And this was THE iconic song (and man!) of the days when flying was so luxurious
Is anyone as excited about tonight's premier of Pan Am as ME?! I'm counting the hours & minutes till boarding time ;- ) So I thought I'd kill some of those hours yakking about those days when boarding a plane was such a luxury and NOT like boarding a Greyhound bus with wings. No sir! I remember when Auntie flew off to Europe to be with her dashing Air Force test pilot to see the world. How glamourous she looked in her expensive tailored suit, gloves & hat and beautiful Pan Am bag that was given to all passengers
Yes, these were the days of luxury flying and didn't all us dreamy-eyed girls of that era want to be a GLAMOUROUS Pan Am (or any airline) *stewardess*
To travel the world and meet the millionaire man of our dreams? Of course he would be a millionaire! What else would a beautiful girl with such a glamourous job find for pete's sake ;- ) I say "millionaire" because I think back then the idea of a "billionaire" was pretty much unheard of so a millionaire would have been just fine. Yes, I wanted to be one of those women who so graciously served cocktails at the friendly wave of a hand (in fine beverage GLASSES) and who would serve full course prepared dinners from a MENU! Aren't they just THE very cutest!
One had to meet a certain height & weight "specification" (and I think a "cute" specification too) and as well, no matter your beautiful figure you had to wear a GIRDLE! Now the thought makes me shutter, but back then girls wore girdles anyway, no matter their figure. Mom told me without question when I was 13 & started wearing straight skirts that I would wear a girdle so my fannie wouldn't "jiggle" and believe me, she checked my jiggle every morning when I left for school.
But then, wearing a girdle was a small sacrifice for this working environment
And you can't tell me these girls weren't having fun ;- )
And these!
Those were the exciting days of glamour flying, innocence of sorts, and the dreams of young, dreamy-eyed girls.
Oh yes, I belive I'll get out the crystal tonight at 10 p.m., pop a cork & take the champagne flight, reliving the clothes, the hair-do's, the dreams, the excitement, and yep, probably the heartaches of those dreamy-eyed girls who made their dreams come true.
And, I will definately have a *grin* remembering when my sister & I took a "champagne flight" to Los Angeles and got SNOCKERED by the time we arrived! Oh no way - NO limits on the champagne cart, a girl had her way in those days! We had the giggles so bad we could hardly walk - yes, it was the giggles that made us stagger, I'm sure it was!
So grab your girdles and Come Fly With Me, let's fly, let's fly away!
WOW Aunt Vickie what a wonderful job you have done displaying the glory of Pan Am. I So wish I lived back then to see the beautiful ladies dressed up and living their dreams to see the world. I think you and me Both would have wanted to join that team. I remember Mom saying she wanted to be a stewardess when she was younger. How exciting and I bet little girls really looked up to those young ladies fulfilling a fantasy. I DO think ladies should still wear girdles in uniforms and take pride in appearance. When did this glamour girl era end? I remember when I was about 8 yrs old flying to HI to see Dad I sat next to a dressed up lady telling me she was appalled at how people were wearing jeans and tee shirts on flights. It seems it just slipped away to ‘flight attendants’ in skorts and shorts and self seating. Do you remember when it changed? Thank you again for sharing…made my eyes light up and smile!
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking it out honey. These blogs can be discouraging - it's hard to find friends & followers but I'll keep trying. Anyway, did you notice in the TV show that when the five (or is it 6) stewardesses walked through the airport terminal how EVERYONE stopped what they were doing and stared at them? That's no "Hollywood" stuff - that's how it really was. They were "dream girls" - the stuff that all girls wanted to be and all men just plain wanted! In the beauty pageant your mom was in as a young girl they had to wear whatever clothing would represent whatever occupation they planned to pursue & she borrowed and wore a beautiful stewardess uniform (United I think) and oh my was she gorgeous with that short blond hair & beautiful eyes in the suit & hat. When did this glamour girl era end? I don't think it's a hard question to answer. In some ways the "womens movement" took it away. It was an important movement for sure, women needed & deserved the rights that were hard won, but I think there were some downfalls too. I think the mid sixties, with all it's turmoil were the end of an era of innocence that we will of course never know again. We can only try to be examples & teach our girls now to be lovely, along with strong & independent. And gosh! That would be YOU! Stay beautiful and glamourous, it's up to YOU now ;- )
ReplyDeleteP.S. Don't get discouraged! I get a lot of looks but very little comments. Give it some time :). I noticed that it helps when I post daily.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason my initial comment did not publish so I am posting again. Mel & I missed the show but the first episode is playing again this coming Friday for anybody that missed it.
ReplyDeleteHey Hepcat! Thanks for your words of encouragement (that's a turnaround eh?!) I know you know what I mean & you are THE king of plugging on for sure! I know daily posts are key but dang...these things are a LOT more work than they appear! Not that I don't have plenty of fodder for my folly, it's just a time factor but once I've got it together with all the goodies I brought back from the trip, and hurrying to beat the weather on my paint projects, and taking care of the store, yada, yada, yada - I'll do better here :- ) And guess what? I MISSED Pan Am too!! After all my excitement, I plum fell asleep on the couch waiting for it! Haha! However, Michael did DVR it for me so I got to see it the next day. Big Daddy comes in handy now & then ;- ) Thanks for stopping by Hepcat, I surely do appreciate it. Hope to see you & the adorable Mz. Kitty soon. P.S. I think Blogger was screwed up yesterday - there seems to have been lots of problems here & elsewhere
ReplyDeleteOMG! I just love that 60's style! And the bag!(gonna find out for an original too :D) I'm such a great fan of vintage stuff. I wish I was born when Pan Am 'golden age'. I would've dreamed of being a stewardess too!
ReplyDeletePD: (sorry for my English, I'm Spanish)
Hello! Please come back & tell me who you are! And thank you so much for stopping by. BTW - your English is great - farrr better than my (nonexistent) Spanish ;- )
ReplyDeleteI was watching the nhl playoffs and noticed in the Bacardi commercial they have a bunch of people dressed in 50's listening to swing and 2 of them in the background are definitely wearing PAN AM uniforms. I decided to hop on the internets and see if i could find some good vintage photos of that era. And couldn't help but read your post here. My father and grandfather were both commercial airline pilots (continental & united). i've always imagined what fun it must have been a pilot in the 60's... thanks for sharing this post! what fun!
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