friday flashback--when flying was fun

Oh, for the days of flying in the Age of Mad Men. Fifty years ago this month, Pan Am inaugurated transatlantic jet service with a Boeing 707 they named the Clipper America. Here's a video that introduced the former comforts of air travel, which included " living room quiet and relaxation" and stewardesses lighting your cigarettes for you.



For years, the friendly skies were the domain of businessmen and well-heeled families who could ante up for a first class vacation. Tickets were pricey and there was no point shopping around; airfares were controlled by regulation. The only way for airlines to compete was to provide the best service. Which meant free food and drink, no matter how short the flight was. And I'm not talking snack paks and half-cans of soda. There were three-course meals on fine china and linen and omelettes made from real eggs in the galley. Routine flights included roses for female passengers and stick-pin "wings" for their children which would be presented in a little pre-flight welcome ceremony. Of course, everyone would be dressed to the nines, as befitted the occasion; only after boarding would women remove their white gloves.

Speaking of wardrobe, I can't help remembering that outrageously sexist spot created in the late 60s by Mary Wells for Braniff Airlines. To convince businessmen to fly Braniff, she hired Emilio Pucci to design a new uniform for its stewardesses. He created a layered look that could be changed during flight. She called it The Air Strip. No doubt filling fleets of planes with Don Drapers and Pete Campbells.

airline retaliates

Usually, a trip to see family in the Midwest entails a relatively painless two hour nonstop flight but yesterday, as if to pay me back for a recent snarky post re. the industry, they cancelled my flight (withholding the news until I was at the airport, trying to check in eletronically when the kiosk flashed the ominous See Agent warning) and detoured me to Charlotte, NC where I waited for hours, which gave me time to discover that the Gracious South still exists in ladies rooms there. Incredibly, each is supplied with a trayful of treats for the Lady Traveller: hand cream, breath mints, tampons, Listerine. More incredibly to me, though the trays are unattended, takers take only a dainty amount.

I finally made it to my destination (with soft skin and inoffensive breath) but the airline's vengeance continued: my bag stayed in Charlotte.