Finding aid for the Pacific Southwest Airlines flight attendant photograph album 7128
Bo Doub -- with many of the collection's notes adapted from the seller: Between the Covers Rare Books, Inc.
USC Libraries Special Collections
2022 April
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089-0189
specol@usc.edu
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: Pacific Southwest Airlines flight attendant photograph album
Identifier/Call Number: 7128
Physical Description:
0.75 Linear Feet
1 box
Date: 1973
Abstract: A photograph album compiled by a flight attendant working for Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) in the 1970s. The photographs
are uncaptioned but some feature the year and month in the negative: October through December of 1973. The woman, who is unnamed,
is repeatedly shown alongside a consistent group of fellow attendants, each clad in period uniforms comprising short, bright
pink and orange miniskirts, sometimes accompanied by pink hotpants and paired with red go-go boots. PSA was known for their
vivid, eye-catching uniforms, this iteration of which was created by Barbara Owens, a San Diego based uniform designer. Most
of the photographs in the album show the cabin crew during off hours, traveling on empty aircrafts and having a good time
-- when taking such pictures would have been permitted. Other photographs show the women at hotels and restaurants during
layovers, still uniformed, and a few portray the PSA hostesses servicing the cabin, particularly during a costumed flight
for Halloween.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: 1
A photograph album compiled by a flight attendant working for Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) in the 1970s. The photographs
are uncaptioned but some feature the year and month in the negative: October through December of 1973. The woman, who is unnamed,
is repeatedly shown alongside a consistent group of fellow attendants, each clad in period uniforms comprising short, bright
pink and orange miniskirts, sometimes accompanied by pink hotpants and paired with red go-go boots. PSA was known for their
vivid, eye-catching uniforms, this iteration of which was created by Barbara Owens, a San Diego based uniform designer. Most
of the photographs in the album show the cabin crew during off hours, traveling on empty aircrafts and having a good time
-- when taking such pictures would have been permitted. Other photographs show the women at hotels and restaurants during
layovers, still uniformed, and a few portray the PSA hostesses servicing the cabin, particularly during a costumed flight
for Halloween.
Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), founded in 1949 by Kenneth Friedkin with a single leased DC-3, became known as the "World's
Friendliest Airline," and became one of the first American budget airlines. PSA's fare prices--which undercut competitors
by as much as 50 percent--along with their customer service, quickly gave the company a foothold in the golden age of air
travel. In the 1960s, large smiles were painted on the noses of the fleet, and airline employees were encouraged to engage
and joke with customers and coworkers alike. PSA had a policy of only hiring traditionally attractive women, and deemed the
practice an integral part of the company's image. In 1969, PSA's director of stewardesses Nancy Marchand said that they hired
"so many pretty girls locally... that San Diego's 'supply'... was becoming depleted." In 1971 the National Organization for
Women (NOW) picketed against PSA and other airlines for the use of "stewardesses as sex objects."
This note was adapted from documentation from the immediate source of this acquisition: Between the Covers Rare Books, Inc.
Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special
Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
[Box/folder no. or item name], Pacific Southwest Airlines flight attendant photograph album, Collection no. 7128, Regional
History Collection, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Between the Covers Rare Books, Inc., March 22, 2022.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Flight attendants -- California -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Flight attendants -- Uniforms -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Nineteen seventies -- Archival resources
Photograph albums
Photographs
Pacific Southwest Airlines -- Photographs