Air travel 1960s style
TWA, 1953
Convair 880, 1959
check out “The Might-Have Beens: Convair 880 and 990” for some great reading on these bad ass birds from the jet age.
Western Airlines animation cell c.1960
“Its the Only Way to Fly!”
Wally the Bird - Commercial spokes-bird for Western Airlines made his debut in 1955
The Boeing 707, 1958
American Airlines, 1968
American Airlines c.1960s
Cooler Than You, and me too
Gordon’s Jet Flight, 1961
Little Golden Activity Book, by Naomi J. Glasson
illustrations by Mel Crawford
Mike Lynch of Mike Lynch Cartoons hit the nail on the head when he posted that “Today, we look at travelling the skies of 1961 — when flying in a plane was something that you got dressed up to do.”
I have wonderful childhood memories of airline travel. This book is a real gem in that it reminds us of a time before the world of airline travel in general kind of just gave up on itself. The Stewardesses smiled at you and treated you as if you were somebody special, even when you were just plain ol’ aunt Marge from a teensy little town in the middle of nowhere. You DID dress up to travel, in some of your very best clothes…the ones you wore on church Sunday. I recall the food being decent too, but I was a kid so my palate wasn’t highly developed yet! What happened to the ultra cool, Ultra smooth days of the Jet Age? It saddens me to hear just how bad airline travel has become, how poorly the Stewardesses/Stewards are treated and paid. The same goes for the Pilots. Does anyone else have any memories of vintage airline travel they want to share?
(Source: 1950sunlimited)
General Dynamics, Convair 880
Artist: Herbert Bayer
General Dynamics is a United States aerospace and defense company formed in 1952. They designed the 880 to compete with the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 by being smaller and faster. Some claimed that at a speed of 615 mph it was the fastest jet transport in the world. Originally the design was called the “Skylark”, then it was changed to the “Golden Arrow”, then to the “Convair 600” and finally, “Convair 880”. Only 65 Convair 880s were produced over the lifetime of the production run, from 1959 to 1962, and General Dynamics eventually withdrew from the airliner market after considering the 880 project a complete failure. General Dynamics lost around $185 million over the lifetime of the project, although some estimate far higher losses.
Northwest Airlines 1953
“Only Northwest Airlines gives you Double Deck Stratocruisers…a two story penthouse with wings!”
(Source: 1950sunlimited)
ad detail for Pan American Airlines (Pan Am) 1955
