39 retro photos that reveal what it was like to be a flight attendant throughout the years
Swissair flight attendant Nelly Diener became the first air stewardess in Europe in 1934. She died later that year in the 1934 Swissair Tuttlingen accident, which killed 12 people.
United Airlines stewardesses line up in front of an early Boeing 247.
A flight attendant checks in with passengers as two men play checkers during a 1933 flight on a Boeing 247.
Air hostess Dorothy Webster boards a plane in 1938 in Queensland, Australia.
A steward addresses passengers from the cockpit in the 1940s.
Flight attendant Britt Hansson smiles in front of a "Orvar Viking" aircraft in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
Flight steward Max White, assisted by passenger Jennifer Grey, washes dishes on board a January 1949 from Suvas to Sydney.
On an autumn day in 1950, an airline stewardess arrives in Point Barrow, Alaska, the north most point of US territory.
An airplane stewardess hugs a puppy in Alaska in the 1950s.
Navy WAVE (United States Naval Women's Reserve) Betty M. Chaffee serves as a stewardess on a Navy Transport Squadron flight crew in 1951. She brings coffee to the pilots of the transcontinental flight, Lieutenant Junior Grade L.K. Shay (left) and Lieutenant Junior Grade J.R. Keegan (right).
Flight attendants take a break at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam in 1962.
Passengers use a typewriter and read on a 1965 Northwest Airlines flight, as a flight attendant works in the background
Austrian Airlines flight attendants pose in front of a Douglas DC-9s at Vienna International Airport.
A flight attendant and two pilots pose outside of an aircraft. The image comes from an album belonging to Charles rector, a pilot who worked in Hollywood and flew for Mick Jagger.
A Royal Dutch Airlines purser welcomes a passenger and points out her seat.
Dutch flight attendants disembark in Istanbul in 1959.
Air Micronesia stewardesses pose with a pilot.
A flight attendant poses in front of a turbine.
Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) stewardesses pose on the tarmac.
A stewardess pours coffee during a 1971 flight to Rome.
Flight attendants touch down in Las Vegas.
Capitol Airlines flight attendants take a break.
PSA flight attendants disembark from an airplane.
A PSA flight attendant greets a first class customer.
Flight attendants model the uniforms worn by South African airline National Airways Corporation hostesses between 1959 and 1975.
Flight attendants prep a Lockheed L-1011 for takeoff during the 1970s.
A PSA Airlines stewardess pours a drink for a passenger.
Two stewardesses attend to first class passengers in the lounge of a PSA flight.
A flight attendant poses on a turbine.
An American Airlines flight attendant poses with a first class passenger in 1978.
A group of Ethiopian Airlines flight attendants in the 1970s.
Eastern airlines flight attendants check in on the first class cabin in 1980.
Two flight attendants and a pilot pose in front of a fountain in the 1980s.
Dutch airline Martinair stewardesses model new uniforms in 1982.
A Thai Airways International airline flight attendant presents a selection of wine during a flight from Singapore to Bangkok in 1996.
Virgin Atlantic Airways flight attendants pack Princess Diana's dresses for a charity auction in 1997.
On August 26, 1999, two flight attendants carry signs out of a meeting room after rejecting a tentative five-year contract with Northwest Airlines.
A PBair flight attendant distributes snacks during a 2004 flight.
A Norwegian flight attendant checks in on customers in 2015.
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