Air Fare

There is much conversation these days about how "air travel just isn't fun anymore!"
These conversations lead me to remember how it was when Ginger and I were flying! VERY different!

A notable physical difference at  airports is the presence of jetways.  In 1963, I believe that the only jetways were in Chicago-ORD and New York-IDL. ( New York was Idlewild until after Kennedy was assassinated.)  Other places still rolled out the stairs and you hoped that they were not wet or icy. When it was hot, the tarmac was like walking on soft tar...and of course, we wore heels (minimum 2".)

There was "no smoking" only until the pilot turned off the sign.  Then, everyone could light up.  I wore contact lenses then, and the smoke would hover at about eye level...so they got pretty uncomfortable! When we took meal trays out, there was a little pack of about 5 cigarettes on each one.  We were to remove the pack from any tray that went to a child.  Of course, a lot of the cigarettes came back after the meal unopened, and we (flight attendants) would gather them in a bag and divvy them up later. The cigarettes that TWA provided were Winstons.  Another airline provided Salems and we would trade for our preferred brand.

Shortly before I quit flying, a "non-smoking area" was designated...the first three rows of coach! Brings to mind the comparison of a "No-Pee" area in a swimming pool!

The overhead storage was just a shelf...no doors..and the only things that were to be put there were coats.  Any carry-on had to go under the seat in front of you.

Before take-off, we would offer magazines and pass candy or gum to help with ear discomfort.  Once, I was doing the gum thing and did not realize we were on a short runway in LAX.  The plane took off and I was thrown into the bulkhead near the galley.  I sported a black eye for the rest of the four day trip.  I wore sunglasses as much as possible..that was certainly non-reg, and I was caught by a supervisor.  When I took off the glasses, she said it was ok to keep them on.

There was a cigarette commercial at that time for Tareytons "I'd rather fight than switch!" and the person had an obviously fake black eye. I cannot tell you how many times I heard that .

More later!