Both pilots and stewardesses were unionized under ALPA, the Air Line Pilots Association. Unions were associated with a blue-collar reputation, and therefore it was difficult to maintain membership in industries like airlines that considered themselves above “blue collar labor.” In order to recruit and retain members ALPA was disguised as an “association.”27 The rapid turnover in the stewardess workforce affected the ability of stewardesses to learn about and participate within the union for their advantage. The expected flight life of a stewardess was 18-months to three years, before her wings were clipped as she made her way down the aisle and to the marriage alter.28 Union representatives and former UAL stewardesses, Marty Caldwell, Celeste Lansdale, and Rachel Woodings all agreed, “We couldn’t keep stewardesses in the union long enough to make a difference.” 29
As the airline industry thrived through the 1950s, the job of a stewardess was still not viewed as a long–term career by the company, the public or even by the stewardess group themselves, who without much resistance followed “the rules,” quitting to get married and conforming to the “right” image. In UAL’s case, the occupation was marketed, treated, and maintained by the company as a short-term glamour position. By the early 1960s it was evident that American morals were changing and prude 1950s discretion was slipping away. Airline companies capitalized on this phenomenon, finding it profitable to sexually exploit stewardesses to sell the idea of flight, a difficult situation for the women who were invariably tied to the marketing strategies of their employer.30 National and Continental were perhaps the most brazen and offensive carriers during this era.31 UAL, a conservative company, attempted to maintain a more wholesome reputation during this era advertising the popular image of the “girl next door”32 to subtly sensualize flight. This was a strategy of caution, which made a public charge of discrimination difficult to motivate, and the subtleness of the message made it possible for UAL to maintain a tight grip on its discriminatory policies against stewardesses, while promoting a desired image. In a 1965 edition of Newsweek, Mark Wallace, UAL personnel manager, commented on the importance of image in recruitment standards, “Since a stewardess is an absolutely vital part of our image with the passenger, it is she who has to make him come away smiling, even when his steak was cold or had his martini served in a paper cup.”33 Stewardesses were the face of the airlines, the most accessible point of contact for all passengers; they left the lasting impressions on customers.
The initiative to sensualize flight traveled all the way to the changing uniform of UAL stewardesses. In the company publication, The Shield, UAL specifically addressed the dramatic change in attire, stating, “Girl-watchers can thank Jean-Louis for looking after their interests in designing his second complete ensemble for United.” The second ensemble introduced the “mini” and “midi” in the friendly skies.34 While stewardesses noted the difficulties they would encounter, evacuating planes in emergencies while holding down their minis, they requested the option to wear pants (a first for the industry). Jean Louis responded to their request, stating, “A great number of airline passengers are men, and men have what you call a psychological block against seeing women in pants.”35 By June of 1972, Jean Louis introduced pants, but added, “I prefer the legs!”36
As a result of sexy advertising, striking uniforms, and adventurous lifestyles, their passengers and the public viewed stewardesses as somewhat extraordinary. Some stewardesses reacted to their popular public image by writing books on their experiences, creating a new genre to enhance and explain their identity and culture. The genre was both uplifting and degrading and stands as testimony to public interest in the women who were chosen for this occupation. Former stewardess Elizabeth Rich recalls in her forward to Flying High, “Some people think I have the most glamorous job in the world. Others tell me I’m a glorified waitress. A surprised Englishman I sat next to at a dinner party gasped, ‘Why I’ve never met one socially before,’ while regarding me as if I were from outer space.37 Rich reinforced the uniqueness that the public bestowed upon these flying women. Perhaps better known, are the uninhibited memoirs of Trudy Baker and Rachel Jones expressed in Coffee, Tea or Me? Their book was a best seller, and proactively suggested that the lives of stewardesses straddled excitement and immorality. As one of the authors’ states, “No matter how we feel about dating married men, each of us ends up with at least one in our careers.”38 Stewardesses were additionally portrayed on film, many features were however pornographic. The words of a few, spoke for the image of the many, making the task of being taken seriously as a professional workforce, while gaining the support of the public during this intense period of objectification increasingly difficult.
It was largely believed, that there was an inherent contradiction between a woman’s ability to successfully manage a job and her household simultaneously. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s there were noticeable changes taking place in the population of employed women. By 1960, 24 million or 35 percent of American women ages 14 to 65 were working in the labor force and by 1970, women’s participation had increased to 44 percent of all women, surpassing the WWII rate, when 16 million had worked full time.39 In addition, the participation of white married women doubled from 21 percent of those married in 1950 to 32 percent in 1960 and to 41 percent in 1970.40 This highlights the trend of the dual life of the married woman, holding down her career as a wife and a mother while actively participating in the workforce. In 1957, Erwin D. Canam, editor of The Christian Science Monitor and chairman of the National Manpower Council, published a 371-page report detailing two years of study of workingwomen, “Womanpower.” The investigation demonstrated that women were increasingly taking on an important and larger role in the workforce.41 Although the language of the article remained sexist, using the term “ladies” who still planned to become “married,” the notion that the roles of women were expanding within the workforce and the changing climate of the workplace is significant, because it validated a permanent female presence.
27 “Flight Attendant History: The First Stewardess Union” Excerpts from Georgia Panter Neilsen’s From Sky Girl to Flight Attendant provided information for this article (Flight Log Volume 31 No.4, September/November 1993): 13.
28 Frank J. Taylor, High Horizons: Daredevil Flying Postman to Modern Magic Carpet – The United Air Lines Story. (New York: McGraw Hill, 1962): 195.
29Caldwell, Woodings, and Lansdale Interviews
30 “Remembering the Past Defining the Present and Shaping Our Future” Flight Log April/May, 1990 (p.5)
31 National Airlines (NAL) set in motion its “Fly Me, I’m Cheryl” campaign and Continental Airlines (CAL) followed in suit hiring Playboy bunnies to work certain flights and advertising with the slogan “We really move our tails for you.” (Flight Log April/May, 1990).
32 Georgia Panter Neilsen, From Sky Girl to Flight Attendant: Women and the Making of a Union. (New York: ILR Press Cornell University, 1982): 20
33 “Girls, Girls, Girls” Newsweek (March 29, 1965) 65:69
34 United Air Lines New Look [for 1973] Brochure (published 10/72) Brandell Papers
35 “Fashions for Flying” The Shield (June 1970, Volume 39, No.6): 7.
36 Contact, (May & June, 72).
37 Elizabeth Rich. Flying High. (New York: Bantam Books, 1970, 1971): Forward.
38 Trudy Baker and Rachel Jones. Coffee, Tea or Me? (New York: Bantam Books, 1968): 140
39 Blanche Linden-Ward and Carol Hurd Green. American Women in the 1960s Changing the Future. (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993): 91.
40 Ibid., 91.
41 “The Women Have It” “Womanpower” Columbia University Press. Employment, Newsweek, 49:93 March 18, 1957.
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