically used by longshoremen (
stevedores). Before the age of
containerization, freight was moved on and off ships with extensive
manual labor, and the longshoreman's hook was the basic tool of the dockworker. The hook became an emblem of the longshoreman's profession in the same way that a hammer and
anvil are associated with
blacksmiths, or the
pipe wrench with
pipefitters,
sprinklerfitters and
plumbers. When longshoremen went on strike or retired, it was known as "hanging up the hook" or "slinging the hook", and the
newsletter for retired members of the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union's Seattle Local is called
The Rusty Hook. A longshoreman's hook was often carried by hooking it through the belt. Longshoremen carried various types of hooks depending on the cargo they would handle. Cargo could come in the form of bales, sacks,
barrels, wood crates, or it could be stowed individually in the
cargo hold of the ship. The primary function of the hook was to protect the hands of the longshoreman from being injured while handling the cargo. Hooks also improved the reach of the worker and allowed greater strength and handling of the cargo. Some
cargo items are liable to be damaged if pulled at with a longshoreman's hook: hence the "Use No Hooks" warning sign. A longshoreman's hook looks somewhat intimidating, and as it was also associated with strong, tough dockworkers, it became a commonly used weapon in crime fiction, similar to the
ice pick. For example, in an episode of
Alfred Hitchcock Presents entitled
Shopping for Death, a character is murdered (off-screen) using a longshoreman's hook. It was sometimes used as a weapon and means of intimidation in real life as well; the book
Joey the Hit Man: The Autobiography of a Mafia Killer states "One guy who used to work on the docks was called Charlie the Hook. If he didn't like you he would pick you up with his hook." In the 1957 New York drama film
Edge of the City, two longshoremen settle their dispute in a deadly baling hook fight. They are also the primary weapon of Spider Splicers in the
BioShock series, so named due to their use of the hooks to crawl on ceilings and attack unexpectedly. ==Haying==