The golden era of passenger aircraft (20 photos)

Once upon a time of flying was fun, comfortable and glamorous. This was before the passengers began searching, before people had to curl up in a knot to sit comfortably in a chair, and before it had to pay for everything - from drinks on board to carry-on baggage. Let's take a look at the photos from the heyday of air travel.

1. All things are relative. Passengers aircraft in the 60s did not even know how lucky they were and how comfortable they fly. In the photo: the passengers «Braniff» in 1967 enjoying personal space, sipping coffee and reading magazines. (Bettmann / Corbis)



2. Passengers on board «Boeing Stratocruiser». This two-storey plane was equipped with beds and a VIP-room with a bar. So many flights were turned into a pleasant journey. (Bettmann / Corbis)



3. Captain LL Tris with two stewardesses goes to the rest room after a quick trip from Chicago to Washington. (Bettmann / Corbis)



4. Flight attendants were allowed to look into the passenger cockpit. (Bettmann / Corbis)



5. This is a copy of the first cabin in the US in 1956. Flight attendants pose in the plane «Boeing Jet Stratoliner» on 98 seats, which had air conditioning, water, stoves, refrigerators, reading light and emergency exits. (Bettmann / Corbis)



6. Girl smiling flight attendant on an airplane somewhere in the 1945-1955 years. (Bettmann / Corbis)



7. Flight attendants in uniform. (Underwood & Underwood / Corbis)



8. Passengers «Air France» enjoy delicious delicacies and a friendly smile flight attendants. (Corbis / Bettmann)



9. A pair of passengers enjoying the solitude and pleasant service in a private plane cockpit in the 40's. (Pictorial Parade, Archive Photos / Getty Images)



10. The flight attendant helps the pilot to descend the ladder from the plane in France. (Gaston Paris / Getty Images)



11. Children on chairs that can be converted and turn in bed during a fantastic flight in 1948, during which they brought breakfast in bed. (Bettmann / Corbis)



12. Stewardesses «Western Airlines» work out maintenance on each other in an aircraft training center in Los Angeles. Flight attendants were trained to walk carefully in this part of the plane with a tray of food, but do not waste time on it. (Bettmann / Corbis)



13. Marilyn Monroe on the ladder of the aircraft «American Airlines» in New York on his way to Hollywood in 1956. (Bettmann / Corbis)



14. Pat Boone and his family says goodbye to New York, climbing aboard the plane that will take them home - in Hollywood. (Bettmann / Corbis)



15. Frank Sinatra looks pleased after landing at London airport in 1956. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection / Corbis)



16. Rock Hudson out of the plane in New York with Ann Blyth on their hands in 1952. (Bettmann / Corbis)



17. In 1950 a team of professional baseball players had to use airplanes after the strike of railway workers. Photo: Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto of «Yankees» playing cards while waiting for takeoff. (Bettmann / Corbis)



18. Hugh Hefner with Cynthia Maddox (near and on the cover of his magazine) on board the plane from Chicago to New York for a party of Ella Fitzgerald. (Bettmann / Corbis)



19. Audrey Hepburn with a 7-month-old son, Sean is sent to Rome to meet with then then-husband Mel Ferrer, Audrey. (Bettmann / Corbis)



20. Advertisement 1950s, in which the husband says goodbye to his wife and child before you get on a plane on a business trip. (PoodlesRock / Corbis)