1965 and 1968 American Airlines Ads: Objectifying Stewardesses

The text:

"Please keep stealing our stewardesses. Within two years most of our stewardesses will leave us for other men. This isn't surprising. A girl who can smile for 5 1/2 hours is hard to find. Not to mention a wife who can remember what 124 people want for dinner. (And tell you all about meteorology and jets, if that's what you're looking for in a woman.) But these are not the things that brought on our problem. It's the kind of girl we hire. Being beautiful just isn't enough. (We don't mean it isn't important. We just mean it isn't enough.) So if there's one thing we look for, it's girls who like people. And you can't do that and then tell them not to like people too much. All you can do is put a new wing on your stewardess college to keep up with the demand."

Dorotha found this here.


NEW: Copyranter put up another vintage airline ad. This one, from 1968, positions the stewardess as your mother instead of your kidnapped bride... although she doesn't look very motherly to me:

The text reads:

Think of her as your mother.
She only wants what’s best for you.
A cool drink. A good dinner. A soft pillow and a warm blanket.
This is not just maternal instinct. It’s the result of the longest Stewardess training in the industry.
Training in service, not just a beauty course.
Service, after all, is what makes professional travelers prefer American.
And makes new travelers want to keep on flying with us.
Se we see that every passenger gets the same professional
treatment.
That’s the American Way

Fly the American Way
American Airlines