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As ABC's new fall show "Pan Am" takes off to solid ratings, it begs the question how much of the 1960s period drama is made for TV versus the reality of life as a flight crew during the “golden age” of travel.
Thanks to Nevada County's proximity to San Francisco International Airport — a gateway to the South Pacific and Asia for the airline — there are quite a few former and retired Pan Am employees in the area.
Three of those women gathered at the Nevada City home of Ruby June Wilhem recently to discuss their experiences as stewardess, which spanned four decades and six continents.
The get-together had the ambiance of a family reunion, despite the fact that Carin Brooks and Monique Hanson had just met Wilhem that day. Within minutes of arriving, all three women had their Pan Am flight training group photos out to share, comparing uniform and hair styles of the three different decades.
After a short while it became clear why ABC would choose a period drama about an airline — from the international intrigue to its place in history and the bond forged among those who spend long spans of time traversing the world together — there are plenty of stories to tell.
“It was a big deal to fly (back then). We were very fortunate to work in those times,” said Brooks, whose career most closely resembled the era of the show.
Brooks was hired by Pan Am from her native Sweden in 1968. She was based out of Washington, D.C., and San Francisco during her 18-year career with the company.
Much like the show, a stewardess' presentation was important. Hair had to be neatly styled and above the collar, women were not permitted to wear colored nail polish and there were restrictions on weight, height and even marriage. Each generation of flight crews experienced different policies.
Wilhem was surprised listening to Brooks and Hanson talk about their restrictions because when she was hired in 1951, the airline didn't seem to enforce the policies as much. She did, however, have to quit in 1957 when she got married, because in those days stewardesses were not allowed to be married or divorced, she said.
They were also not allowed to be taller than 5 feet, 7 inches, she said. That restriction lessened by the 1960s, when 5-foot-10 Brooks joined, although she did admit to noticing a tape measure on the wall at her interview and fudging her height a bit.
Pan Am had weight limits determined by a person's height. No colored nail polish was allowed and the uniform was always skirts until the early 1970s, the women said. As the culture evolved into a more progressive world for women in the 1960s and 1970s, so did their restrictions.
Pan Am hired only professional men and women who would complement its “polished” image, they said. That included more than aesthetics. Women had to have a minimum of two years in college or business experience and speak at least two languages. Stewardesses did more than just hand out peanuts back then. They were chefs, emergency medical personnel and leaders, keeping the peace on lengthy trans-ocean flights with hundreds of passengers.
“We were well rounded,” Hanson said.
Hanson was hired by Pan Am in 1978 when she was in her mid-20s. But her experience goes back much farther. Both her parents worked for the company. Her father was a senior vice president, who helped establish many of the international destinations. She spent her childhood flying around the world, even helping flight crews with passengers.
“It was a very revered job to be a Pan Am stewardess,” Hanson said.
Both Hanson and Brooks said becoming a stewardess was all they ever wanted to do, which is why they applied. For Wilhem, it was a desire to travel after her graduation from the University of Texas.
“I was just a skinny little kid from West Texas and as green as they come, when Pam Am hired me,” Wilhem said.
She used to joke with her roommates that the airline didn't have to pay her, Wilhem added.
Working for an international airline back then presented wonderful opportunities to visit beautiful, exotic locales, along with historic cities. Fiji flights were nice, Brooks and Hanson said, because there was an automatic four-day layover due to flight schedules. Mechanicals, the bane of most passengers, were great if it happened in Rome or Paris, where they could spend three or four extra days exploring and shopping.
All three women agree that stewardess' are good at shopping.
The experiences also created a bond among crew members, the women remember fondly. You could get on a flight not knowing any other crew member and be friends by the time you departed, Brooks said.
“I miss that,” she said. “The family bond.”
It is a bond formed from close proximity, like minds and experiences good and bad. As international stewardesses, they had a front seat to many historical events. For Wilhem, whose flights from her Miami base took her to South America in the 1950s, there was a lot of instability in the countries she flew to and fro.
One time, she recalls, she went into town during a layover to do some shopping. The store closed up and locked its doors while she was still inside. Apparently there was a revolution going on down the street.
Hanson and Brooks dealt with bomb scares during the 1980s. They were even trained to sweep the airplane for bombs before passengers boarded. One actually found a bomb under the pilot's chair in the cockpit, they said.
Hanson flew often to Europe and the Middle East and is grateful to this day for remaining unharmed during her career. She was one of the last to evacuate Tehran, Iran, in the 1980s when war broke out with Iraq. In 1983, her flight out of Manila International Airport in the Philippines left just 10 minutes before Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated while departing his flight in returning to the country from exile.
“I had angels taking care of me,” Hanson said. “It was a frightening period in the early '80s.”
When the subject lands on the infamous Lockerbie flight, all three briefly fell silent for the first time all afternoon. The Clipper Maid of the Seas was in flight from London to New York in December 1988, when it exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people on the plane and in the town.
The aircraft, Hanson says, was one of her favorites. Both she and Brooks knew crew members on board.
Only two of the women have viewed the show on ABC. While they acknowledge the creative license taken with the show (pilots were much older back then, more like father-figures, they say), they relish the opportunity to shine a light on the reality of their experiences with Pam Am and the amazing life it provided.
Both Hanson and Brooks, for example, were among the first few flights into China. They experienced the communist country just as it was opening its doors to the West. Wilhem helped transport one of the first babies from Japan to be adopted by an American couple.
Pam Am ceased operations in December 1991. Although the airline is gone, women like Brooks, Hanson and Wilhelm keep the memories alive.
In 1996, longtime Nevada County resident Gene Dunning published a book titled “Voices of My Peers: Clipper Memories,” which Hanson helped edit. The book highlights stories from other Pam Am employees, who, like Dunning wanted “to keep the memories alive for their children and grandchildren” and, according to the book's forward, “to show that Pam Am is worth remembering and will never be forgotten.”
Brett Bentley is a freelance writer who lives in Grass Valley.
Thanks to Nevada County's proximity to San Francisco International Airport — a gateway to the South Pacific and Asia for the airline — there are quite a few former and retired Pan Am employees in the area.
Three of those women gathered at the Nevada City home of Ruby June Wilhem recently to discuss their experiences as stewardess, which spanned four decades and six continents.
The get-together had the ambiance of a family reunion, despite the fact that Carin Brooks and Monique Hanson had just met Wilhem that day. Within minutes of arriving, all three women had their Pan Am flight training group photos out to share, comparing uniform and hair styles of the three different decades.
After a short while it became clear why ABC would choose a period drama about an airline — from the international intrigue to its place in history and the bond forged among those who spend long spans of time traversing the world together — there are plenty of stories to tell.
“It was a big deal to fly (back then). We were very fortunate to work in those times,” said Brooks, whose career most closely resembled the era of the show.
Brooks was hired by Pan Am from her native Sweden in 1968. She was based out of Washington, D.C., and San Francisco during her 18-year career with the company.
Much like the show, a stewardess' presentation was important. Hair had to be neatly styled and above the collar, women were not permitted to wear colored nail polish and there were restrictions on weight, height and even marriage. Each generation of flight crews experienced different policies.
Wilhem was surprised listening to Brooks and Hanson talk about their restrictions because when she was hired in 1951, the airline didn't seem to enforce the policies as much. She did, however, have to quit in 1957 when she got married, because in those days stewardesses were not allowed to be married or divorced, she said.
They were also not allowed to be taller than 5 feet, 7 inches, she said. That restriction lessened by the 1960s, when 5-foot-10 Brooks joined, although she did admit to noticing a tape measure on the wall at her interview and fudging her height a bit.
Pan Am had weight limits determined by a person's height. No colored nail polish was allowed and the uniform was always skirts until the early 1970s, the women said. As the culture evolved into a more progressive world for women in the 1960s and 1970s, so did their restrictions.
Pan Am hired only professional men and women who would complement its “polished” image, they said. That included more than aesthetics. Women had to have a minimum of two years in college or business experience and speak at least two languages. Stewardesses did more than just hand out peanuts back then. They were chefs, emergency medical personnel and leaders, keeping the peace on lengthy trans-ocean flights with hundreds of passengers.
“We were well rounded,” Hanson said.
Hanson was hired by Pan Am in 1978 when she was in her mid-20s. But her experience goes back much farther. Both her parents worked for the company. Her father was a senior vice president, who helped establish many of the international destinations. She spent her childhood flying around the world, even helping flight crews with passengers.
“It was a very revered job to be a Pan Am stewardess,” Hanson said.
Both Hanson and Brooks said becoming a stewardess was all they ever wanted to do, which is why they applied. For Wilhem, it was a desire to travel after her graduation from the University of Texas.
“I was just a skinny little kid from West Texas and as green as they come, when Pam Am hired me,” Wilhem said.
She used to joke with her roommates that the airline didn't have to pay her, Wilhem added.
Working for an international airline back then presented wonderful opportunities to visit beautiful, exotic locales, along with historic cities. Fiji flights were nice, Brooks and Hanson said, because there was an automatic four-day layover due to flight schedules. Mechanicals, the bane of most passengers, were great if it happened in Rome or Paris, where they could spend three or four extra days exploring and shopping.
All three women agree that stewardess' are good at shopping.
The experiences also created a bond among crew members, the women remember fondly. You could get on a flight not knowing any other crew member and be friends by the time you departed, Brooks said.
“I miss that,” she said. “The family bond.”
It is a bond formed from close proximity, like minds and experiences good and bad. As international stewardesses, they had a front seat to many historical events. For Wilhem, whose flights from her Miami base took her to South America in the 1950s, there was a lot of instability in the countries she flew to and fro.
One time, she recalls, she went into town during a layover to do some shopping. The store closed up and locked its doors while she was still inside. Apparently there was a revolution going on down the street.
Hanson and Brooks dealt with bomb scares during the 1980s. They were even trained to sweep the airplane for bombs before passengers boarded. One actually found a bomb under the pilot's chair in the cockpit, they said.
Hanson flew often to Europe and the Middle East and is grateful to this day for remaining unharmed during her career. She was one of the last to evacuate Tehran, Iran, in the 1980s when war broke out with Iraq. In 1983, her flight out of Manila International Airport in the Philippines left just 10 minutes before Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated while departing his flight in returning to the country from exile.
“I had angels taking care of me,” Hanson said. “It was a frightening period in the early '80s.”
When the subject lands on the infamous Lockerbie flight, all three briefly fell silent for the first time all afternoon. The Clipper Maid of the Seas was in flight from London to New York in December 1988, when it exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people on the plane and in the town.
The aircraft, Hanson says, was one of her favorites. Both she and Brooks knew crew members on board.
Only two of the women have viewed the show on ABC. While they acknowledge the creative license taken with the show (pilots were much older back then, more like father-figures, they say), they relish the opportunity to shine a light on the reality of their experiences with Pam Am and the amazing life it provided.
Both Hanson and Brooks, for example, were among the first few flights into China. They experienced the communist country just as it was opening its doors to the West. Wilhem helped transport one of the first babies from Japan to be adopted by an American couple.
Pam Am ceased operations in December 1991. Although the airline is gone, women like Brooks, Hanson and Wilhelm keep the memories alive.
In 1996, longtime Nevada County resident Gene Dunning published a book titled “Voices of My Peers: Clipper Memories,” which Hanson helped edit. The book highlights stories from other Pam Am employees, who, like Dunning wanted “to keep the memories alive for their children and grandchildren” and, according to the book's forward, “to show that Pam Am is worth remembering and will never be forgotten.”
Brett Bentley is a freelance writer who lives in Grass Valley.
