Air travel has come a long way since the 1950s, this we know. But in the ’50s, flying was something different. It was something magical and marvelous. Air travel exploded into its Golden Age, and airplane trips weren’t just a means of getting to your vacation –– they were a vacation in themselves. Passengers dressed in their finest to fly. They lined up for group photos before boarding. Riding an airplane made them feel like a movie star because it pretty much took the salary of a movie star to do so.
But not everything was so rosy. If you took a flight in the 1950s...
1. Turbulence Could Snap Your Neck
2. You Had Insane Amounts of Legroom
3. Your Flight Attendant Wore a Girdle and Had a Weight Limit
4. You Might Have Paid Up to 5% of Your Salary for a Ticket
5. Lobster Counted as Airplane Food
6. Smoking Was Totally Acceptable... And for Much Longer Than You’d Think
During the 1950s, smoking (of cigarettes, pipes and cigars) was totally acceptable in the air, but strangely not in the terminal (they were afraid cigarettes might ignite the fuel fumes). “Confusion and resentment” ran rampant when a law prohibited smoking on short domestic flights decades later, in 1988. It wasn’t until 2000 that a law mandated all flights to and from the U.S. be smoke-free.
7. You Were Handed a Postcard as You Boarded
Flying was so utterly rare that passengers felt compelled to document every moment on postcards with pictures of the plane or in-flight meal, to show their less lucky loved ones what the newfangled experience was like
8. You Drank (Lots) for Free
Of course, the free boozing tapered off as air travel became less of a luxury industry and more of a commercial one. But in those early Golden Days, “people just poured themselves scotch after scotch”.
9. You Didn’t Show ID
Even as late as 1970, passengers made it onto planes without ID of any sort –– a quick look-over from security did the trick. Showing up at the airport 30 minutes before your flight was totally fine, and well-wishers could walk right up to your gate where you boarded via stairs, not jet bridge. Passenger screenings wouldn’t become mandatory until 1973.
10. Baggage Claim Was Even More Excruciating Than It is Now
(via HuffPost Travel)