Thanks for this trip down memory lane. For sure, the current product being sold to us as "First Class" is not a whole lot better than what we received behind the curtain back in the Seventies. Indeed, in some cases it is actually even less!

I flew United's [Royal Hawaiian First Class many times between the US West Coast and Hawaii during the Seventies and Eighties. The service was exceptional, with loads of Macadamia nuts, a fantastic meal presentation from the trolley and the best Mai Tais I have ever had to this day.

For more on this great service, and that of other airlines during the Seventies, you might want to read THIS