As you know, I love VINTAGE AIRPORTS, and I have two for you today. Location unknown. When I was a kid it was very exciting to walk on the ground toward our plane, and head up the stairs, hopefully receiving some "Junior Pilot" wings from a friendly stewardess ("Flight Attendant" was not a term used yet).
This first pic is from August, 1967, and it shows a group of people posing with an Aeroflot jet behind them. Perhaps it's a Tupolev Tu-114? I'm sure you smarties will let me know! These folks appear to have flown on SAS (Scandinavian Airlines), or else somebody borrowed their stairs. I'm digging their cool Pan-Am totes. Were those given out to all passengers? I wish I knew more about this picture!
Next is this photo dated "September, 1957". All the passengers have de-planed, and the flight crew are the last off. The plane bears Pan American Grace Airways livery, and might be a DC-8 (?). Pan American-Grace Airways was a cooperative arrangement between Pan American World Airways and W.R. Grace and Company, which dominated transportation to the west coast of South America. Commonly known as "Panagra", it was advertised as the "World's Friendliest Airline". They set the standard for air transportation between the U.S. East Coast and the West Coast of South America throughout its 39 year history.
Major-
ReplyDeleteIsn't that pair of ladies with their toothy grins related... as in Mother-Daughter-? Could be.
Thanks, Major.
How cute. A winged hammer and sickle. It warms the cockles of one's heart. :-\
ReplyDeleteHmm, rather than having flown on SAS, I would guess that these people have flown on Aeroflot and have arrived (somewhere) in Scandinavia?
And these folks have apparently just arrived on the west coast of South America, having departed from the east coast of the U.S.
I wonder what made Panagra the "World's Friendliest Airline"?
Nanook, actually, they all look like they could be related. They have similar noses and mouths.
GDB gives you wiiiings! Thanks, Major.
@ JB-
ReplyDeleteIndeed they do. I was also thinking the 'Mother' reminds me of actress Anne Seymour.
The first photo is of a Tupelov Tu-104, the first Soviet jetliner (and second in the world after the British deHaviland Comet). I haven’t been able to definitively identify the airport, but in 1967 Aeroflot flew into Stockholm, Helsinki, and Copenhagen, which all had a heavy SAS presence.
ReplyDeleteThe second airplane is a Douglas DC-6B. Fun fact I scraped from the interwebs: “On May 6, 1954, Panagra became the first commercial airline to use airborne weather radar in scheduled operations, debuting it on a DC-6B, which allowed pilots to see weather 150 miles ahead.”
Thanks, Major!
The AeroFlot plane I was on in the mid'90s (StP-Moscow) was like a school bus, same naugahyde and tubular bench seats, riveted metal walls except fully filled with men right out of a pirates movie (not kidding), and their live poultry, mostly in cages but a few flying around among a flurry of feathers. As they refused to honor our 1stclass tickets we were told to sit way back, where the smoking was already quite thick. Upon takeoff and throughout the flight the exhaust from the engines was apparently directed THROUGH the cabin, as it got much smokier with diesel fumes. It was a relief to land, until we realized we were now in the wrong airport. Mid-night, Occidental Christmas, in a blizzard, we sat on our bags in the snow waiting an hour for the only taxi in town to get us 6 miles to the international airport in time to connect home. We were really glad our guides had sheltered us from all this for weeks before since the reality of post-soviet life was shocking to we comfortable westerners from the minute our tour ended...like these smiling folks in bright colors, happy to be landing at home with souvenirs.
ReplyDeleteMS
Nanook, I do see a family resemblance. And am glad that they don’t have “toothless grins”.
ReplyDeleteJB, what are cockles anyway? Forget I asked, this is a family blog. I guess your theory about the plane landing in Scandinavia makes sense, and I’m sure I would have thought of that eventually (?). Panagra was friendly because the pilot, copilot, and flight attendants would kiss all the passengers (on the mouth) as you boarded.
Nanook, well, I had to look up Anne Seymour. I must have seen her in something, but am not really familiar with her work.
Chuck, I take comfort in the fact that I got one thing right; those are both airplanes! I have to wonder if Tupelov jets were built using “borrowed” designs from western countries? Perhaps not. Interesting that Panagra was the first commercial airline to use airborne weather radar. No more attacks from Cloud Men.
MS, oops, you commented while I was commenting. I have the feeling that Aeroflot probably attempted to be somewhat like western airlines in amenities and appointments. But by the 1990s, things had changed. Your flight actually sounds kind of entertaining, if you could go into it with the right frame of mind. “What an experience!”. As you said, after that adventure, I’m sure home never looked so good! Live poultry in the cabin, ha ha. Remember when the smoking and non-smoking sections were separated by a tiny curtain? It worked perfectly! “Occidental Christmas”, starring Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase, coming this summer. I hope you learned your lesson and will only go to Epcot instead of actually seeing other countries.
ReplyDeletePhoto 1, “yes comrades, we are just arriving from Soviet Socialist Republics to stay with these capitalist running dogs. Our bags are filled with good communist potatoes”. Actually, I think these folks are western tourists, their bright smiles and colorful clothing don’t look too Soviet to me.
ReplyDeletePhoto 2, the lady in orange is talking to the president of France while carrying an ice bucket. I bet she has champagne in there. The skinny tie contingent is either plotting world domination, or discussing punk rock music.
Fun fact, W. R. Grace was a manufacturer of construction materials, among other things, and was bankrupted by asbestos claims. The reorganized company, Grace Construction Products (GCP) still makes below-grade waterproofing, sealants, and similar products. I have no idea what they might have been doing in South America that needed a whole airline, so this is fascinating.
Thanks Major, old airplanes are very interesting.
JG