So many of my letters begin with "I went to mass today".....I certainly was a "church going" girl. I even went with some of my boyfriends. Those were the days when we believed if we missed mass, and got in a horrible accident and died, we would go to hell. I guess I also thought I would go to hell if I "necked" too much with a boy...........Oh, those days of yore..............
August 27, 1963
Dear Mother,
I didn't go out on flight Sunday. I had terrible cramps. I went to 11:30 mass and didn't eat because I wanted to go to communion. (If we ate after midnight, we couldn't receive the Eucharist.) It was about 96 degrees in Kansas City and the church was so hot, I had to get up in the middle of the sermon and go outside. (No a/c in most churches in 1963.) I was afraid I was going to faint. I felt pretty lousy the rest of the day from the heat and cramps, so I went off schedule. That's the first time I went off for that reason.
I went back on schedule Monday morning and I'm flying with a girl who is #3 in seniority in K.C. and she's very nice. The other girl has been flying 6 years and my flying partner is on reserve and has been flying 4 months. She's good for a new one too.
We had Bobby Rydell on flight. He's a rock & roll singer and was in the movie "Bye Bye Birdie". Flying on a jet is sure different from the connie. This is my first flight coast to coast (LAX to IDL- Idlewild in NY - before JFK). on a Boeing 707. We only have 30 people in coach. What a joy it is to work a flight like this. It's been real smooth all the way. Up front they have Royal Ambassador service, which I'm not qualified for yet, and had never seen. It's fantastic!!! They use a cart to set the tables, and the china is white with a red stripe and "R/A" on it. You wouldn't believe it! The captain announced when we went over the Grand Canyon, and then the wheat fields over Kansas - there's big circles in them - that's how they irrigate. Flying like this is so different, I don't believe it. I even got to talk to almost everybody. How interesting to hear about their travels, family and such. Now this is what this job is all about! We layover in N.Y. for 17 hours and we're going to try to go to a Broadway play. By the way, I am writing this as everyone is either sleeping or reading and I don't want to disturb them by "aisle talking" - I already did my "talk to the passenger duty".
I am so looking forward to next spring. (Transferring to International Flying out of NY) Even if Helen doesn't go, I'm going to. I had a French woman on our flight to NY who couldn't speak English. I was so proud of myself when I could tell her what time it was in French. She was pleased too.
Love, Tish
September 4, 1963
Dear Mother,
What a trip! Besides the man who was deathly ill, other things happened. I had Joey Bishop on flight from LAS to LA. They didn't even know he was going to be on because no one told us. I didn't recognize him until I was passing gum and candy and he said "No thank you." Then I could tell by his voice. I looked at him several times before I talked to him. Then I said, "Aren't you Joey Bishop?", and he took off his glasses and said "It is I". He was very nice. I asked him if he was going to be on the Jack Parr show soon, and he said no because the sponsor wouldn't let him. Mmmm....wonder what that's about?
Then we had a little scare from LAX to ORD. After take off and the seat belt sign was off, there was a loud bang that sounded like it came from the cargo compartment. I was working the back, and the girl up front came back and said the cockpit door flew open and they asked if there was any smoke in the cabin. Then later, before we landed, one of the girls was in the cockpit and the F/O said maybe we blew a tire and asked the Engineer how much fuel we had. She left the cockpit with her heart pounding after hearing all this, and came back and told us. The girl I was working with and I started reviewing the emergency procedures in our book. She wanted to check the slide by the galley door, and pulled it out too far. The pin snapped and the slide started coming out! Well, I almost died. The little hole the pin goes into is so small - and we had to stuff it back in....somehow! Well, we got it in, but then we weren't sure it would even inflate if we did have an evacuation! So I had to tell the engineer to have it repacked in ORD, which caused a delay! I was so embarrassed, but the dumb girl didn't want to be the one to tell them. I told that girl not to pull it out too far, but she wanted to see the whole thing. Stupid! To top it off, she had broken some glasses and all the tiny pieces still were on the floor, so when I was kneeling on the floor trying to get the slide in, and she was just standing there saying "oh no, oh no!", I ran both of my stockings and they were my last pair. Each run was about an inch wide. I don't want to fly with that girl again.
Well, I am so glad I am over that Ken Boyle. I never will hook up with a motorcycle cop as long as I live. I just have to be sure I don't make any more illegal U-turns - ha ha. I talked to Larry today (Ken's best buddy) and he said Ken has moved. You'll probably have a fit - he moved out to a horse farm out at Swope Park. Larry said it's getting so bad, he comes to work with horse shit on his boots. I really laughed. Larry can make things sound so funny. He said at least he's occupied and he hasn't gone out with a girl once since our break-up.
Ron called me last Sat. and we talked. It seems like he took the hint of me not enjoying necking very much. (What???? and I'm telling my mother this????) He asked me if I was mad at him, so I went into explanation of how I am, etc. (This is hilarious to me.) I told him I wasn't "that kind of girl", and I got the same statement I've always had before in return. He said there weren't many girls like that, etc. I'm beginning to think this is a line as there certainly must be plenty more. (I'm shaking my head as I type this as I can hardly remember "that girl" who was 21 going on 22 years old.)
Love, Tish
Pan Am, the TV series, brought renewed interest in the glamour days of flying. I began my career with TWA in 1962. In those days, it was too expensive to call long distance calls, so, as a devoted daughter, I wrote letters to my mother. Unknown to me, she saved every letter and post card. Now I share these letters, and give you a peak into the the life of an airline hostess in an era when flying was considered glamorous. Welcome Aboard TWA!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
HAWAII ~ MY FIRST AIRLINE VACATION
Honolulu - April 21, 1963
Hilton Hawaiian Village
Dear Mother,
Well, we made it. Last night we still couldn't believe it. Now that we're up and see the sun, ocean and palms, we believe it. Our flight over was fabulous. Pan Am's pursers were great to us. Gave us two free drinks, first class menu, glasses and kidded around a lot. We are in a beach house. Our room is like a tea house with sliding doors onto a porch from which we can see the ocean. Jan and I are beside ourselves with excitement. Spent a lot of time on the beach today. Jan got burned, but I'm turning black. Met a real native named Ike. - he's a beach boy - and he brought us some pork from the luau the hotel was having. Wish you could See it here - it's so beautiful.
April 23, 1963
Dear Mother,
Our purser friend from Pan Am called and we had breakfast with him and then went shopping at Waikiki. I bought my first mumu - Suzy Wong type. I sat on the beach next to Lloyd Bridges, star of "Sea Hunt" he was with his wife and two darling little boys and a daughter. (The little boys, of course, were Beau and Jeff Bridges!)
April 24, 1963
Dear Mother,
We're at the airport waiting to go to Kauai on Hawaiian Airlines. Last night we had a lizard in our room - only about 3" long, but we were petrified. Finally called the desk and they sent up a boy with a broom. It was hysterical. He was afraid of it too and stood on a chair. We about split our sides laughing.
April 26, 1963
Dear Mother,
We're going back to HNL today. We met a couple from SFO by the pool and got acquainted. They invited us to tour the island with them yesterday. They rented a car and we had so much fun. They were really nice to us - been married 12 years - no children. We enjoyed our day very much. Picked wild flowers, saw caves and beaches that were impossible to describe. At one place we took a long narrow walk through a "rain forest" and there was a cave with ferns draping over it like a curtain and a native sang the Hawaiian Wedding Song. I'll never forget this as long as I live.
April 28, 1963
Dear Mother,
Saw Joan Crawford today in the lobby. Wonder who she was with? Yesterday I tripped on a rock by a palm tree here at the hotel. It really hurt my little toe - so much in fact, that I went to the hotel doctor and he said I fractured it. So I have all 4 of my toes on my right foot wrapped in tape and I limp. This cost me $10.00 which is worse. I don't know why TWA didn't teach me to be a little more graceful.
April 29, 1963
Dear Mother,
We were awakened by hotel security today. He had to check up on my little accident. He had to have the whole story. They said it wasn't broken, just torn ligaments, or something like that. I had to sign two papers and settled for a check for $25. So, I made $15 richer! Yippee! (Read the next letter for the bad news!)
May 4, 1963
Dear Mother,
Well I could hardly stand to have my heels on to get home from HNL the pain in my toe is still so bad. Didn't notice it was that bad until I tried to put on shoes. It still hurt a lot after I got home so I went to the TWA doctor and they x-rayed it and it is broken in two places. I had to go off schedule and can't work for about two weeks or more because I cannot wear shoes! Also, I don't have any sick time saved so I am loosing so much money. I can't believe I signed that paper with the Hilton Hotel. I could have been compensated for all this, but they told me it wasn't broken and I signed the papers. I will never do anything like that again without having an x-ray. Now I will be broke again. Oh well, that's a lesson learned.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
1963 ~ BOMB IN A BRIEFCASE? ` BOWLING BY DESI'S ` BUSHELS OF ORANGES AND GRAPEFRUITS LEFT BEHIND?
February 25, 1963
Dear Mother,
Our flight was routine except we had a little excitement before we took off. One of the last men to get on the plane went back to the lav with a briefcase. He stayed in there a few minutes and then came out. I was the only one who saw him and told Diane. (She was my roommate and there were just two of us on this plane.) The door had just shut so Diane went up to tell the captain. They already started the engines, and immediately the flight engineer came back and searched all the containers in the lav. Then they shut off the engines, pushed the stairs back up and three agents came on and searched the lav inside and out. I was the first one to go in there right after the man came out and I was sure I smelled liquor. But later, there wasn't any smell and the agents left and they shut the door. The man stopped Dianne and said he had important papers in his brief case and had to keep it with him at all times. He said that one other time he went in the lav with his brief case and the same thing happened. Later, he stopped Diane again and said he took his "important papers" out and put them in his pocket. Can you imagine? How stupid. All he was doing was drinking and I'm sure his "important papers" was a bottle or flask.
So, that's the newest and latest news.
Love, Tish
February 19, 1963
Dear Mother,
Well, one year ago today was my first day of training. I can't believe how time has flown. Yet, I can look at it as you do...it seems like ages since I lived at home and worked at Chicago Rawhide. Pretty soon it will be a year we've lived at 438 W. 62nd St.
I've got so much to catch up on with you that I hardly know where to begin. My date the other night turned out as I thought ~ he was a fink. He was nice, but far from my type. He's about 4 inches shorter than me and I felt like his mother. We went to the show and saw "Two For the See Saw" with Shirley Mclain and Robert Mitchum. After that, we went to the top of the Hilton for a few drinks and danced ~ which really made me feel funny. Hope he doesn't call again.
Friday I flew with Bob Reid again and the F/O was Gordon Macintosh. Gordon was based in ORD for 5 years and knows Kathleen. We went bowling in DAY and my legs still ache. (Dayton, Ohio - stayed at a little motel we called "Desi's" because that was the woman's name who ran it or owned it...Large lady who was always sitting at a desk which was where we "checked in". She would open the desk drawer and it was filled with cash. Oh, those simple days of long ago. Next door was a bowling alley and we always went bowling and drank beer when we had a long enough DAY layover.)
I would really like to talk to you but I figured out my phone bill and it came to $19.00! Ugh! Can't afford to call. I bet your phone bill is staggering. My paycheck was only $68.00 this week because of my personal time off. (This was a two week paycheck!) My expense check on the 25th won't be much because last month I was off sick and didn't fly much.
I'm enclosing stamps that were on the newspapers you sent me. They weren't cancelled.
More later.
Love, Tish
This is one flight I will never forget. Crew consisted of three guys in cockpit and two hostesses. We left for a three day trip - went "non-routine" and came home six days later. We had a layover in Miami and we all bought huge bags of oranges and grapefruits. We were supposed to fly from MIA back to KC. However, due to bad weather and delays, our three day trip turned into six days of dragging bushel bags of oranges and grapefruits around the country.
March 7, 1963
Dear Mother,
I made it home ~ finally. We'll never forget this flight. We had 32:14 flying hours and 124 expense hours. Let me tell you, we sure got attached to the crew. Thank God we had a decent group or we would have been out of our minds! But being with the same men for 6 days is really different. Their wives were at the airport to meet them. I'm sure they wanted to look us over to be sure we weren't "hussy" looking, if you know what I mean. It made me feel funny because they really stared at us.
Tuesday night went went out for dinner in DCA at a fabulous seafood place. We had such fun! After that, we went to a "drinking establishment" and danced. These fellas were an absolute scream! They carried us across Pennsylvania Ave. at 2:00 a.m. because it was raining and the street was full of puddles. I laughed until my stomach ached. (Well, it's no wonder their wives were worried. They were probably calling their rooms past midnight and not getting an answer and imagining all kinds of things.)
Of course, once again, we didn't get much sleep. (Gosh! I was mor of a partyer than I remember!) Because we were non-routine, we didn't know when we would leave DCA. Just after getting to our room, our Capt. called at 2:30 a.m. and told us he got word we were going out at 06:30. And not out of DCA but BAL! My hair was so dirty and grubby and we were pooped! But, we were glad to know we were going home.
This last day was a long one. We had to get up at 05:45 and take a cab to BAL (Baltimore, MD) to get the flight. The weather was terrible. It was so foggy you couldn't see a block in front of you and it was pouring rain. We didn't put the people on because it was too foggy to take off. After 45 min. the fog lifted so we loaded. We left the ramp and were warming up the engines (prop plane) and the cockpit got word that DCA - where we were landing - was below limits. So we sat at the end of the runway for an hour. I was up in the cockpit most of the time listening to jokes. Finally we took off and landed in DCA (finally!), then STL and we got back home at 4:30.
We got the oranges and grapefruits home o.k. It was so funny. I'll never laugh so hard again. We stored the them in the ramp office in DCA, thinking, of course, that we would be leaving out of DCA. But, they had us leaving out of BAL, and becasue we knew we were stopping back in DCA, we didn't take the bags with us in the cab to BAL - there wouldn't have been room anyway! So we left them there and were going to pick them up when we landed from BAL. Well, when the weather was bad in DCA, we were afraid we'd have to overfly it. Ed (the Captain) said we couldn't overfly and we would wait until it cleared if we had to wait 24 hours ~ we were not going to leave those bags of oranges and grapefruit after lugging them all over the country. That was hysterical! We were picturing all the ramp guys and agents eating our oranges and grapefruits.
I sliced and cut up three of them for the crew after we took off from DCA and even put a cherry on each of them (you taught me that!) They ordered their coffee and I surprised them taking the grapefruit up too. They couldn't get over how thoughtful that was. Dianne and I sure got some nice compliments from Ed. He said he had only been flying 3 months as Captain but had never had 2 hostesses that did as good a job. He had told me Saturday that I was a "real hostess" and I knew how to keep people happy. He said some girls don't know how to handle people from their ass (that's an exact quote.) (I can't believe I wrote this to my mother!)He gave me all those compliments after he had been in the cabin with me on the last day. I had several wings for him to sign and was holding the sweetest little boy I had ever seen. His name was Michael and he was a blonde headed blue eyed little doll. His father and mother were very good looking - both very nice and sharply dressed. (Everyone was sharply dressed in '63, I wonder what made them exceptional to me?) I wanted to take him home with home with me. Not bragging or anything, but I know I am doing a good job and some days are better than others. I can always tell when I've done my work well ~ I feel so satisfied and happy. (Gosh! I loved my job so much!)
Well, that's it for now.
Love, Tish
Dear Mother,
Our flight was routine except we had a little excitement before we took off. One of the last men to get on the plane went back to the lav with a briefcase. He stayed in there a few minutes and then came out. I was the only one who saw him and told Diane. (She was my roommate and there were just two of us on this plane.) The door had just shut so Diane went up to tell the captain. They already started the engines, and immediately the flight engineer came back and searched all the containers in the lav. Then they shut off the engines, pushed the stairs back up and three agents came on and searched the lav inside and out. I was the first one to go in there right after the man came out and I was sure I smelled liquor. But later, there wasn't any smell and the agents left and they shut the door. The man stopped Dianne and said he had important papers in his brief case and had to keep it with him at all times. He said that one other time he went in the lav with his brief case and the same thing happened. Later, he stopped Diane again and said he took his "important papers" out and put them in his pocket. Can you imagine? How stupid. All he was doing was drinking and I'm sure his "important papers" was a bottle or flask.
So, that's the newest and latest news.
Love, Tish
February 19, 1963
Dear Mother,
Well, one year ago today was my first day of training. I can't believe how time has flown. Yet, I can look at it as you do...it seems like ages since I lived at home and worked at Chicago Rawhide. Pretty soon it will be a year we've lived at 438 W. 62nd St.
I've got so much to catch up on with you that I hardly know where to begin. My date the other night turned out as I thought ~ he was a fink. He was nice, but far from my type. He's about 4 inches shorter than me and I felt like his mother. We went to the show and saw "Two For the See Saw" with Shirley Mclain and Robert Mitchum. After that, we went to the top of the Hilton for a few drinks and danced ~ which really made me feel funny. Hope he doesn't call again.
Friday I flew with Bob Reid again and the F/O was Gordon Macintosh. Gordon was based in ORD for 5 years and knows Kathleen. We went bowling in DAY and my legs still ache. (Dayton, Ohio - stayed at a little motel we called "Desi's" because that was the woman's name who ran it or owned it...Large lady who was always sitting at a desk which was where we "checked in". She would open the desk drawer and it was filled with cash. Oh, those simple days of long ago. Next door was a bowling alley and we always went bowling and drank beer when we had a long enough DAY layover.)
I would really like to talk to you but I figured out my phone bill and it came to $19.00! Ugh! Can't afford to call. I bet your phone bill is staggering. My paycheck was only $68.00 this week because of my personal time off. (This was a two week paycheck!) My expense check on the 25th won't be much because last month I was off sick and didn't fly much.
I'm enclosing stamps that were on the newspapers you sent me. They weren't cancelled.
More later.
Love, Tish
This is one flight I will never forget. Crew consisted of three guys in cockpit and two hostesses. We left for a three day trip - went "non-routine" and came home six days later. We had a layover in Miami and we all bought huge bags of oranges and grapefruits. We were supposed to fly from MIA back to KC. However, due to bad weather and delays, our three day trip turned into six days of dragging bushel bags of oranges and grapefruits around the country.
March 7, 1963
Dear Mother,
I made it home ~ finally. We'll never forget this flight. We had 32:14 flying hours and 124 expense hours. Let me tell you, we sure got attached to the crew. Thank God we had a decent group or we would have been out of our minds! But being with the same men for 6 days is really different. Their wives were at the airport to meet them. I'm sure they wanted to look us over to be sure we weren't "hussy" looking, if you know what I mean. It made me feel funny because they really stared at us.
Tuesday night went went out for dinner in DCA at a fabulous seafood place. We had such fun! After that, we went to a "drinking establishment" and danced. These fellas were an absolute scream! They carried us across Pennsylvania Ave. at 2:00 a.m. because it was raining and the street was full of puddles. I laughed until my stomach ached. (Well, it's no wonder their wives were worried. They were probably calling their rooms past midnight and not getting an answer and imagining all kinds of things.)
Of course, once again, we didn't get much sleep. (Gosh! I was mor of a partyer than I remember!) Because we were non-routine, we didn't know when we would leave DCA. Just after getting to our room, our Capt. called at 2:30 a.m. and told us he got word we were going out at 06:30. And not out of DCA but BAL! My hair was so dirty and grubby and we were pooped! But, we were glad to know we were going home.
This last day was a long one. We had to get up at 05:45 and take a cab to BAL (Baltimore, MD) to get the flight. The weather was terrible. It was so foggy you couldn't see a block in front of you and it was pouring rain. We didn't put the people on because it was too foggy to take off. After 45 min. the fog lifted so we loaded. We left the ramp and were warming up the engines (prop plane) and the cockpit got word that DCA - where we were landing - was below limits. So we sat at the end of the runway for an hour. I was up in the cockpit most of the time listening to jokes. Finally we took off and landed in DCA (finally!), then STL and we got back home at 4:30.
We got the oranges and grapefruits home o.k. It was so funny. I'll never laugh so hard again. We stored the them in the ramp office in DCA, thinking, of course, that we would be leaving out of DCA. But, they had us leaving out of BAL, and becasue we knew we were stopping back in DCA, we didn't take the bags with us in the cab to BAL - there wouldn't have been room anyway! So we left them there and were going to pick them up when we landed from BAL. Well, when the weather was bad in DCA, we were afraid we'd have to overfly it. Ed (the Captain) said we couldn't overfly and we would wait until it cleared if we had to wait 24 hours ~ we were not going to leave those bags of oranges and grapefruit after lugging them all over the country. That was hysterical! We were picturing all the ramp guys and agents eating our oranges and grapefruits.
I sliced and cut up three of them for the crew after we took off from DCA and even put a cherry on each of them (you taught me that!) They ordered their coffee and I surprised them taking the grapefruit up too. They couldn't get over how thoughtful that was. Dianne and I sure got some nice compliments from Ed. He said he had only been flying 3 months as Captain but had never had 2 hostesses that did as good a job. He had told me Saturday that I was a "real hostess" and I knew how to keep people happy. He said some girls don't know how to handle people from their ass (that's an exact quote.) (I can't believe I wrote this to my mother!)He gave me all those compliments after he had been in the cabin with me on the last day. I had several wings for him to sign and was holding the sweetest little boy I had ever seen. His name was Michael and he was a blonde headed blue eyed little doll. His father and mother were very good looking - both very nice and sharply dressed. (Everyone was sharply dressed in '63, I wonder what made them exceptional to me?) I wanted to take him home with home with me. Not bragging or anything, but I know I am doing a good job and some days are better than others. I can always tell when I've done my work well ~ I feel so satisfied and happy. (Gosh! I loved my job so much!)
Well, that's it for now.
Love, Tish
Monday, March 26, 2012
I'm Baaaaaaaaaaack!!!
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