Those were the “daze” … air travel in the 50’s
It was 1957 and I’d just moved to New York City. I had a good job at WWNY radio and life was exciting but the weekends were long and empty. I had yet to make many acquaintances so I filled the time with trips to LaGuardia airport.
In those days air travel was all first class and passengers were usually the very wealthy and, more often than not, from the entertainment world. With a destination like New York City I could rely on a good show and I was seldom disappointed. I felt like I was at a Broadway opening as I watched the bejeweled and elegant people swarm by me.
Id even dress for the occasion ! No tacky jeans or sweatpants for me. I donned my “traveling clothes” and carried a small overnight bag hoping to emulate a young lady leisurely waiting for her own flight to be called. The hardest part was to remain cool and not gawk at the celebs as they passed by … Ethel Merman, Cary Grant, and Frank Sinatra … to name just a few that I saw.
Here I am in those days… long gloves and all.
Would I have fooled you?2nd Class and stand-by flights have made flying affordable for almost everyone now, and that’s a good thing; but, (just like the movies of that era) it’s hard to beat the 50’s for glamour !
posted by Ginnie at 4:16 AM
8 Comments:
Well aren't you hot stuff? LOL! I dare say that must have been fun! I spent a lot of time in airports in the early 60s... I was fascinated by the "exotic" dress of the folks from India, or the other diplomats and their families from around the world. I was always disappointed when they wore "western" or American garb.
I remember when we dressed up for flights. Times surely have changed with comfort over fashion.
One New Year (I think -- or maybe after the choir banquet in December) after the watchnight service, a bunch of the girls wanted to flaunt their fancy dresses, so we went out to the Toronto airport and paraded around. That was in the mid-sixties. We'd probably be arrested these days.
I think that everything was probably more glamorous back then. I have a lot of photos of the cruise ship industry from decades ago. It was really an age of glamour then.
Yes, flying sure was something special back then, and you look pretty 'special' too, if I may say so. ;-)
You look pretty glamorous to me...:)
Ginnie, not only flying but also train travel was much more elegant in the 1950s and earlier. People actually dressed quite well for their traveling. And you certainly looked quite lovely yourself.
My wife in the late 60's still dressed up to go on a plane. She usually ended up having some guy chat her up and buy her a drink.
I remember the 50's at the airport. You could walk right out on the tarmac with a friend up to the stairs into the plane. It was a Sunday outing to drive to a road at the end of the runway and watch the planes land. They were very close overhead.
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