Here's a great video inflight on UA1 ORD-HNL in 1978 on a 747 with full views of the Royal Hawaiian service...it starts at 7 minutes 40 seconds in (click the text link which bookmarks to that location)

• Rose on the tray table, and cocktails from the drink cart (they include a shaker)
• A wooden or plastic tray of small pupu apps
• White or wheat roll
• Basic green salad tossed from the cart with Asian dressing
• Champagne and two wines
• An unknown main course (probably the carved roast)
• Ice cream cart with large bottles of the usual cordials (with the dry ice 'smoke')

It was nice - all served individually - but not luxurious ingredients like intl first class service in the 80s and 90s.

About 38" of pitch in first class on a 9 hour flight! But there was a wide open lounge upstairs.

In economy it was...

• The tray of pupu apps (looks similar to the one in first class)
• Chicken teriyaki (which the host thought was inedible)

And an achingly small sized projection of the movie on the bulkhead, while the flight attendants have to pass out on the crew rest seats.

It's a great frank, realistic documentary that even then talks of how air travel was cheapened and these jumbo jets made it a cattle car.

If you have an hour or so, the series of videos shows you exactly the state of affairs of flying United back in 1978 - from the good to the bad.