... when you could go directly to the gate and sit anywhere on the plane. Smoking section was defined by a card on top of the seat, and moved back a row if requested.
( I have never smoked, but the thought that pax were immune to second hand smoke because they were one row behind it seems funny now ).

It seems hard to believe there used to be smoking flights. I remeber them from my youth but could not imagine them now. Traveling through many Mexican airports this year I would often be thankful for smoke free flights.

.....where at most U.S. airports, non-passengers can walk as far as to the gates to drop/pick up passengers.

When our BEA flight from LHR to Oslo was delayed for two hours and the airline took us into their lounge(?) for a buffet of tea and sandwiches. That was in August 1967.

I remember... or rather I'm often told the story of my first long-distance "solo" flight from SFO to JFK at the age of 5. Apparently I thought both seats were for me and the kind business man how had the misfortune of being assigned next to me had to get an FA to explain otherwise. We had a good time, even if I did end up with gum covering my entire head and that flight started a long trend of old people entertaining a "friendly" kid on his annual trek to the big apple.

These days I think you'd be hard pressed to find a parent who would let a 5 yearold fly solo for 5+ hours or a businessman next to them who would do anything but ask for a new seat. Although let me tell you, no one gets more free perks than an unaccompanied 5 yearold with gum in his hair.

...when the non-smoking section of a Lufthansa 737 flight from Frankfurt to Stuttgart was the left hand side, with a downward air current separating the smoking section on the right hand side of the aisle. Even as an 11 year old, I wondered what grown-up was stupid enough to think that would work.