April 19, 1962
Dear Mother,
Well, I guess this reserve thing isn't so bad. I just got called out on an ALL JET FLIGHT to San Francisco. I layover and then go to N. Y. and layover, stopping in ORD. All the way across the country on a Jet! It's a really senior flight. Won't that be something? I'll try to call from ORD when we stop for a few minutes.
Love, Tish
April 23, 1962
Dear Mother,
Here I am in STL. Seems like I am here more than home. We had a bad experience yesterday. Ended up working for 15 hours with a mechanical, switching airplanes, and bad weather. What a mess! We were supposed to have a 1049-G and they gave us a 749. The First Class people on the 1049G were supposed to get a meal, but no meals can be served on the 749 because there aren't any ovens. But then, we couldn't very well serve meals to some and not to others (the coach people who were now on an all first class plane - they were only getting a beverage on the 1049G.) Are you confused? It is confusing. But all the men (only one woman out of 55 passengers) were very nice about it.
Love, Tish
May 5, 1962
Dear Mother,
Just got in from flight last night at 12:30 a.m. I signed in as #17 on the reserve list, and they called me at 10:00 this morning to go out again. I really thought I'd get a longer rest than that. I am really beat from that flight! To top off our 1 hour and 20 min. delay in ORD, we had to hold over N.J. for one hour because Idelewild lost an airplane -- if you can imagine such a thing! Don't know if they ever located it, but we finally landed. It was so good to fall into the hotel bed, but dreamt all night that I was real crabby with passengers and was in a terrible mood when I woke up. I worked the "A" position from IDL to MKC, and the people were really nice, so it was easy to be nice to them.
Love, Tish
May 10, 1962
Dear Mother,
Am watching Route 66 in CLE, which I haven't watched since I was home. Did you know it's filmed on Catalina Island? Oh, what great memories I have of us being there. Taking the boat and all.
Sure had a rough flight this afternoon. Went from IND to CVG in 28 min. and served a beverage. Then from CVG to CLE in 1 hr & 10 min. we served a meal. Was that ever fast and furious! I worked galley and I mean worked! There was a man in the first row watching every move I made and when I served him he said, "Boy, are you ever going to make a good homemaker." I was very pleased. Told him he should tell some eligible bachelor that. ha ha. Then some man in the last seat wanted fish and we were out of fish. He ranted and raved and I went back and tried to calm him down. Told him we'd give him a meal ticket in CLE. He was so nasty and I didn't have time to listen to his gripes. I mean I couldn't just stand there and listen to him because we were already descending and there were so many meal trays still out!
Well, this morning in IND we went with the crew in a rented car to the Speedway Race Track. Watched the trial runs and now I can say I have been to the famous race track. After that, we stopped at a drive in and ate, then went to the airport, changed clothes and went on our flight.
Love, Tish
May 20, 1962
Dear Mother,
Guess I'll start with yesterday. I got up at 9:00 and got dressed to go down town. The buses are heavenly because they're air conditioned. I got off at a corner near Macy's and saw this store that looked like Lerners, so I went in. It's called Virginia Dare. Anyway, I bought two pair of the cutest shorty p.j.'s for $1.99 each. I found a yellow full skirted dress with little spaghetti straps that tie in a bow, for $5.99, so I bought it. I'm beginning to get thrifty minded again - I don't have much choice!
After I got home, John called and I went up to their house. (dental students) They have central air conditioning and their house is so cool. There were a bunch of people there, and we drank some beer. John got a phone call from friends of his who live on a lake and they invited him to go swimming. So, he asked me to go and I jumped at the chance. Two other couples went too. I swam, of course, and as usual, the other two girls didn't want to get their hair wet. The three boys and I swam across the lake and back and had a lot of fun. It ended up that they threw the girls in - they were so teed off at them. Then the girls got teed off. Gosh, it all would have been so simple, if those silly girls would have taken a swim in the first place! Oh well. You know me and swimming!
Love, Tish
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A clipping from the Kansas City Star (May 20, 1962) I sent to my sister, Kathleen, about a TWA Hostess who had been flying for 25 years. I sent it "tongue in check" as I never expected to fly for a long time; after all, I was going to be a "homemaker"! I flew for 29 years, which certainly was not news worthy in 1991.
"Today is the 35th anniversary of Charles A. Lindbergh's solo flight from New York to Paris. It is also the 25th anniversary of flight for Miss Jerry Marvin, a hostess for Trans World Airlines. Miss Marvin is the only hostess employed by a major airline to have recorded 25 years of uninterrupted flight service. The average length of service for a hostess is 26 months, and the principal reason for termination is marriage. Miss Marvin doesn't rule out wedding bells. "But so far," she said, "the right man hasn't come along at the right time, and until he does, I've got two other loves to keep me busy and happy - flying and nursing." The airline no longer requires hostess candidates to be registered nurses, but Miss Marvin is prepared to return to nursing if she should be grounded before she reaches the retirement age of 55. Miss Marvin takes a great deal of kidding about her age, but no one enjoys it more than she. Her favorite story is about a group of athletes who apparently had enjoyed some success in Kansas City and were returning to Cleveland. "They were in extremely high spirits, and I had to be rather firm with them." Her eyes crinkled in merriment as she related: "While changing planes in Indianapolis I overheard one of the boys say, 'Boy, that airline is smart. On the flight out they assigned us the sweetest, cutest little hostess possible, and sent an old bag to take us back."
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