Vintage Stewardesses of the Jet Age
June 25, 2009
I’m headed for L.A. I’ll be on the flight with all of these lovely ladies…Images here.
This stewardess is getting her cigarettes ready for the flight!
The stewardess if the future from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
Another future stewardess from 2001: A Space Odyssey
The Invisible Agent 
awesome posting. I have a stewardess book I picked up from a japanese book store. It featured some of the images above. love your blog.
WOW!! what neat pics, except I can’t figure out how to pronounce PSA correctly
I hope you are kidding ” can’t figure out how to pronounce PSA”. I was West Coast Airlines, Hughes Airwest, Republic, Northwest. I think PSA was Pacific Southwest Airlines back in the 70s.
That is awesome! 🙂
What a nice vintage imagery, would you like to sell them on my site….www.retrostock.nl
Women on top of the world – the brilliant and classic flight attendants of the 50s. Thanks for the great post. These images are wonderful!
wow, i laughed at the tray of food that is given to the boy. heck they only give peanuts out now if your lucky.
Well done! A thoughtful and insightful array of style when air travel was swank, sleek and sexy….Thank you…
I’d love to hear some of the stories these ladies have about the old days of working as a stewardess.
very cool…oh i miss those go-go boots
gotta picture of myself with 2 1971 stewardesses coming down the stairway, shortshort skirts, greatgreat legs
Those were the days!I miss them soooo much!
I lived the life in the 60’s with Pan Am. I had so much fun and traveled all over the world.
Great pictures and good to see them all together in one place. If only modern air travel could recover some of the glamour of the past.
Ahhh i love those stewardess from 2001. so beautiful
I was an “air hostess” with Braniff International from 1966-1989. I didn’t see any of our cool uniforms posted (designed by Emilio Pucci).
It’s all very cute, but someone said “women on top of the world.” Really? Women in the service industry getting paid to be cute and flirty – how modern and progressive!
Fashion-wise, very cool though, but politically – come on.
I was a flight attendant with Delta in the 70’s and there were none of us shown. Those were the days of air travel and it was fun then. Glamor days are past.
Interesting, very beautiful images. Are these women being objectified, sexualised? Or are they empowered? Interested to hear peoples thoughts.
I started flying for Delta the 1st month the girls switched from “the army uniforms.” (3/69)Still,Delta was slow to come to the party;they weren’t ready for short skirts,dyed hair,& big eye lashes.Since I was “born ready” we went through a few rough years.You could call it a “failure to communicate.” (:
To the people asking if stewardesses were politically correct or if they were ‘objectify-ed’ I say:Political correctness & objective-ism…No Thanks!Can anyone look at today’s workforce & tell me how PC helped them? I’ll put my empowerment (in a short skirt) up against theirs Any Day.
Fabulous!
I wonder if the reality was as glamerous as these images though? I’m sure selective imagery could make modern air travel look quite glam too!
Any thoughts from those who were there?
Wow, they look like models. Very nice!
Fabulous! My mom was in the original class of stews for Hughes Air West in the mid-fifties, when stewardesses were required to be single and slim…my dad was a career pilot and we had to dress up for every flight we took. Back when travel was fun!
How about some pics of them today?
How is it that they got so old and fat?
I like them :). Great collection.
That’s what you call smart, shame the uniforms are not so chic these days. Must be getting old I can even remember some of the postcards printed.
PSA (Pretty Sexy Airlines) was the BEST! The girls used to walk down the isle with gallon jugs of wine, all you want, and sit next to you and chit chat. They had uniforms with dozens of buttons, half undone!
I was a young engineer flying PSA and TWA in those good old daze. PSA was fun for the patrons and they made money for their stockholders – then the feds stepped in and spoiled it all by making them cut back on the freebies.
Jim
Great pics!
I love these – so fabulously retro. The uniforms are so much cooler than you’d find today.
You sense these images are from a ‘Golden Age’ of flying when people dressed up in suits for their journey and flying was exciting and glamourous.
Thanks, really amazing and beautifull post for remembering and solid and graet memories of 60-70´s
Regards and compliments
Juan Ricapito
I was a “stew” for Mohawk Airlines in the mid 60’s. Those heels we had to wear were killers! Had to have permission to change your hair color, couldn’t gain more than 5 pounds, couldn’t be married, etc. etc. but I bet we had more fun than the flight attendants do now with all of their rules
“Where have all the young girls gone?”
I was a “Stew” in the 60s and 70s. We had great fun, we got to know passengers, and I personally loved the life with Central Airlines out of Ft. Worth, Tex. What wonderful days those were. We flew DC-3’s and Convair 240’s. Yes, those were the days! Hello Branniff, our gate was next to yours in Dallas. You were gorgeous with your colorful planes and cute uniforms!
I flew for Delta for 47 years and these pictures brought back so many wonderful memories of when I first started. Debbie Hall look again, the picture of the stew and the pilot in the cockpit is Delta and the 4 flight att. in front of the Delta plane are Delta ladies including Carol Koberline who was our last Debbie Delta.
I started flying for Delta the 1st month the girls switched from “the army uniforms.” 3/69 Still,Delta was slow to come to the party;they weren’t ready for short skirts,dyed hair,& big eye lashes.Since I was “born ready” we went through a few rough years.You could call it a”failure to communicate” (:
To the people asking if stewardesses were politically correct or if they were ‘objectify-ed’ I say:Screw politically correctness & objective-ism.Can anyone look at today’s workforce & tell me how PC helped them? I’ll put my empowerment (in a short skirt) up against theirs Any Day.
Those were the days; when skirts were just below ‘see’ level!
Οι ευχάριδες δεσποινίδες φεγγοβολούν νειάτα και ομορφιά.Τυπικά δείγματα της αντιφεμινιστικής τακτικής της προβολής της νεάνιδος,κάποτε και της εφήβου,για διαφημιστική έλξη των ανδρών -πελατών ιδίως .Η Τεχνολογία κατέστησε εμφαντικώτερη την ακτινοβολία του παρθενικού μειδιάματος.Η εμπορική σκοπιμότης και η δίψα του κέρδους υποβάλλουν το άνθος της ηλικίας στην αυγή της ζωής σε πληρωμένη φωτοχυσία έρωτος.23-11-09
Really Cute and SEXy airhostesses i want dating with any one all are sexy
Great pics–the girls were fabulous!!! I was a young engineer traveling a lot–everyone dressed to the nines–champagne–piano bar in the aft compartment–
it sure made 7 hour transcontinental flights enjoyable!! Then the jets came–7 hours reduced to 5–still had the piano bar and pretty girls!! It’s awful now–everyone looks like slobs!! (Sorry–not the girls!!)
Loved the 60’s and the beautiful “Stews”. Remember most, two beauties who got us started of right by giving a song and dance act on old Capitol Air Lines from Muskegon Michigan to Chicago Midway in the Morning. They were young, they were beautiful and sincere. The talent dripped from them.
Vinage stewardess makes me feel old. Started flying in 1964 for Delta. What a life. We were young, pretty and breaking rules.
At 66, I have only gained 15 pounds from my hire weight of 105. Bet most of you can’t say that
Where are the AAL gals? I didn’t see a one of us in your pictures. I flew with American from 1966-2001. What an incredible life! I met people from all walks of life, celebrities, politicians, athletes and just your every day folks. My job was fantastic! I have written a book about my career but am having no luck getting anyone to even read the manuscript. If any of you “Stewardess Fans” know someone who might help me get it published it might answer a lot of the questions asked here. Glad to know there is still interest in what it was really like “Behind the Smiles.”
I’m old enough to remember the days of young, attractive stewardesses; unfortunately, as I’ve aged, so have they. Some things don’t improve with time, and not all progress is good.
These outfits are alive and well in Japan and on Qatar Airways. But I have to agree, these were the days! As a kid I visited the flight deck many times, and if we were late to the airport we went out to the runway and paid the stewardess the $25 for a flight from LAX to PHX. Those were great days! Thanks for the memories!
these so classic,stewardess outfit. they sure has great style back then 😀
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I was lucky enough to be a stewardess for the Queen of the skies, Pan Am. They truly were the “good old days of flying”. It was a wonderful company, and I saw the world and got good pay to do it. I sat and chatted with movie stars, politicians, athletes and just great families taking vacations of a lifetime. I treasure the experiences and the many friendships I still enjoy today. Thanks for the memories, Pan Am!!
Where are the famous Pucci uniforms of Braniff Ailines on the 60’s and early 70’s??? Those were the trend setters!
Interesting old photographs. they make me feel older than what I am.
Mind if I link one of my WordPress blogs to this page? It will be in the “Do I look Like I Work Here?” post. (to be posted sometime today.) Thanks!
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