23 vintage photos from the glory days of aviation
We're grateful that smoking is no longer permitted on planes, but we can't deny this guy's got style.
With today's lie-flat beds in first and business class, not all that much has changed since 1949 on a KLM flight.
Seats on Delta have definitely shrunk since 1959.
Bunk beds (on KLM), however, we'd love to see making a comeback.
Flight attendants used to really dote on passengers.
Extra pillow service was a nice touch.
Instead of staring into screens, kids would get a geography lesson — at least on this Iberia flight.
Plane food was made fresh on KLM in 1958, and even hand-delivered by the chef. Is that caviar?
Meals were decadent on this British Airways flight in the '60s.
BA flight attendants even hand-carved entire hams.
Rather than prepackaged in tin foil, steak was cut seat-side.
Cocktails on BA were made to order, and there were real bars to enjoy them in.
The whole set up was just really social on this 1971 KLM flight. Comparatively, flying today is like being on an airborne bus.
People played cards!
A lot of cards. That's probably the downside to not having entertainment centers in every seat.
Hopefully you knew your fellow travelers, otherwise this set up could be pretty awkward.
Pedro Rodri´guez, the Spanish it-designer of the '60s and '70s, designed the classy but authoritative Iberia uniform.
These are Iberia's airline "hostesses." They're not flight attendants, and certainly not stewardesses.
This 1946 Iberia uniform, on the other hand, has something vaguely nautical about it.
Most uniforms included hats.
The hats were great.
Delta's colorful summer uniforms in the late '60s really capture the essence of the time.
This cute little number, worn in 1967, was known as British Airways' (then still the British Overseas Airways Corporation) "paper dress."
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