Sunday, July 31, 2011

Come Fly with Me...

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The Boeing 747 B

Image via GE Reports

On the Top Deck

Let's take a look at the long ago era of "jet setters" - when flying was exciting and glamourous. Unlike today where we are herded onto planes like cattle, there existed a time when travelling First Class, really meant something and you literally were above everyone else.
On February 9, 1969, the first flight of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet was cut short by a minor problem with one of the wing flaps. The test pilots kept their cool, landed the plane safely, and the rest is history. The first commercial wide-body in service, the 747 would propel Boeing well ahead of all other commercial jet makers. One of the most unusual features of the 747 when it was launched was its unusual “hump” on top of the main fuselage. Known as the upper deck, this hump housed the cockpit and also extra passenger accommodation, adding to its behemoth size.
When the Boeing 747 first came into service in the late 1960’s early 1970’s most airlines reserved the upper deck for the exclusive domain of their First Class passengers. No rows of seats here, but plush lounges and bars where you could relax in comfort whiling away those long flight hours.
Accessed by the familiar spiral staircase from the main deck, economy class passengers could only cast an envious eye upwards in the hope that they might be able to catch a glimpse of these sumptuous lounges.
Airlines usually chose to decorate their lounges using themes of their home countries, so before we arrived at our final destination we had a taste of things to come.
Qantas chose to decorate their lounges,with a somewhat colonial 
theme using Captain Cook as inspiration.
Air India and Iran Air chose local themes with a modern twist and lots 
of 70’s panache, so you didn’t even feel like you were on a plane.
Aerolineas Argentinas chose quite a masculine vibe, maybe to get us in the mood for some of the machismo we might face in Argentina. But Delta turned the upper deck into the “world’s first flying Penthouse,” which could be sold as a unit to a group travelling together.
Along with the real estate them that was inspiring Delta to call their lounges Penthouses, Braniff chose to give theirs an address.  

Pan Am envisaged a restaurant style setting with individual tables that could
be booked for a more pleasurable dining experience.

So next time you are sitting in Row 55 up the back of economy class, 
know that it wasn't always this way!

Even further back in time was the era of the prop driven Lockheed Super Constellations. They too had their posh enclaves for the elite to spend the hours while on their way to some exotic destination. From damask tablecloths to china, silverware and crystal, no luxury was spared. Flying high in First Class was proof you were at the top of the heap. 

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner 

Today, First Class is still first class but it's all very business-like. It does provide a great deal of space and comfort compared to the cattle car called economy but it lacks the panache of past passenger aircraft. The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner is lighter, faster and more fuel efficient than the 747 but something has been lost in the translation. In spite of innovations such as airy, sweeping arches, ergonomic seating and dynamic lighting, the cocktail party ambiance is a thing of the past.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliners new interior will create a new sensation for passengers inside the cabin. Innovations such as those shown here are sweeping arches, wide aisles, larger lavatories, and dynamic lighting. All these innovations are being considered with the goal to connect the passenger with the flying experience. (Neg#: K64262-02)
Image via Boeing

Update - November 20, 2011

The Glory Days of Pan Am 

Sky high


Travelling by plane used to mean dressing in your finest and expecting to be swathed in glamour and top-notch service. Chief among the skyways’ gilded carriages was Pan American World Airways, which prided itself on prompt service, pretty stewardesses and arguably the most skilled pilots in commercial flight. Here, a Pan Am Boeing 747 flies over snow-covered mountains in 1970
(Keystone/Getty Images)

The company built a reputation on the skill of its pilots and on the hospitality of its attendants. Lufthansa flight attendants Jutta Kaemmerer and Mascha Junge are served by Pan Am’s Jerry Rand and Gertrude Vasel at the Pan American World Airways stewardess school in Long Island, circa 1960. 
(Pictorial Parade/Getty Images)

Pan Am invasion

Pan Am had a high profile in movies and on television, and was equated in many people's minds with the glamour of international travel. The company’s link to popular culture and the fabulous life was cemented when the Beatles disembarked for their 1964 US tour on a Pan Am flight from London to New York City. 
(J. Wilds/Getty Images)

Heart of the city

The Pan Am building and surrounding skyscrapers tower over midtown Manhattan in 1960. When it opened, it was the largest commercial office building in the world. However, in 1992 it was renamed the MetLife Building when the financially troubled airline (reduced to a mere four floors from its original 15) had finally called it quits.      (Frederic Lewis/Getty Images)  
Feature via The BBC 

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 Me!

Spooooky Reading...

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Evil Little Stories: A Collection

 
What lies beneath...

I'm sorry, but this looks more like 

economy to me!

...Well, except for the leg room.

Friday, July 29, 2011

An evening of 1950s TV. All in glorious black & white!


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Okay, but WHY?
Photo Via Tackorama

The People's Choice
The People's Choice was a 1950s sitcom broadcast on the  NBC television network. It was one of those unforgettable series because it featured an unusual gimmick… a dog that talked to the audience. It starred former child star Jackie Cooper.
The People's Choice was the story of a city councilor, Socrates "Sock" Miller, who had frequent run-ins with the city's mayor, John Peoples. These run-ins were aggravated by the fact that Sock's girlfriend was the mayor's daughter, Mandy. Sock had a pet basset hound, Cleo, whose observations were made audible to the audience (but not the cast). As the show developed, Sock and Mandy married (secretly at first), Sock completed law school, and then became a real estate agent, while continuing to serve as a city councilor.
      Via iOffer.com
The Reluctant House Guest
Broadcast October 31, 1957
Set in New York City, the series stars Gale Storm (who was at least 30 at the time) as 21-year-old Margie Albright and former silent film star Charles Farrell as her widowed father, 50-year-old Vern Albright. They shared an apartment at the Carlton Arms Hotel. Vern Albright was the vice president of the investment firm of Honeywell and Todd, where his boss was George Honeywell (Clarence Kolb).
Honeywell's partner in the firm was played by George Meader. Roberta (Hillary Brooke) was Vern's girlfriend, and Margie's boyfriend was Freddy Wilson (Don Hayden). Mrs. Odetts (played by Gertrude W. Hoffmann on TV; Verna Felton on radio) was the Albrights' next-door neighbor and Margie's sidekick in madcap capers reminiscent of Lucy and Ethel in I Love Lucy. When Margie realized she had blundered or got into trouble, she made an odd trilling sound.
Also in the cast were Willie Best as the elevator operator and Dian Fauntelle. The series was canceled in 1955. Gale Storm went on to star in The Gale Storm Show which ran for 143 episodes 1956-1960.
   Via Wikipedia

What's Cooking?
Image Via Demonoid
The Jack Benny Show 
with special guest star 
Marilyn Monroe
Jack Benny had his own radio program since 1932. He brought the program, with his underplayed humor, to TV along with his radio regulars. Jack, who eternally remained 39-years-old, kept his money in his basement and drove his old Maxwell car just as he had done on the radio. This was Marilyn's first TV appearance, in 1953, on the Jack Benny show and was a huge success. Marilyn did a live performance of 'Bye Bye Baby' concluding a comedy sketch. Monroe and Benny next met again in 1962, at Madison Square Garden, at President Kennedy's birthday gala, where Marilyn sang 'Happy Birthday Mr. President', and 'Thanks for the Memory.' Via Wikipedia
The TV program featured below aired 
on September 13, 1953.

Dragnet, syndicated as Badge 714, was a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from an actual police term, a "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.  Via Wikipedia
Full Episode

Image via 1960s TV Tuner
Perry Mason is a legal drama which ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner. At one time, the show was "television's most successful and longest-running lawyer series."  Via Wikipedia        Episode from September 1957

Image Via Listal
Alfred Hitchcock Presents was a television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades. Time magazine named Alfred Hitchcock Presents one of "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME"                                Via Wikipedia
Mr. Blanchard's Secret
From 1958
The Twilight Zone is a television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode (156 in the original series) is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller,fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to serious science fiction and abstract ideas through television and also through a wide variety of Twilight Zone literature. Via Wikipedia
  The Midnight Sun  

The Outer Limits was an hour-long television series broadcast on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories. The Outer Limits is an anthology of discrete story episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end. All 49 episodes of the original series are available on Hulu Via Wikipedia
The Man Who Was Never Born
And now..
The late night 
Chiller Theatre 
double feature! 
(1958)
Image Via Past Futures
A mysterious creature from another planet, resembling a giant blob of jelly, lands on earth. The people of a nearby small town refuse to listen to some teenagers who have witnessed the blob's destructive power. In the meantime, the blob just keeps on getting bigger and bigger. Starring Steve McQueen
(1957)
Image Via The poster Shop
Zombiefied sailors guard the treasure of a ship they went down with 60 years earlier. A group of sailors scoff at the legend, and decide to retrieve the diamonds from the ocean floor only to discover the hard way that there is some truth to legends.
A preview of next week's main feature...
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party
:rolleyes:What lies beneath...:rolleyes:
For all you keen gardeners out there...
  I  have  never seen a 
Red Hot Willy Pepper 
before...
These are actual peppers from a garden.      
And, they really are called 'Willy  Peppers.' 
 
The farmer says they can grow up to 18" long!
Sort of brings tears to your eyes doesn't it?