Being from a UA family I didn't fly any other airlines back in the day (except PA to Europe, and HA within the 50th State), but those definitely were the days for inflight service. My dad's best friend was a pilot for TWA and his daughter -- the two of us had a mutual crush for about 4 weeks -- loved the lobster the airline served (their motto was "Finest Food in Flight", plastered on the side of their service center at SFO).

My outstanding food memory wasn't because of the food but the circumstances. We were flying SFO-ORD (flight 132, departing 1700 give or take 10 minutes depending on the season, D8S) and a bunch of Marines were on the flight with us. Not only did I beat them playing War (a big deal to someone with a single-digit age!), but I got three of their desserts in addition to mine. Boysenberry shortcake -- yum!

I knew of the other airlines only by reputation, including Western's Hunt Breakfast served on flights as short as 1:20 (SFO-LAS, back in the days when you didn't need 40 minutes combined taxi time).

I forgot to mention that many, if not most, of the meals pictured would have been overseen by a former client of mine (former because he passed away), who was Alaska's executive chef. According to an article from the time -- don't remember if it was from the newspaper or the inflight magazine -- he was known for flying at least once a month and talking to the passengers to get their reactions to the food. Can you imagine anyone doing that today?