Glamour of luxury travel from 1930s to 1970s

[Foreigner]

Great collection of photographs of air travel of the past...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ines-heightened-security-took-air-travel.html

 

[jetlagger]

Great collection of photographs of air travel of the past...

Flying-high: Stunning images reveal bygone era of glitz and glamor in the skies long before mass travel, budget airlines and heightened security took over air travel | Mail Online

Fantastic times from a bygone era.. Thanks for sharing

 

[anat0l]

Notice how in those days, even First Class had no fully flat beds. Nowadays, the pundits say that any business class which isn't fully flat is inhabitable and worthy of a fourth world country only.

How the hell did people sleep in those seats, even though the longest flight in those days was perhaps a mere 5 hours or so?

Such a romantic era that we've left behind. Is it for the better?

 

[mella2007]

People didn't care about sleeping Anat01! They were so excited to fly and the prestige that came with saying they were going on a plane.
What a fantastic group of pics...and such a wonderful era. Such a shame for the most part that flying is just a mode of transport these days instead of being the destination itself.

 

[Must...Fly!]

What a wonderful collection of images, I feel I have to share them with friends on facebook!

Thank you for posting

 

[Anna]

Such a shame for the most part that flying is just a mode of transport these days instead of being the destination itself.

Agreed. I'm happy to pay for W/J because I think the flights are an integral part of the holiday, but so many people disagree. I know people who fly ultra cheap JQ but spend thousands per night on their accommodation. Then they complain that JQ spoiled their holiday.

 

[serfty]

Much travel was day time only with overnight stopovers on the longer routes - sleeper seats/bunks not required.

 

[Hvr]

Flying was glamorous 'back in the day' but was it as good as today?

I say no. Firstly there was smoking everywhere and that would be so off putting as to cause me to consider whether or not to even travel. Some smokers have a degree of social retardation that means they can ignore the effect their putrid habit has on others.

Heck even now I've not found an airport where you can enter or leave without passing through going through a smoke haze.

Safety wasn't as good then as now, inflight entertainment was, if you were lucky a projector on the roof.

Nice to look at but I wouldn't want to travel in that era.

I wonder what people will think of travel now, in 50 years time?

 

[Must...Fly!]

I wonder what people will think of travel now, in 50 years time?

Depends on how much fuel we have left...

 

[opusman]

Flying was seen as glamorous because it was a novelty and one almost exclusively reserved for the upper classes (by virtue of the cost).

No matter how glamorous it was I doubt SYD-LHR by Super Constellation in ~64 hours was anywhere near as comfortable as F in an A380 today

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I say no. Firstly there was smoking everywhere and that would be so off putting as to cause me to consider whether or not to even travel. Some smokers have a degree of social retardation that means they can ignore the effect their putrid habit has on others.

As you say - smoking was 'everywhere' back then and people had different perceptions of smoking, it wasn't seen as a problem as it is now, more of a social norm. I suppose people were used to it and didn't mind smelling like smoke when they got home.

 

[SeatBackForward]

I'm amazed at how wide the aisles appear to be in those photos. Certainly wider than the width of todays galley trollies!

 

[Major]

As you say - smoking was 'everywhere' back then and people had different perceptions of smoking, it wasn't seen as a problem as it is now, more of a social norm. I suppose people were used to it and didn't mind smelling like smoke when they got home.

I was a smoker then and I remember being offered a packet of 3 cigarettes by FA's on a trip to HKG. They were handed out to all passengers in Y

 

[Sprucegoose]

Depends on how much fuel we have left...

Peak oil has been postponed by the way.

 

[ChasingDaylight]

I always enjoy seeing such photographs and reading about airtravel during the early days. Cheers for posting it up!