Bibliography:
Magazine
Articles:
1.
Cloud Nine. Playboy, July, 1957.
This
Playboy “article” (it was more pictures and the centerfold with an attached
paragraph than an actual article) talks about how Playboy employees found the
centerfold, Jean Jani, a flight stewardess. Not only do the photos show her
almost naked but they also show her fully clothes and intensely working
illustrating the weird space between modesty and sexuality that flight
stewardesses inhabited in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
2. Executive
Flight. Playboy, April 1955.
This
Playboy article gives detail about United Airlines’ Executive Flight, a male
only flight between Chicago and New York, which allowed businessmen to relax
and enjoy each other’s company without female passengers raising “pernicious
eyebrows.”
3. TIME article “Transport: Air Work”
(Oct 17, 1938)
A
little bit before the time period will be focused on, this article details the
incredible rise of flying and stewardess applications pre World War II. It also
details the wages for both pilots and stewardesses at this time.
4. TIME article “West Germany: Hot Route
in the Cold War” (July 3, 1964)
I
think magazine articles, especially coming from a source like TIME give really
relevant explanations and detailing of current events. This article talks about
the “political turbulence” of Pan American World Airways’ New York-Berlin
route. I want part of my paper to focus on how the Cold War shaped stewardesses
and this was a great place to start.
Newspaper
Articles:
5. Chicago Tribune Announcement of stewardess
school opening (Feb 20, 1949)
I
decided to look through Chicago newspaper archives because Chicago was a
bustling city in the 1950s and 60s, home to one of the largest airports, and
had many stewardess training schools. This article announces the opening of
Chicago’s first stewardess school and details the dormitories the students will
live in that reside in a hangar at the airport.
6. Chicago Tribune Article “Air Stewardesses
Are Pioneers in Woman’s Newest Vocation” (June 2, 1935)
This
article discusses the new employment opportunity for women, stewardesses. It
details the height, weight, marital status, and educational requirements for
stewardesses (all stewardesses at this early time needed to be trained nurses).
7. Chicago Tribune Article “Working Girls
with Wings” (Nov 9, 1941)
This
article portrays being a stewardess as an amazingly adventurous experience. It
goes into detail one young woman’s journey to the job and what her day to day
life is like as a stewardess.
8. Chicago Tribune Article “Lovely Girls
Fly to Jobs on Soaring Spirits” (Sep 13, 1953)
Firstly,
the photograph attached to this article is of three stewardesses lounging on
the grass in their bathing suits. The article talks about the age, height, and
weight rules for the stewardesses as well as details the living arrangements
for stewardess—mostly living in houses/apartments with other stewardesses close
to their job.
9. Chicago Tribune article about how
women’s rights movement is changing stewardess profession for the worse (Feb
11, 1954)
This
article, written by a man, explains that “traditional female professions”, such
as being a flight stewardess, are being negatively affected by the women’s
rights movement. He goes to explain that, “thanks to several court decisions,”
flight stewardesses can now be ugly, married, and over 40 rather than
previously when they were all “young, single, and beautiful.”
10. Chicago Tribune Article “Will An
Overweight Stewardess Ruin Your Milk, Coffee or Tea?” (June 25, 1972)
First
off, this article is making a play at a famous fake memoir called Milk, Coffee, or Me, which was originally
published as a real memoir of a flight attendant. This article talks about how
flight companies ensure their stewardesses are skinny—specific exercises such
as laying on the ground with a heavy book. The article goes on to compare the
strict standards stewardesses face versus their male counterparts (male stewards
at this time made up only around 8% of cabin attendants of companies like TWA).
Wish List:
1. LaBudde Special Collections at
University of Missouri-Kansas City: Patricia Stevens Collection
One
of the top “charm schools” in Chicago that taught women how to be charming:
“finishing schools for models and career girls” and promised to teach “charm,
poise, streamlined figure, and beautifully groomed model look that opens doors
to career and social success!” (over 14,000 photographic images)
2. The New York Public Library: Archives
and Manuscripts- Patricia Banks collection (1957-1999)
Banks
was one of the first black flight attendants who fought discrimination by
filing a lawsuit against Capital Airlines, commission ruled in her favor and
ordered the company to hire her.
3. American Airlines Collection, special
collections, C.R. Smith Museum, Fort Worth, TX
This
collection contains everything about the history of American Airlines:
photographs, job advertisements, company policies, etc.
Below is the image of the Chicago Tribune Article, “Lovely Girls Fly to Jobs on Soaring Spirits” (Sep 13, 1953) [annotation #8]
No comments:
Post a Comment