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1. skeeter
   Member Profile

   Has anyone seen the new ABC show Pan Am?

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_(TV_Series)

   You can watch the first episode on either Hulu or ABC.com.

   I really liked the first episode. The plot wasn't super amazing or anything, but I enjoyed the period it was set in. Can you imagine boarding a plane and someone wearing white cloth gloves handing you a menu? Or someone "showing you to your seat" when you walk on a plane?

   I'm not saying we should only allow single, attractive, women under 32 be flight attendants. But it is cool to immerse yourself in that age for an hour. I don't understand why I even like the period so much. By the time I took my first airplane flight, Reagan was already out of office. So it's not like I can miss the "good old days" since I was (apparently) born after they were long gone.

   Can anyone on the forums tell us what it was like to fly Pan Am in the early 1960s? Were all the airlines like that? Or just Pan Am? Could an upper middle class family even afford a ticket?

   Posted 7 months ago #         

2. dhg
   Member Profile

   

   I'm too young for those days but I do recall a few things about the sixties:
   1. people would dress up to go out.
   2. everyone wore hats.

   I love the livery. I miss seeing nurses wearing tall stiff cards above their heads. (The bigger the card, the more important the nurse.)

   I do know that airlines were all like that. Job placement involved the following requirements: you had to be female, single, under a certain height, under a certain weight, under a certain age. They wanted them young, attractive and available.

   Posted 7 months ago #         

3. csw2119
   Member Profile

   

   Pan Am was a top airline. But I think all airlines were similar in style just because of the era. People didn't fly back in the 60's like they do now, we just weren't as mobile, and I think it was expensive for most people. I do have a Pan Am Worldwide Travel Guide, printed in the early 80's I think. Remember the famous shot of the Beatles coming off the Pan Am flight in 64?

   Posted 7 months ago #         

4. elikapeka
   Member Profile

   Well, I'm younger than that demographic, but things stayed pretty much that way until the deregulation of the industry in the late '70s. I got hired by Western Airlines right before deregulation and got a little taste of what a great industry it once was (in a lot of ways - it was pretty sexist, though.)

   I do remember when I was a kid that flying was an occasion. It was expensive. Everyone dressed up. There was no security. You could go in the cockpit anytime. Flights were never full. We flew Pan Am once and the "stewardesses", as they were called then, seemed so glamorous! And they were so nice to me.

   Even in coach, you had lots of leg room. The person in front could recline their seat, and you could still cross your legs! Yes, you did get menus, even in coach. Meals came with real silverware and you got a choice of red or white wine. I remember flying on Frontier and everyone got steak and lobster and a small bottle of Mateus rose wine. Coach service then was better than first class is now.

   I really enjoyed the show too - a little bit of mind candy.

   Posted 7 months ago #         

5. dhg
   Member Profile

   

   Western Airlines.....the ONLY way to fly!

   Posted 7 months ago #         

6. JoB
   Member Profile

   I'll bet there is more than one retired "stewie" who posts here ;->

   and some of them might even have flown in the 60s..

   Posted 7 months ago #         

7. Gina
   Member Profile

   

   Airlines used to give out flight bags, too.
   I remember flying on Western, United, Pan Am, and Aloha before 1977. On one flight to Hawaii from Seattle the Harlem Globetrotters were sitting in our section, I was too young to remember (about 1964),my parents said that it was the best flight, and that they were the nicest young men.

   We always flew coach class, and there were metal eating utensils and heavy plates and the stews would make martinis for my dad. In coach! There were coloring books and crayons and flight wings and little airplanes for the kids. And you dressed in Sunday clothes for flying.

   Posted 7 months ago #         

8. tom kelley
   Member Profile

   This will blow you away. In early '68 I was home on leave and in anticipation of going to
   Viet Nam bought a Browning 9mm. automatic pistol. Unlike other Army units, Special Forces was authorized taking their personal weapons on deployment. Back then guys would always fly in a suit. So rather than risk the pistol in baggage I stuck it in the inside pocket of my jacket and a fully loaded magazine in my hip pocket and boarded the plane.
   Does anyone remember the plastic bubble-hats that Braniff stews wore?
   How about the 4 cigarette packs complimentary with meals?

   Posted 7 months ago #         

9. acemotel
   Member Profile

   

   ha ha ha remember SMOKING on the plane? In those days, stewardesses had to fit into narrow parameters in terms of height and weight, and comeliness was a major factor. If I am remembering correctly, I think they had to be single, or child-less too. Male? no way! It's really refreshing, actually, to see how far we've come. Yeah, flying was really special then, but OTOH, not too many people could afford it.

   Posted 7 months ago #         

10. AlkiKmac
    Member Profile

    

    In the 70's, I remember that all meals, regardless of class, were multiple courses. In first class, I loved that we all got our own mini glass salt & pepper shakers. They used to roll a cart around with a freshly cooked prime rib and slice it for you right next to your seat. And the sundaes! The ice cream was pre-scooped and frozen solid. The dessert cart came by and they custom built your sundae! I always had to wait for the ice cream balls to defrost a bit before eating it. I also remember the stewardesses also put on fashion shows...normally on the way back from Hawaii. And yes....you always dressed to the nines to fly back then.

    Posted 7 months ago #         

11. Pibal
    Member Profile

    

    I grew up on Long Island, NY and I became an airline pilot because of Pan American. Kennedy Airport was Idlewild Airport back then. Part of my youth was spent heading to that airport as my dad traveled as a passenger on Pan Am DC-7 Clippers from NY to Dakar, Senegal and on to Monrovia, Liberia; his company had assigned him there to build a jalousie window factory. (The Liberian political climate change since then is a whole 'nother story...) The observation decks on top of every terminal allowed you to stand in the open air and watch the entire operation, and every takeoff and landing. The time spent on that deck stirred the passion that became my profession.

    The TV show's New York terminal is the Pan Am WorldPort. The set designers absolutely nailed it - huge windows, white terazzo floors, and brass rail staircases to the second floor. That terminal is still in use today and the elegant Brass Rail Restaurant seen on the second floor is now a Burger King. The magazine shop has moved a little south to make room for a Starbucks. The terminal is now Delta's (now simply known as JFK's Terminal 3) as a result of their 1992 Pan Am acquisition, was designed for travel in another era, and has long been obsolete. It will be knocked down within the next year as Delta is building an entirely new terminal.

    Two pieces of trivia, one laughable and one personal...
    1. The extended rooftop seen on the terminal was designed to extend over the ramp a great distance to protect the passengers from the elements during embarking and disembarking. Remember this terminal was designed and built during the time before jetways. Safety dictated that sprinklers be installed in the event of fire. Well, no one thought this one through. When those DC-7s taxied into the gate under the roof and shut their engines down, the remaining heat from the engines rose to roof level and set the sprinklers off - time-delayed perfectly until the passengers were halfway between aircraft and terminal. Everyone got soaked. Umbrellas were distributed even on sunny days until the fix was made.
    2. By the time I commenced my airline career, Pan Am was a shadow of its former self and not a wise choice for a long-term career. Deregulation in 1978, mergers and acquisitions, and airline failures, there would have been no way for me to have ever predicted this: 30 years after my dad's trips to Liberia, in one of those surreal once-in-a-lifetime moments, I taxied my airplane into the same gate at that same WorldPort terminal that I had stood on top of when I was 10 years old.

    When they talk about the glamour and magic of the aviation industry of the past, it was all true...

    Posted 7 months ago #         

12. JoB
    Member Profile

    Pibal..
    yes, it was :)

    Posted 7 months ago #         

13. dhg
    Member Profile

    

    Thanks for the memories, Pibal. 'appreciate it.

    Posted 7 months ago #         

14. acemotel
    Member Profile

    

    Great stories, Pibal!

    Posted 7 months ago #         

15. skeeter
    Member Profile

    Thanks for the feedback, all. This evening I'll try to watch episode #2 on Hulu. In the meantime, I booked a ticket on Southwest for $89 to SoCal. Just for the heck of it, I'll dress up for the flight!

    Posted 7 months ago #         

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