In the Beginning

Ha! Not the beginning in Biblical terms....but in the beginning of my aviation career and my interest in,airplanes and airlines.

In 1968 I decided that I wanted to be a stewardess (the term flight attendant had not yet been coined). I was 21 and working in the mall, the Cherry Hill Mall in New Jersey. It just did not get any more boring than that! I think I was selling kitchen stuff....dish towels, soup spoons and the like. I started reading the want ads in the Philadelphia Inquirer, religously every Sunday. Pan American World Airways was holding interviews in Philadelphia but they required a second language...cross that one off. TWA was also interviewing in Philadelphia, I read the requirements and it appeared that I qualified....so I went to a group interview. Not knowing what to expect, wet behind the ears and expecting to be blindsided by this kind of interview I figured my nerves would get the best of me. But on round one they didn't!

Stewardessess in uniforms stood in from of about 40 girls and told them exactly what flying for TWA would be like, the training in Kansas City, the opportunity to travel the world, and the vomit comet! Yep, they talked about the barf bag brigade on a flight with only trainees where the pilots put the aircraft through sharp turns in an effort to further inform the trainees of what to expect in turbulence. Then there were one on one interviews, those selected for a second interview were give a "Welcome Aboard" packet and asked to return the next day. I received the packet, but did not return the next day. Leave it to my mother, she talked me out of the return interview. She believed that I should find a husband, perhaps at church or even an older man at the cemetery, marry and raise a family! She insisted that I would not like being away from New Jersey!

I am guessing I merely chickened out and that my mothers words had nothing to do with my decision.

Six months later I applied at TWA again and took the second interview (this was held at their reservations center in Philadelphia)...I had to take a Spanish test, I missed some questions so I did not get through to training.

Oh well, there were other airlines and I was not about to give up.

Several months later I applied to Piedmont Airlines of Winston Salem NC. Why on earth would this Jersey Girl want to head to the deep south and fly on "puddle jumpers"? Oh no, there was a guy involved in my decision. Yup, he was the cousin of my brother's wife, his name was Lester! And Lester lived in NC. oh how very smart I was at 21!

October 1968 found me in Winston Salem in training with Piedmont Airlines, I hated it!

My room mate, Joanne, was from Murfreesboro, TN, and my study partner, Anne was from Charleston, WV. I was the only Yankee.....and the first one to join Piedmont training! Training in the late 60's consisted of big hair, eyebrow plucking, girdle wearing and over-the-top make up! Our make up class was conducted by the woman from the make up counter at the local drug store!

We were trained on the Martin 404, FH227, YS11 and the 737. We had navy knit mini dresses with black boots and a rainbow stripe briefcase! The uniforms were nice, but they just did not compare to the mod uniforms being introduced by airlines like Eastern, United and Delta, or the oh so fab uniforms from Braniff!