| Welcome to The New Coffee Room. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Coffee, Tea or me? | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: May 18 2007, 05:59 AM (358 Views) | |
| 1hp | May 18 2007, 05:59 AM Post #1 |
|
Fulla-Carp
|
Anyone remember the book about the 2 "flight attendants" in the 60's (good light reading for vacation). ![]() What reminded me of it was an article in the UK Times about flight attendants/air hostess's/stewardesses/trolley dollies or whatever they are called these days. Coffee, Tea - or me From The Sunday Times April 29, 2007 Coffee, tea - or me Being a trolley dolly used to be a job to be proud of — and a way of meeting a rich husband. But is it now more dumb waitress than hostess with the mostest, asks Lydia Slater I have always thought that if I ever married, I would marry an air hostess,” James Bond announced in For Your Eyes Only. It is hard to imagine the world’s most dashing bachelor having similar sentiments today. He would be more likely to admit to a hankering for a union with an orthopaedic-truss salesperson (which, in his case, might be rather more useful). Few professions have seen their cachet plummet to earth as quickly as that of the air hostess — or flight attendant, as they are now drearily known. The latest dent to their mystique was administered by Prince William’s polo chums, who, we are told, sniggeringly referred to Kate Middleton’s mother, Carole, as “Doors to Manual”. Apparently, her former profession made her far too common to be the mother-in-law to the future king. It was not always thus. In fact, where the braying toffs have got it wrong is that when Carole Middleton was applying for her job, being a stewardess had all the glamour of being a model, and with free travel thrown in. Some airlines dressed their “girls” in hot pants and miniskirts; at Braniff Airways in the 1960s and 1970s, the air hostesses wore purple tunics and transparent plastic head bubbles by Pucci, and were required to shed them in sequence during the flight, a routine termed the “air strip”. As the Leonardo DiCaprio film Catch Me If You Can attests, the flight deck was awash with hormones, and when the air hostesses weren’t falling for the pilots, they were catching the eye of the jet-setting passengers. “I’m Mandy, fly me,” the adverts leered; so why not? It was in this way that the fresh-faced Irina Malandina first encountered Roman Abramovich, after her Aeroflot colleagues advised her to frequent the first-class lounges. She now has an estimated £155m divorce settlement burning a hole in her pocket, and there can be few households in Britain so aristocratic that they wouldn’t be delighted to have her on the guest list. Indeed, whatever the snobs say, there is a long tradition of royalty and aristocracy falling for the cabin crew. The Sultan of Brunei’s second wife, Mariam, was a hostess on Royal Brunei Airlines when she caught her ruler’s fancy; and, after their 2003 divorce, another of the world’s richest divorcees. Prince Albert of Monaco recently admitted fathering a boy, Alexandre, with Nicole Coste, an air hostess from Togo. And one cannot imagine that juvenile cries of “Doors to Manual” go down too well at Highgrove when Prince Charles entertains Carole Bamford, the wife of the JCB gazillionaire Sir Anthony, organic-food entrepreneur and former air hostess herself. The list goes on: Roger Moore’s wife, Christina “Kiki” Tholstrup, once doled out chicken or beef; now she dines at Daphne’s. George Michael’s boyfriend, Kenny Goss, proffered moist towelettes, and perhaps still does. And Kirk Douglas had a passionate affair with a German stewardess, whose cue to be spanked was a guttural cry of: “I’m a Nazi!” Even the cerebral-looking Ralph Fiennes recently found himself joining the mile-high club in a Qantas loo with the flight attendant Lisa Robertson. Not terribly classy, you have to admit. And that is the problem. There is now precious little glamour involved in the trolley-dollying game. The international playboys are all on private jets, and budget airlines have made flying as affordable and stylish as taking the bus. I once spent a day working the London-JFK route for Virgin Atlantic, and was astonished by the tedium, the exhaustion and the limitless demands of the unprepossessing passengers. I will never forget being asked to whip up a whisky sour for a stroppy American student in economy during a particularly violent patch of turbulence; nor my panicked dash down the cabin to wrench a ham sandwich from the hands of a Muslim passenger, which I had erroneously assured him was beef. These days, few are the beautiful handmaidens keen to subject themselves to a working life of mopping up sick, restraining drunks and risking death at the hands of terrorists in exchange for a man-made-fibre uniform, a salary hovering at about £10,000 a year and all the tinned button mushrooms they can eat. Now, greying shot-putters pound the aisles instead, staring down goat-class travellers who dare to ask for a second mini-can of Coke. “Flying mattress” has a whole new set of connotations. COME FLY WITH ME: FAMOUS FORMER HOSTESSES Lisa Robertson The Qantas girl was sacked for providing Ralph Fiennes with in-flight entertainment Carole Bamford The wife of JCB gazillionaire Sir Anthony, she’s now an organic-food entrepreneur Carole Middleton Dubbed “Doors to Manual” by Prince William’s polo pals Irina Abramovich The former Aeroflot hottie met her billionaire in the first-class lounge |
| There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those that understand binary and................ | |
![]() |
|
| kenny | May 18 2007, 06:01 AM Post #2 |
|
HOLY CARP!!!
|
goat-class travellers
|
![]() |
|
| DivaDeb | May 18 2007, 06:08 AM Post #3 |
|
HOLY CARP!!!
|
I have an original copy of the book. My sister is 16 years older than I am. She flew for TWA in the late 60's, before she graduated from law school. Many of my early memories are flight attendant related :lol: There was a period of time when paper dresses were all the rage. TWA put the hostesses (the airline made a big deal out of not calling them "stewardesses") in paper dresses for several months. They wore them once, then threw them away. Unless they had a little sister. Someplace, I have pictures of modeling the TWA paper uniforms at my birthday party. |
![]() |
|
| sue | May 18 2007, 07:45 AM Post #4 |
|
HOLY CARP!!!
|
Yes, I remember the book. Wasn't there a movie, too? |
![]() |
|
| Spike Lee from DC | May 18 2007, 12:37 PM Post #5 |
|
Junior Carp
|
That reminds me of Erica Jong's 1973 book "Fear of Flying." Something about a zipless something or other. I can't remember, it was before my time.
|
| "Do the Right Thing" | |
![]() |
|
| Frank_W | May 18 2007, 01:04 PM Post #6 |
![]()
Resident Misanthrope
|
Well... Maybe I'm a throwback, but I still think stewardesses are glamorous.
|
|
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin." Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!" | |
![]() |
|
| ivorythumper | May 18 2007, 05:13 PM Post #7 |
|
I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
|
And Kirk Douglas had a passionate affair with a German stewardess, whose cue to be spanked was a guttural cry of: “I’m a Nazi!” Pretty kinky foreplay for a Jew... |
| The dogma lives loudly within me. | |
![]() |
|
| 1hp | May 18 2007, 07:51 PM Post #8 |
|
Fulla-Carp
|
Air travel in the 60's and 70's. That's when planes had flight engineers and navigators. Seem to remember they had a porthole in the top of the fuselage so the navigator could shoot the stars at night for position fixes. BOAC used to fill out a routing chart and pass it back down the plane. Everything was free on board - alcohol and hot meals. Unaccompanied minors flying out of Heathrow on BOAC received large tins of assorted candy (sweets). And there were games and such on board for kids. All passengers received a menu for the trip. And the plane was cleaned between every trip. People traveled with carry on bags with the logos of Pan Am, TWA, BOAC, etc... - freebies from the travel agents. There were no computers. Seating cards were made of cardboard and your seat number was hand written on it. Sometimes you found someone sitting in your seat - their seat card had the same seat assignment as yours. Want to travel from London to Mexico City with 2 day stops in Bermuda and Nassau - it could take the sales person an hour to figure out the fare, following the rules in a 3 inch thick book. Come back the next day and the fare would be different even though the person was working from the same fare book. In fact no two people seemed to be able to calculate the same fare! Quantas travelled from London to Australia with a host of stops in between - no matter which way round the world you travelled. Zimbabwe was called Rhodesia. BOAC served the remains of the Commonwealth. Caracas, Venuzuela was a jet set stop. Joining the mile high club meant something. Passengers were treated as people, and security was unheard of - inspect my carryon? How absurd! First class was exactly that. Bone china and crystal. Metal cutlery! And the best looking stews. |
| There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those that understand binary and................ | |
![]() |
|
| Spike Lee from DC | May 19 2007, 03:36 AM Post #9 |
|
Junior Carp
|
Air Hostesses, Frank. At least in the UK. I guess the day & age where you'd see ads by National Airlines with some cutie saying "Fly Me" are long gone. |
| "Do the Right Thing" | |
![]() |
|
| Spike Lee from DC | May 19 2007, 03:43 AM Post #10 |
|
Junior Carp
|
Which domestic & international airlines today come closest to what we enjoyed then ?? In terms of stews, food, service, etc. I've never flown Singapore Airlines, but I 've heard they were the best at one time. How 'bout now? |
| "Do the Right Thing" | |
![]() |
|
| Daniel\ | May 19 2007, 03:44 AM Post #11 |
![]()
Fulla-Carp
|
I loved flying in the early 70's. Eastern mostly from New York to Florida. Sometimes National (big sun face that was orange and yellow if I recall). The service was excellent. The way it is now is infuriating in comparison. And there was no security. You didn't even have to show your license. And there weren't nearly as many people in the airports. And when you were a child flying alone you got a little plastic wing pin. Surely those days are gone for good.![]() |
|
| |
![]() |
|
| Spike Lee from DC | May 19 2007, 03:47 AM Post #12 |
|
Junior Carp
|
I had several former AF pilots like myself that went with Eastern in the '70s, and while they liked it, it wasn't a career enhancing move for them. Memorabilia from now defunct airlines is quite valuable. |
| "Do the Right Thing" | |
![]() |
|
| DivaDeb | May 19 2007, 05:01 AM Post #13 |
|
HOLY CARP!!!
|
Wings...when my sister was flying for TWA there was a career day at my elementary school. She came to my school and talked to my second grade class. I was the Queen of Everything for a while because she brought wings and BARF BAGS for every kid in my class.
|
![]() |
|
| Spike Lee from DC | May 19 2007, 05:35 AM Post #14 |
|
Junior Carp
|
" BARF BAGS for every kid in my class" That gets a big *yuck* out of me
|
| "Do the Right Thing" | |
![]() |
|
| 1hp | May 19 2007, 08:43 AM Post #15 |
|
Fulla-Carp
|
Eastern - who can forget "WhisperJets"! I've only travelled Singapore Airlines in Business Class - and that is some fine service, from some fine people. The story might not be so good from coach though. |
| There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those that understand binary and................ | |
![]() |
|
| taiwan_girl | May 19 2007, 07:28 PM Post #16 |
|
Fulla-Carp
|
I think that they are still the best. They have the "Singapore Girl" campaign which plays up their stewaredesses. And for you boys, I believe that they make them retire from the planes by age 30.
|
![]() |
|
| « Previous Topic · The New Coffee Room · Next Topic » |











6:11 AM Jul 11