When Flight Attendants Glammed It Up

Exactly 60 years ago today (May 2, 1952), the de Havilland DH 106 Comet was officially introduced as the world's first production commercial jet airliner with its inaugural flight from London to Johannesburg. Soon after that landmark flight came the flight attendants of the '60s, who have had a resurgence in popularity thanks to last year's big drama Pam Am. Some consider this era the glory years of air travel, when service was still good and passengers weren't herded like cattle. Some would also call it a time when stewardesses (the retro name for flight attendant) were treated as sex objects who were supposed to wait on you hand and foot and possibly hint at . . . other services. For a time, there was even a policy that only unmarried women could fill the job. Let's take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly in this flight attendant flashback.