time2go1st

with exclamation point: how funny, that's what I recall Vivian Vance having exhuberantly announced, quite loudly, to the whole room at dinner at some high-toned L.A. joint -- could it have been Chasen's -- on having been told that William Frawley had just died. Of course they actually, actively hated one another despite a thousand appearances together as quarrelsome but loving Fred and Ethel, maybe because of too much time together on the set; familiarity does breed contempt they say. Maybe it is just old Hollywood folklore, but sure sounds convincing to me...

More on point in this wonderful thread, when I was very VERY little -- would anyone buy around negative 7 years old, counting backwards from now -- my parents took me on my first airline trip to see my grandparents, and the itin. was ORD to Spokane, WA. One way was on United, a DC6B if I remember right, one of the engines overheated and was shut down, my mother was politely concerned as we watched the blades slow to stop out the window; but the other way was on a gorgeous TWA Constellation -- the most beautiful thing I ever flew, I think. Looking back, I'm amazed that such a bird would have been used on such a relatively low-yield routing; well who knows how they calculated such things back then. My God, Eisenhower must have been President, probably the whole concept of yield was still in the future. If anyone here has any sort of documentation of that service, I will be very, very grateful if you could post it here.

In my adult working life I flew T-DUB more than anything, almost always TATL and almost always with upgrades to F -- great service and food, too much booze, no J nonsense in those days -- but also 90 per cent domestically coast to coast, also excellent by today's standards, until it faded away. From an ancient magazine someone once gave me, I have a menu from their early jet days in F, JFK-CDG -- just astounding, there would have been no time to sleep for all the eating and drinking. I will post that if I can dis-inter it from the depths of my closet...

KeepDiscovering

Great accounts, valuable pictures. It seems that flying was a 'caucasian ritual' in the 70s, as all people on the pictures and advertisements were caucasians, and it probably reflected the reality around that time

Would be very interested to see how the cabin interiors of Asian airlines like JAL, CX and SQ were like at that time, when they were still at the growing stage

NCommander

Wow. What an impressive time, I was born in the late 80s, so this is years after my time, but its just an incredible thing to see what it used to be like. The idea of having an actual lounge on an airplane is just ... wow, I know some of the A380s have them, but I never pictures a B747 with one.

Makes my kinda sad that I was born into the era I was.

R.I.P. TWA and Pam-Am :-/

DrivingRain

Try Virgin Atlantic. In business class no less!

Seat 2A

It's great to see the renewed interest in this thread, and I thank all of you who have taken the time to post your comments and memories. For those of us who were around thirty or more years ago, flying sure was alot more fun. For those of you who weren't, try to find your way into a First Class seat aboard airlines like Singapore, Emirates or Cathay Pacific. The onboard service and comfort now is even better, though the pomp and circumstance surrounding First Class air travel has definitely diminished over the years.

Here are some old airline ads that may rekindle a memory or two...



Northwest Stratocruisers would fly you to Hawaii in just 8 luxurious hours



United operated the "for men only" Chicago Executive flights until 1970



TWA's Super Constellations offered the finest service in the sky



First Class lounges on narrow bodied jets was the standard



Western's Islander Service to Hawaii was one of the best in the air



United's DC-10s originally featured 8-across seating and lounges in both First Class and Coach

camsean

This thread still rocks after three or four readings.

aricane

9V-SIA

I'm enjoying this thread. ^

My contribution..

Itinerary for my Dad's RTW trips

...in 1964

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...sc001ae8c7.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...sc001b06e2.jpg

...and 1967

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...ur1967-1-1.jpg

Note the hotel prices & aircraft types in those days

After a relative died in a Comet crash, couples travelled separately, hence, 2 itineraries in 1964

snod08

This thread is simply amazing.!!

time2go1st

Seat 2A, thank you so much for those really great clips; and especially for me the TWA Constellation. I do have to wonder if all the carriers at the time used the same ad agency/artist, as the artwork looks amazingly alike, everyone superbly dressed for the flight event and of course, SMILING and socializing -- altho my own feel is that people actually kept more to themselves then when travelling. Also, could you possibly verify if the Chicago Executive was offered on any other routes than NYC-ORD, and how long it lasted -- what anacronism it seems today, I'd imagine it was cancelled in months; true the Plaza Oak Bar and a couple of Union League Clubs may still have been men-only at that time, but not too much else, I'm amazed anyone tried to implement that in the sky...

NCommander

Am I the only one, while looking at this, thinks that what we've gained w.r.t. to premium (and even economy) travel is less than what was lost?

DrivingRain

Not the only one! But the US public votes with their wallet and we have a much more "democratic" system today than the past. Fortunately, for those that want them, luxuries similair (or better) than the old days are still out there.

NCommander

Seems Virgin is the only one that is similar to what was once there (and even then not as close to having a full service lounge etc., and F/J prices these days are mindbogglingly expensive.

If domestic F was x2 coach, I'd probably personally buy F for all my transcons, but I can't justify it at the 3-4x surcharge it usually is.

time2go1st

My oversight -- I looked at the artwork again and there is a line beneath it saying that United actually operated its Men-Only service UNTIL 1970!!! Unbelievable.

fastflyer

Apple pie with cheddar cheese is still common in New England. Friends have a (corny) sign in the kitchen of their cabin in Maine:

"Apple pie without the cheese
is like a hug without the squeeze"