bygone era of glitz and glamour in the skies

 

 

A photo collection exploring the history of air travel at its most glamorous has been released allowing a peek at how the other half flew. Passengers are seen lounging in sofas, at bars and fine dining as they make their way to far-flung destinations, pictured. Picture perfect air-stewardesses and luxury terminal surroundings also reveal air travel which seems a world away from modern mass flights.

When air travel was glamorous: Pan Am stewardess remembers the golden age of service when gorgeous attendants served the rich and famous New book by stewardess Betty Riegel reveals glitzy past flying round globe .They were instructed not to treat 'rich and famous' any differently .But she served The Beatles and The Mamas and The Papas A stewardess who experienced the glamor of the sixties flying across the globe for the stylish Pan American World Airways is sharing her tales serving the rich and famous. In her new book, Up in the Air, Betty Riegel shares stories of the rich and famous who walked the aisles of the international flights she worked on. She was on hand in 1964 when the Beatles made their momentous arrival to the U.S. and also served The Mamas and The Papas when they flew to London from LA. The airline gave strict instructions that famous passengers be treated no differently than the rest, guidance Riegel took to heart when she had to politely turn down actor Peter Lawford, who was married to JFK's sister Patricia Kennedy, when he obnoxiously demanded an upgrade to first class. Scroll down for video Adventure: Betty Riegel was among the thousands of young British women who applied to work for the prestigious American airline. After passing her training, she was transferred to San Francisco in 1961 to work for the airline     World traveller: Betty Riegel travelled the world as a flight attendant for Pan Am in the sixties and has written about her experiences in a new book Betty Riegel, nee Eden, had worked in her native England for a regional airline but was enticed to try out as a flight attendant for the American airline at the age of 22 in the sixties.  She joined the thousands of other British beauties who lined up to see if they would be among the handful chosen for the enchanting post.   At that time, flight attendants were expected to have the looks of supermodels, the talents of a star housewife and the safety sense of an emergency responder (including knowing how to deliver a baby). Beauties on board: Pan Am stewardess had to be single with 'good moral character' (June Fogg models a black-and-white lounge suit during a fashion show on board a Pan American flight in July 1946) Times change: Pan Am attendants were expected to create the seven-course banquets that were served in the first class cabin For a young woman to be considered she must weigh between 110 and 134 lbs, be between the ages of 21 and 27, single and of good moral character.  The eager Riegel went up against thousands of other British applicants who desired the exciting life of travel. She underwent an strict selection process that included translating a passage from French into English, walking about a room to show off her posture and ultimately, a public weigh-in. Style: Stewardesses were styled by the most sought after hairdressers and sent to make-up school Service and style: Pan Am stewardesses were said to be as desirable as supermodels, and were also expected to offer impeccable service as they provided meals and drinks to customers Clientele: Pan Am passengers included royalty, wealthy businessmen and famous celebrities (left, actor Laurence Olivier and his wife Vivien Leigh board a flight at LaGuardia in New York June 18, 1946)   Memoirs: The former stewardess' experiences are recorded in this newly published book After impressing the judges, Riegel was selected to join Pan Am as a stewardess and she was sent to San Francisco in 1961 to work for the airlines. Before she could begin her post, she had to undergo six weeks of intensive training. 'It was like a finishing school, par excellence,' she told Delaware Online about her days in the skies. 'We learned meal service, international customs, geography.' The striking stewardess shared in an interview with the Daily Express that though the air hostesses were not encouraged to openly flirt with male passengers, they were allowed to entertain male suitors that expressed interest (if they so desired). She tells the tale of a Saudi prince, who had the reputation of a playboy, who asked for a date but she demurely declined, getting the plane captain to stand as her advocate. 'In those days, if a man asked you for dinner, you went out for dinner and that’s all. You had to watch out for the married men, though. Some of them would take off their wedding rings and cover the mark with Man Tan, a new fake tan lotion that had just come out,' she said. Goodbye girl next door, hello sexy stewardess! How the real-life Mad Men made air travel glamorous . . . with the help of some VERY high hemlines With the launch of the world's first commercial jets, the Sixties heralded the golden age of travel. And it seems much of the glamor associated with the new jet set was thanks to the real-life Mad Men hired to create advertising campaigns for America's competing airlines. The once-wholesome image of the air stewardess became highly sexualized, with suggestive slogans such as 'PSA gives you a lift' and 'Introducing the air strip'.     High-flying and high hemlines: A Sixties ad for Pacific Southwest Airlines shows how the once-wholesome image of the air stewardess had become highly sexualized thanks to the era's real-life Mad Men Looking the part: Female staff were recruited as much for their looks as their abilities, and were even required to stay under a certain weight if they wanted to keep their jobs Uniforms featured thigh-skimming hemlines, with some consisting of little more than hotpants and go-go boots. Female staff were recruited as much for their looks as their abilities, and were even required to stay under a certain weight if they wanted to keep their jobs.   Victoria Vantoch, author of The Jet Sex: Airlines Stewardesses and the Making of an American Icon, says that the new sexy stewardess ideal was a bid to appeal to the emerging youth market. Designer style: Braniff commissioned thigh-skimming minidresses for its stewardesses from Emilio Pucci Marriage material? A United Airlines ad read: 'How many girls do you know who can serve cocktails and dinner for 35 without losing their composure? . . . Someone may get a wife' 'Advertising agencies were trying to make airlines seem more hip and cool,' she told NBC News. 'These ad agency executives knew that the youth counterculture and the sexual revolution were spreading across American culture and they knew it was becoming important to resonate with these new cultural mores.' This saw Braniff commission minidresses for its stewardesses from Emilio Pucci, while Southwest staff walked the aisles in barely-there shorts. Indeed, they were so risque, that even girls who worked for rival airlines were shocked. Brains behind the beauty: Real-life advertising executives, whose careers inspired the characters of Peggy Olson and Don Draper in AMC hit Mad Men, created the concept of the sexy air stewardess Ready for anything: One suggestive Braniff ad showed the variations on the uniforms a stewardess might wear on one single flight Golden age of travel: Air stewardesses were treated with the same status as models and actresses Betty Riegel, who wrote Up In The Air, about her time as a Pan Am stewardess in the Sixties, said in her book: 'I couldn't believe how suggestive some of these uniforms and adverts were. 'I thought those stewardesses were really leaving themselves open to all sorts of behavior from male passengers.' Of course, to appeal to male passengers was the primary intent. Mrs Riegel says that air stewardesses - particularly those who worked for Pan Am, as she did - were considered to have the same status as models and actresses. Hello boys: To appeal to male passengers was the primary intent of the era's airline ads Sex symbol: The Sixties stewardess image was a carefully-crafted blend of feminine ideals Playing a part: A pair of flight attendants pose in an engine with a delighted-looking captain 'We were the ultimate trophy girlfriends and men liked the prestige of having us on their arms and taking us out to dinner,' she wrote. 'Many of them viewed it as a quick and easy way to find a wife.' Even this concept became a marketing opportunity, with a United Airlines advert in 1967 telling prospective travelers: 'How many girls do you know who can serve cocktails and dinner for 35 without losing their composure? . . . Everyone gets warmth, friendliness and extra care. And someone may get a wife.' It is little surprise that Sixties stewardesses became such a sex symbol. The image was a carefully-crafted blend of feminine ideals.     Youthful image: Advertising agencies were trying to make airlines seem more hip and cool Standing out: A Braniff uniform at one point consisted of a lurid patterned bodysuit and hat 'She was, by virtue of her contractual obligations, always single and under 32,' writes Laura Collins in The National. 'She was there to serve the primarily male business customers with the winning subservience of a 50s housewife, while provocatively uniform clad.' Ms Vantoch explains that the stewardess exposed the gulf between gender ideals and real women’s lives at the time. Too far? Some uniforms were so risque, that even girls who worked for rival airlines were shocked     Dual role: A stewardess had to 'serve the primarily male business customers with the winning subservience of a Fifties housewife, while provocatively uniform clad' Thrilling lifestyle: While their peers were getting married and having babies, Sixties stewardesses flew around the world in five-star luxury. 'Stewardesses appeared to be these quintessential 1950s housewives, yet there were simultaneously ambitious, independent career women who traveled far from home,' she told NBC News. And for those girls in question, nothing was more thrilling. 'While most of my peers at home were getting married and having children, I was about to embark on a wonderful career that would pay me to travel around the world in five-star luxury,' Mrs Riegel recalls. 'I was going to have the time of my life.'

Flying-high: Stunning images reveal bygone era of glitz and glamor in the skies Forget aggressive queues, squashed seats and foil boxes of inedible food - there was once an age when flying was something altogether more glamorous.A set of stunning photographs have emerged from the luxury flights of years gone past when passengers flew in comfort, ate from china and usually gathered at the bar. It was probably as much the preserve of the rich as such splendor is now but before the era of mass flying and budget airlines, all aspects of air travel were delivered with a style alien to the struggles of modern standard class. The images released by picture agency Getty range from the very first passenger flights to the 1970s. Suited male passengers and dressed up women are photographed leisurely lounging on leather banquets, looking at the skies from the observation car and socializing around the plane. Coffee or tea? Air stewardesses for TWA pose for the cameras in May 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri. They used to be trained in grooming and charm but also 'conversational French' and polite entertainment chitchat Fine dining: A waiter in black tie presents dinner to first class passengers on board a Boeing 747 Flying with the stars: Frank Sinatra and actress Ava Gardner are pictured arriving at a London airport on November 5th 1952 Fasten your seat-belts: Passengers relax mid-flight in 1955 in a lounge compartment on an airliner designed by Henry Dreyfuss They are pictured at comfortable dinner tables enjoying wine and fine food served on china with proper knives and forks and lounging on reclining chairs. In the first class cabin of a Boeing 747 in 1970 dinner is even served from a carving trolley pushed by an attendant in black-tie. It also reveals the Pan Am glamor of the 1960s and before when air-stewardesses were expected to look like models. Pictures from various airlines show lines of perfectly put together stewardesses posing for the camera. And where there was glamor there was, of course, celebrity. Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner are caught on camera disembarking in one of the shots - Sinatra in a polished suit and Gardener draped in fur. Hugh Hefner appears in another shot with girlfriend Barbi Benton and a handful of Playboy Bunnies. And the glitz wasn't confined to the skies. Airport terminals also take on a more pristine look when they are without chain stores, screaming flight boards and thousands milling around searching for gate numbers and queuing for security. Mass flying of the modern era may have ended the days of glamor bit it did open up the opportunities to fly for thousands. However, anyone who has traveled on a plane recently will doubtlessly look at the photos with envy. Relaxed: Passengers demonstrate the comfort of the new Comet 4 plane on August 28th 1958. The plane was being shown in Hatfield in the UK Lounging around: Passengers sit on comfy couches as a flight attendant serves coffee on a Braniff International airplane in 1967 Make-up mid-air: Many planes came with powder rooms for their glamorous passengers. A woman demonstrates on April 21st 1952 on the world's first jet airliner service bound for South Africa Slacks: A casual approach was adopted to air traffic control in 1949 as a man is pictured guiding in British European Airways commercial air liner the Vickers V 700 Viscount Playing on the runway: Airport Foreman Mr G Mannering lends a hand whilst 9-year-old Jean Hemmings, eight-year-old Gillian Saunders and five-year-old Susan Thomas build sand castles in the play area at Northolt Airport Pristine: Concorde air-stewardesses were some of the most glamorous, pictured here in front of a scale model of the aircraft Before take-off: Airport dining was also something else - here is the Queen's Building restaurant at London airport in May 1956 What smoking ban? Russian spies Morris and Lona Cohen even got the five star treatment leaving London's Heathrow Airport on a BEA flight bound for Warsaw, 24th October 1969 Heavens above: In 1950 a portable alter was used to deliver mass to passengers and crew who may have missed mass at church at Idlewild Airport Champagne on the side: A Pan Am air-hostess serves champagne in the first class cabin of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet In prayer: Muslims are photographed praying in Heathrow Airport in March 1977 Socializing: Passengers on a flight around 1945 enjoy the bar No queues: A picture from New York's East Side Airlines Terminal in 1955. It had 15 bus docks to take passengers to the city's various airports Concorde: A photograph captures Concorde over Nelson's Column in London's Trafalgar Square A civilized affair: Dr Lois Higgins, director of the Chicago Crime Prevention Institute, is met as she boards a plane from Chicago airport in 1956 Playboy plane: Hugh Hefner and his girlfriend Barbi Benton are welcomed by 'Bunny Girls' from the London Playboy Club, on their arrival at Heathrow Airport aboard his private DC 9 jetliner Looking down on the world: Passengers on the R-100 airship observation car could observe the skies around them. The lounge contains Lloyd loom furniture Dining: In 1935 waiter service is photographed aboard Imperial Airways 'Scylla' during its flight from London to Paris