Pan Am: Photos From The Golden Age Of Travel (SLIDESHOW)

From the 1920's until its demise in 1991, Pan American Airlines symbolized all that was luxurious in air travel. Elite fliers packed some of the first commercial use jumbo jets and were treated to delicious rounds of meals served by bright and beautiful girls in couture uniforms. Celebrities, businessmen and "Rainbow Class" alike jetted-off to far-flung vacation spots across the globe on this mega airline, the US's first International carrier.

Like its iconic stewardesses, Pan Am had beauty and brains; they were the first carrier to adopt Boeing's 747, revolutionized radio communication and emergency equipment, and broke records with a New York to New York 'round-the-world trip.

The fate of Pan Am, of course, was not a glamorous one with route monopoly problems and bankruptcy grounding flights permanently in December of 1991. For a few short decades, though, the pilots and their girls in blue were celebs in their own right, almost invincible, changing the way we would forever think about air travel, even inspiring a brand-new tv show 20 years later. But what was life really like in the friendly skies?

*Check out HuffPost Travel on Sunday for our interview with six former Pan Am flight attendants (aka World Wings International) on the life of a flight attendant in their day.*

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Much thanks to the lovely ladies of World Wings International for their photos and memories.

Comments

[George Arees]

05:33 PM on 09/26/2011

I flew Pan Am often in the 70's and 80's. The "stewardesses" gave excellent service. They were dressed and groomed flawlessly. Whether it was to London, Delhi or Tokyo, the service to any destination was impeccable. Passengers were dressed well back then. Today, flying is much like being on a bus in the air. A few foreign carriers may be the exception.

[nhfarmer]

09:43 PM on 09/25/2011

I recall a first-hand story I was told of a very brave Pan Am mechanic who sacrificed his life at Cabanatuan, Luzon, so that his group could sneak back into a Japanese POW camp after the imprisoned group had escaped to gather fruit on a moonless night.

[nhfarmer]

09:28 PM on 09/25/2011

I recall the fun I had playing in the lower deck of Pan Am's Boeing 377 Stratocruiser while crossing the Pacific Ocean. It was during the Golden Age of Flying.
http://www.panamair.org/aircraft/boeing377.htm

[jdollinter]

04:25 PM on 09/25/2011

My Sister flew for Eastern '66-'67 and shared an apt with other flight attendants in Manhattan.
My folks got to fly for the first time in their lives and never tired of telling us about the experience or sharing all the freebies they brought home. We looked up to Emily as a celebrity and I woke up Christmas morning 1967 to find a handsome dark haired man, in a pilot's uniform, shaving in our bathroom. It turned out to be the man Emily was going to marry and I never forgot it.

[Fran Selin Barnes]

02:51 PM on 09/25/2011

First, it was Pan American World Airways, not Airline! I also don't think that 70 years weren't 'a few decades'. For your information, Pan American was the flag ship of the U.S. and we flew the first of MANY aircraft, not just the 747. Being that flag ship, we had to fly into some awful places, not just London, Paris, and Hong Kong.There were several things that led to the demise of this wonderful airline and the last was Lockerbie 103. BTW, we had men 'attendants' in the '50s and '60s also. In response to another poster, Pan Am was NEVER given choice routes and never any U.S. routes. My dad was Pan Am, I was, and I married a pilot.

[jmsent]

03:52 PM on 09/25/2011

Thanks for sharing your insight and knowledge.

[earto44]

11:21 AM on 09/25/2011

Not to spoil the party, but we need to do something about what pilots earn.

[Imaginary Grace]

11:08 AM on 09/25/2011

Last time I flew I sat between an old lady who drank her weight in bloody Marys and ate tuna out of a can and a 'coach' from a major university who screamed like a girl when we hit turbulence over Arizona. I cant tell you how *glamorous* that was.

[DocManhattan]

08:21 PM on 09/25/2011

Much has changed ... My dad was a World War II veteran pilot who went commercial in the 50s. He spent time based in India and flew long-haul out of London for much of the 60s and 70s. It was a glamorous, well-paid career in those days, and passengers were treated much, much better than they are today (at least, economy-class passengers truly are seen and treated as "self-loading freight" by airlines these days).

In defence of the other passengers on your flight: with some carriers, you either bring your own food or pay for expensive airline garbage. As for the screamer, well, some people are just scared of flying. And when such people are crammed into a cabin where their knees are jammed against the seat in front and their shoulders wedged against their neighbour's, where the cabin crew ignores them and the pilots are hermetically sealed inside a locked cockpit, when they've just been through stressful, intrusive security that has reminded them of horrors like 9/11 and Lockerbie, then how are nervous flyers supposed to relax enough to be able to take severe turbulence in their stride?

[Imaginary Grace]

10:29 AM on 09/26/2011

Very good valid points. Thanks

[OutAtFirst]

01:36 PM on 09/22/2011

It wasn't always great in the old days. There was a time when smoking was allowed throughout the cabin. Every seat had a built-in ashtray.

[IndyGuy]

09:57 AM on 09/25/2011

And the seats were comfortable and you could actually get some rest in them.

[Roosting Chickens]

12:41 PM on 09/22/2011

Stewardess and pilot outfits ought to be a hit this Halloween.

[kyoteee1]

11:03 AM on 09/22/2011

It's sad and pathetic that airlines today hire overweight attendants and those whose hair should be neat and tidy. It'd be nice if they actually *attended* to their passengers. Since food hasn't been served in coach for decades, they're really not needed. Passengers can get their own drinks.

[Pippilangstrumpf]

11:56 AM on 09/25/2011

I just took a Royal Jordanian flight...the stewardesses...errr.flight attendants, and outfits were impeccable. Like something out of the past. The only thing different are that there are men now.

[Jesse Wright]

03:56 PM on 09/27/2011

I found the same with Korean Air. The flight attendants looked all the part of a Pan Am stewardess and were very polite. We were served two meals and a snack on the flight.

[jmsent]

03:54 PM on 09/25/2011

You really think that's the main purpose of a flight attendant? Clueless.

[markham86]

11:02 AM on 09/22/2011

Not an african american woman in sight. I guess black people didn't fly.

[thomcat327]

10:44 AM on 09/22/2011

and your point is?

[BrendaNYC]

09:29 AM on 09/22/2011

Short of a wayback machine, there is no going back to these glory days. However, I do think it is withing our cultural grasp to bring some civility back to air travel. I expound furthere here: www.heresheisboys.com

[motoGpifupleez]

12:40 AM on 09/22/2011

Now the government benefits go to oil corporations and instead of luxurious air travel being the side benefit, we get environmentally devastating oil spills.

Woopie for our "Golden Age".

[LMPE]

12:25 AM on 09/22/2011

After Flight 103, family members of the victims filed a lawsuit against the company and it eventually filed for bankruptcy.