Big winds of social revolutions and innovation brought winds of change to air travel.

Stewardesses fought back and became flight attendants.

It started when the1968, federal courts struck down the rules forbidding marriage and age requirements, for stewardesses. This action skyrocketed the momentum that zoomed into the 1970s with two major landmark changes for airline flight crews. Under pressure, rules against flight attendants being pregnant were withdrawn by most airlines. A major significant change in a landmark 1971 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that airlines could not discriminate against men after Celio Diaz Jr. who claimed his two applications for Pan Am were rejected on the basis of gender.

By contrast, at the same time, Southwest Airline stewardesses wore hot pants as their uniform, and National Airlines spent $9.5 million on a 1971 campaign that read “I’m Cheryl. Fly Me.”  The commercial aroused anger in some people, but National claimed that it saw a 23 percent bump in passenger traffic as a result.

Some stewardesses reacted to airlines sexiness sells and joined national feminist organizations to form a group called “Stewardesses for Women’s Rights.” When National Airlines forced flight attendants to wear “Fly Me” buttons, members of the group made and wore buttons that read “Go Fly Yourself.”

With all these changes the to remove the gender bias of the job, the term “Flight Attendant” replaced “Stewardess” while the same basic job same basic jobs remain: to tend the passengers’ needs and safety.

Bigger Planes reinvented air travel

Welcome abroad travel in the 1970s on board big 747’s spacious, classy interiors that changed air travel. Enjoy a visit with these views of actual 747 cabins in Traveling in a Boeing 747.

And give a fond farewell to the 747 from today’s air travel and discover the Five Ways Boeing’s 747 jumbo jet changed travel. 

Get away from the hectic 21st century and time travel back to the carefree 1960s and enjoy your flight.

Passengers were well heeled and famous

If you were one of the lucky few to board a Boeing 707, you’d feel like a movie star. Air travel’s image was glamor and excitement. It was for the rich and famous. And movies at that time reflected that glamor.

The 1963 film “The VIPs” tells the story of a group of wealthy people stranded at Heathrow by lousy weather.

The most famous 60s spy, James Bond, traveled by plane to Jamaica n Dr. No

and to Miami (in “Goldfinger”).

Flight crew glamor – War hero pilots and Stewardess who looked like movie stars

The 1960s were the golden age of jet air travel.

Pilots were war heroes who looked like matinee idols.

Stewardesses looked like movies stars, and passengers were served seven-course meals with a cocktail.

And every child dreamed of working on an airline, and the new age of air travel symbolized the optimism, the glamour and the new consumerism of the decade.

What about the glamorous stewardess?

Here are some views from the world of advertising.

1958: “Glamor Girls of the Air” When American Airlines opened a new stewardess training facility, Life Magazine marked the occasion with a tribute to flight attendants, “Glamor Girls of the Air: For Lucky Ones Being Hostess is the Mostest,” which perfectly captured the postwar vision of stewardesses as cosmopolitan brides-in-training. On Life’s cover were two brightly smiling stewardesses, and inside were trainees preparing for “one of the most coveted careers open to young American women today.” “The job they want does not pay extraordinarily well, only $255 to $355 a month. The life is irregular and the opportunities for promotion are small. But the chance to fly, to see the world and meet all sorts of interesting people—mostly the kind of men who can afford to travel by plane—gives the job real glamour.”

1965: “A showgirl or jet-propelled waitress? The jet age, with its crowded, speedier flights and more motley passenger population posed a new challenge to stewardesses’ glamour image. It was with the advent of jets that travelers and pundits (and occasionally flight attendants themselves) began to speak of the stewardess as merely a glorified waitress and flying itself began losing its cosmopolitan allure. Nonetheless, a female reporter for the Des Moines Register wittily suggested how durable stewardesses’ image was in “Meet the Girl Who Wears Those Silver Wings and a Big Smile”: “The airline stewardess, 1965, has one of the most frustrating jobs in the world.  Male passengers expect her to look like a Las Vegas showgirl and are angry when she doesn’t. Female passengers are angry when she does and are fond of calling her a ‘flying waitress.’ Bachelors say she’s not as glamorous as she used to be, yet would trade their collection of James Bond paperbacks for a date with her.”

The stewardess image reached its height of sexualization, becoming a collective cultural fantasy that airlines shamelessly promoted through their advertising. The dark side of this trope was that women who got this prestigious position were often subjected to sexual harassment from drunken passengers, who might pinch, pat, and proposition the stewardesses while they worked, according to Kathleen Barry’s  Femininity in Flight: A History of Flight Attendants.

Another factor that spelled the end for the “sexy stewardess” was that a lot of these airlines simply were going bankrupt. They suffered from poor labor relations, intransigent management, and high debt burdens. The ones remaining had to cut costs at almost every level. Thus, the days of merriment party, flamboyant decor, and high fashion designer uniforms became ancient history.

Would you like to discover more about the Jet Set 1960?

Pick up.

Jet Set: The People, the Planes, the Glamour, and the Romance in Aviation’s Glory Years by William Stadiem

In October 1958, Pan American World Airways began making regularly scheduled flights between New York and Paris, courtesy of its newly minted wonder jet, the Boeing 707. Almost overnight, the moneyed celebrities of the era made Europe their playground. At the same time, the dream of international travel came true for thousands of ordinary Americans who longed to emulate the “jet set” lifestyle

Welcome aboard.

When passengers boarded the plane; a stewardess would greet everyone and hand them a postcard. Since flying was so rare passengers felt compelled to document every moment on postcards with pictures of the plane or in-flight meal, to show their less lucky loved ones what the newfangled experience was like.

Hang on to your hat – Turbulence could snap your neck.

Since pistons powered commercial planes, not jet engines, the engines’ sound blasted, and their vibrations bumped like crazy in turbulence. It was common to ground planes when the turbulence got too intense.

Relax and enjoy your flight – You have heaps of legroom.

Coach seats had three to six inches more legroom than they do today — 1950s economy class looked more like first class

Smoking was acceptable, and for much longer than you’d think.

During the 1950s, smoking (of cigarettes, pipes, and cigars) was acceptable in the air, but strangely not in the terminal (they were afraid cigarettes might ignite the fuel fumes). It wasn’t until 2000 that law mandated all flights to and from the U.S. be smoke-free

Drink Up! Liquor drinks are free.

Alcohol was a popular form of in-flight entertainment. There was no limit to the free alcohol; it was not uncommon to come off a flight hammered.

Eat up.

Food variety took off in the 1950s when airlines such as Northwest Airlines brought in spaces like their “Fujiyama Room,” a lounge that served up cut pineapples studded with shrimp, cheese, cherry tomatoes, and fruit squares.

American Airlines, based in Texas, served up the chicken pie with a biscuit topping, while Southern Airlines served Louisiana dishes like a Creole shrimp salad remoulade. 

And what about the 1950s stewardess?

She was an impeccable hostess

Postwar America was awash with domesticity. When the men returned from the war, women left the workforce and went home to their role as full-time homemakers. They were expected to smile and serve casseroles to their husbands. Airline ads of the era followed society’s theme and portrayed the stewardess as the consummate 1950s woman – the ideal wife-to-be, who knew how to look charming, pamper men, and mix martinis.

She was the impeccable wife-to-be

Hundreds applied for each stewardess position, and only a few landed a stewardess career. Airlines chose what they considered the crème de la crème. The recruits were young, unmarried, charming, well-read, slender, pretty, and white. But the stewardess became an independent trailblazer who bridged the gap between the ’50s homemaker and the career woman of the ’60s.

What did she need to become a crème de la crème?

An expectation that she would wear a “well-fitted girdle” and bright red nail polish. Since airlines assumed that the bloom of youth vanished, most airlines had a mandatory retirement rule that no stewardess could work after her 32 birthday.

Stay calm

The stewardess’ primary responsibility is for passenger’s comfort and safety.

Sources:

1950s stewardess recalls her experiences

What was it really like to fly during the Golden Age of Travel?

Airline stewardesses through the ages.

This is what your flight used to look like

Post-WWII gave us advanced airplanes and a booming economy. This combination lured tens of thousands of passengers like you aloft. Along with the growth in air travel, the rules of the business had changed. Ticket prices were government-regulated since most airlines flew the same planes, airlines sought new ways to compete. The basis of competition became upscale service and impeccable stewardesses.

Post- WII Era Stewardess:

With the demand for the perfect stewardess, the post-war era stewardess received upgrades in their uniforms.  In 1944, Hollywood fashion designer Howard Greer consulted the working women to create an imperfect, but more utilitarian uniform. He devised the “blouslip,” a combined undergarment in rayon and satin that did not need constant tucking in. A discrete triangular jacket flap could be unbuttoned to cover the TWA lettering

Flight attendants rejoiced when the post-World War II uniform reintroduced nylons. During the war, the material used to make nylons was reserved for military purposes, making this fashionable item impossible to find

Here are some visions of commercial air travel in post-WWII

During WWII, commercial air travel came to a halt and gave way to flying limited aircraft designed to serve the war effort. WWII also brought changes for the stewardess.

When the second world war began in 1939, female stewardesses with their nursing skills left the airlines to offer their healing skills in the military. This exit opened the door to hire non-nurses for work as stewardesses.

WWII changed the stewardess uniform since the extra fabric was going to make military uniforms for men serving overseas. With the fabric shortage, the airline uniform designers innovated by taking out the pleats and heavy materials used in women’s wear. The result was a tighter-fighting garment that left less to the imagination. At the time, airlines imposed various sexist standards on female employees. The permission to work in the skies allowed only single stewardesses between the ages of 20-25, weighing between 110-118 pounds, standing between 5’ and 5’ 4″ feet in height, and bearing no children.  Wearing a tight girdle was another requirement.

Scenes from the WWII travel:

“Aviation is proof that given, the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.”

 Eddie Rickenbacker

Ellen Church succeeded. Boeing Air Transport, the predecessor of United Airlines agreed to hire eight women, conditionally, for a three-month experiment. The country’s first stewardesses journey began on May 15, 1930, when Church and seven young women began their first day. Where did they fly? Four women flew from San Francisco to Cheyenne, Wyoming and the other four flew from Cheyenne to Chicago.

The stewardess odyssey continued. The original eight stewardesses zoomed past the three months trial period and stayed on as full-time employees. The word of the original sky girls’ success inspired other airlines to recruit their own stewardesses. According to a TIME’s 1938 analysis, the jobs were highly competitive, and the hiring process was steeped in sexism. “To get their $100-to-$120-a-month jobs, applicants for the 300 stewardess posts [since 1930] had to be pretty, petite, single, graduate nurses, 21 to 26 years old, 100 to 120 lbs,” TIME notes. “Many of them found husbands right after they found jobs; few married pilots.”

It wasn’t all glamor. The first stewardess did pour drinks and look pretty, but they also cleaned the cabin, helped fuel the planes and bolted down the seats before take-off. They relied on their medical to assist airsick and panicked passengers. However, they occasionally played the part of first responders in an emergency. One instance happened when Nellie Grander, a 22-year-old TWA stewardess, ministered to critically injured passengers and then stumbled through snowy mountains in search of help after her flight crashed in Pennsylvania in 1936. (TWA rewarded her heroism with a paid cruise in the West Indies, along with a promotion.)

Ellen Church’s dream grew larger. Since the hiring female attendants paid off so well in the air, railroad executives hopped on board and planned to bring some of the sky goddess’ glamor down to earth. But TIME’s 1937 dispatch about a recruitment drive for hostesses on the New Haven rail line revealed that Church’s pioneering efforts did open new doors for female workers, only those with pageant-winning looks and charm were allowed to walk through — in the air or on land. As the story explains: “Candidates are required to be unmarried, 5 ft. 7 in. to 5 ft. 10 in. tall, aged 24 to 35, 115 to 135 lb. in weight. College graduates are strongly preferred. They must pass a “personality test”—i.e., be reasonably personable as well as amiable. Because Superintendent H. W. Quinlan of the New Haven’s dining cars believes that grace of carriage and movement is important, he insists on modeling experience as well as hostess experience.” TimeMagazine

“I like trains. I like their rhythm, and I like the freedom of being suspended between two places, all anxieties of purpose taken care of: for this moment I know where I am going.”  Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder

Jessica Gross delves into the reasons why writers like trains in her article, “Writing the Lake Shore Limited – Trains as writers’ garrets. The Paris Review

“Why do writers find the train such a fruitful work environment?

Why do writers find the train such a fruitful work environment? In the wake of Chee’s interview, Evan Smith Rakoff tweeted, “I’ve been on Amtrak a lot lately & love writing while traveling—a set, uninterrupted deadline.” The writer Anne Korkeakivi described train travel as “suspended impregnable time,” combined with “dreamy” forward motion: “like a mantra, it greases the brain.”

Four novelists wrote their novels on trains.

“Brooklyn novelist Peter Brett found his muse and wrote his first novel commuting on the F Line” the article by Erin Durkin for the Daily News .  It’s no wonder Brooklyn author Peter Brett’s first novel is a dark, demonic fantasy – he wrote it on the F train.

“Brett, 36, tapped out most of “The Warded Man,” which hit U.S. bookshelves last month, on his smartphone on daily trips from the Fort Hamilton Parkway stop near his Kensington home to his job in Times Square.

“I started out just trying to take notes. I’d sit on the subway, I’d get a good idea and I’d jot something down,” said Brett, who works in medical publishing.

“I got very fast at writing with my thumbs. I found myself writing more and more.”

Soon, he was averaging 400 words each morning and evening.

I wrote over 100,000 words on the train” over two years of commutes, he said.

The 400-page novel, which centers on three characters’ struggles in a world where killer demons roam the Earth at night, is the first in a series of at least three books.”

The Warded Man: Book One of The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett

As darkness falls each night, the corelings rise–demons who well up from the ground like hellish steam, taking on fearsome form and substance. Sand demons. Wood demons. Wind demons. Flame demons. And gigantic rock demons, the deadliest of all. They possess supernatural strength and powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity.

“Writing novels is what Scott Turow always intended to do” the article by Charlie Patton for The Florida Times-Union.  When Scott Turow’s “Presumed Innocent” was published in 1987, a decade into his career as an attorney, most people thought of him as a lawyer who wrote.

I was finding it difficult emotionally to be a writer,” Turow said. “It wasn’t so much the lack of success. But I kept asking myself: ‘What kind of life is this, locked up all day in a room with a pencil.’ I felt the need to do something great, but you can’t just will yourself to that as a writer.”

Meanwhile, he remained quietly determined to write a novel.

“I absolutely never gave that up,” he said. “The struggle was finding the time to write it.”

What would become “Presumed Innocent,” the story of a prosecuting attorney who finds himself on trial for the murder of a colleague with whom he had an affair, was written on legal pads during Turow’s daily ride on a commuter train.

Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow

The novel that launched Turow’s career as one of America’s pre-eminent thriller writers tells the story of Rusty Sabicch, chief deputy prosecutor in a large Midwestern city. With three weeks to go in his boss’ re-election campaign, a member of Rusty’s staff is found murdered; he is charged with finding the killer, until his boss loses and, incredibly, Rusty finds himself accused of the murder.

Readers Read interviewed David Baldacci about his latest novel the Christmas Train and confirmed something magic about trains inspiration for writers.

How would you describe the story in The Christmas Train?

It’s the classic travel adventure tale. A runaway screwball comedy on a train, separated by intense moments of personal strife, quiet introspection, romantic mayhem and puzzling mysteries.

What was the inspiration for The Christmas Train?

I took a train across the country, made a lot of notes, observations, overheard priceless dialogue and, in sum, amassed enormous material that was too good to waste. Plus, I love trains! Every writer should

 David Baldacci’s The Christmas Train

Disillusioned journalist Tom Langdon must get from Washington to L.A. in time for Christmas. Forced to take the train across the country because of a slight “misunderstanding” at airport security, he begins a journey of self-discovery and rude awakenings, mysterious goings-on and thrilling adventures, screwball escapades and, holiday magic.

“Dead Spy Running: author Jon Stock follows John Le Carré in writing a novel on a train” Mr. Stock’s in his article for  The Telegraph . He says, “It would be pushing it to say that the structure of Dead Spy Running mirrors my daily train commute, but the pace and rhythm of the book owes more than a little to the 8.40 from Bedwyn to London Paddington.”

Dead Spy Running: A Daniel Marchant Thriller by Jon Stock

Daniel Marchant, a suspended MI6 officer, is running the London Marathon. He is also running out of time. A competitor is strapped with explosives, and if he drops his pace, everyone around him will be killed, including the U.S. ambassador to London.

Leave your

and hop on the nearest 

Trains are more than a mode of transportation. Pick up many great novels and discover that trains are the symbols and themes of the books.

Trains as symbols in literature give stories depth.  Trains are a place where people accidentally meet, go their separate ways, take the time to think, work on something, and even as a place of rest and relaxation.

And here are some great examples of trains and literature.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter applies “Hogwarts Express”  into many levels of her story. The train, in which all characters reunite after a summer without seeing each other, serves as a place of bonding. The train is where the characters tell each other stories about their adventures and update each other on their current activities

In “The Polar Express”  Chris Van Allsburg‘s book, the train is the key element in the child’s experience.  Instead of the train transporting the children to a place where they will experience a great adventure, the magical train is where the adventures take place.

The Christmas Train by David Baldacci takes a disillusioned journalist Tom Langdon on a train journey from Washington D.C. to L.A in time for Christmas. The character travels by train that takes him on a journey of rude awakenings and a thrilling adventure. The train moves him across America and takes him into the rugged terrain of his own heart where he rediscovers people’s essential goodness and someone very special he believed he had lost.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. What a dream for the mystery addict to find a much-loathed murder victim found aboard the luxurious Orient Express with multiple stab wounds and thirteen likely suspects, an incomparably brilliant detective in Hercule Poirot, and the most ingenious crime ever conceived?

Starting in the 1800s the British led the way in the influence of trains in novels.

Visit Railways in Victorian Fiction to find interesting details on the first railway line in Britain that opened in 1830 and transformed how the public traveled and communicated in fiction. It focuses on the works of Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot and explores the influence of the railway on Victorian novels.

Want to plan a British literary train tour?

Are you inspired to explore the many British literary sites on a train? Here’s the trip that you could add to your fall vacation plans.

It’s Great Trains of Europe Literary Britain train tour where you’ll see how the rich heritage of English literature links with the landscapes where the stories are set.

The 10-day tour includes literary stops to over 20 of the most beloved British authors’ homes and/or inspirational landscapes in the following locations:

Edinburgh via the classic Flying Scotsman

The Lake District via First Class seats on British Rail

Beatrix Potter Cottage

British Railway First Class

Cotswold via British Rail

Cornwall via British Rail

London via British Rail