Tag: Retro Travel

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Awesome New Coffee Table Book: '800 Views of Airports'

January 8, 2013 at 1:14 PM | by | Comments (0)

It's a little too late to make any holiday wish lists, but the new photo book 800 Views of Airports belongs on your coffee table if you're reading this.

It's a glossy tome of 408 pages, all presenting the photography work of Swiss duo Peter Fischli & David Weiss who, for more than 25 years, snapped photos of the airports wrapped up in their travels. Plane spotters before "plane spotters" was a term, Fischli & Weiss often focus on the long-haul aircraft but also turn their lens towards the tarmac activities of ground support vehicles and orange-vested airport employees.

The official publisher description gets a bit flowery: "Whether presenting a Lufthansa airplane sitting idle in a yellowy light, a Swiss Air plane waiting in a neon-haunted dusk or an Air France plane getting its belly filled in the dead of night, Fischli and Weiss's images present the evanescence of any national identity when reduced to a symbol on a vertical stabilizer."

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In 1956, Computer Technology Belonged in an Airplane's Cargo Hold

January 7, 2013 at 10:48 AM | by | Comments (0)

Last night, by an open-air fire pit in Palm Springs, we met a man who had lost his lighter. He had owned it for 32 years, a present from an ex-girlfriend, he said. Sure, he later found it had slipped underneath his drivers seat, but still it got us to thinking. Here's a basic accessory of function—a lighter—and, next to us, our iPhone on which we basically run our lives. How many years does the latter last? Two? If we're lucky.

All of this leads us to show you the photo above, which has made its way around the internet this past week as it does about once a year. It's an incredible image that falls in the annals of both technology and aviation history as it's a 5MB hard drive being loaded onto a Pan Am plane in 1956. it weighs one ton.

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Five Awesome Retro Travel Ads for New Zealand

December 14, 2012 at 11:16 AM | by | Comment (1)

Yesterday we showcased the vintage travel ads of Australia and now we will jump across the 'ditch' and show you five of our favorite ads from the golden years of travel in New Zealand. Just like Australia, New Zealand is far away from many things and it takes a good amount of travel and time to get anywhere. Wanderlust may even run more rampant on the small islands of NZ, as the constant dreaming of far off lands is pretty common.

Before Air New Zealand went super creative with their marketing, most of their ads were all about showing the pristine beauty of the virtually untouched nature and its native Maori heritage. Keeping true to the South Pacific location, while offering passengers lamb for dinner and sheepskin covered first class seats.

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Five Awesome Retro Travel Ads for Australia

Where: Australia
December 13, 2012 at 10:53 AM | by | Comments (0)

We often find ourselves rummaging through boxes in antique shops with an eye out for vintage travel ads or memorabilia. Heck, it's even fun to browse through some replicas of vintage posters just to peek back into time and see how tourism was actually portrayed and marketed. In all honesty, this may be a little obsession of our own.

Australians have always been an adventurous bunch, probably because they are so freaking far from everywhere else and it takes getting on a plane to see anything outside of the nation. As for the continent itself, Australia has been the destination for beach-goers and surfers for many years and it's not a surprise to see the beach culture embraced in travel ads.

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An In-Flight Drink Gone Nearly Extinct: The 'Lufthansa Cocktail'

November 30, 2012 at 7:29 PM | by | Comments (0)

It's been far too long since we last named an "in-flight cocktail of the month," but there's a good reason for that. You see, airlines just don't offer all the libations they once did, and a prime example of this is the classic Lufthansa Cocktail.

Though the Orange-Apricot liquor of 12 ingredients was once served to passengers onboard Lufthansa flights decades ago (sometimes even in cute mini bottles), the Lufthansa Cocktail is now so extremely rare that it can only be had in two ways:

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Air France Yesterday and Today, in Video

Where: France
November 12, 2012 at 9:17 AM | by | Comments (2)

Happy Monday! We have recently stumbled upon a video that left us gazing into the computer screen with longing while exposing a terrible case of wanderlust. Perhaps you have spent the weekend traveling or are looking forward to an upcoming journey/Thanksgiving jaunt; either way, we think you will enjoy this Air France video as much as we do.

It begins with arrival at the airport, Paris-Charles de Gaulle in this instance, and navigates through check-in, boarding and in-flight luxuries. What makes the tiny film so unique is the juxtaposition of the retro with current AF cabins, products and aircraft.

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Concordes and Jumbos and the Worldport, Oh My.

Where: JFK International Airport [map], New York, NY, United States
October 9, 2012 at 6:26 PM | by | Comments (2)


Terminal 7 -- British Airways, with a single Concorde

Okay okay. We'll admit that we've been having a bit of a love affair with the history of JFK Airport lately. In all fairness, we've also had spells with Singapore-Changi and Amsterdam-Schiphol, but there's just something about JFK...

Maybe it's the sleek design of the TWA Flight Center or the fact it was one of the coolest places to be in all of New York City for a time, but we can't get enough.

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Inside the Iconic TWA Flight Center at New York's JFK Airport (Again)

Where: JFK International Airport [map], New York, NY, United States
October 8, 2012 at 11:32 AM | by | Comments (0)

Off limits. That's sadly how we know the TWA Flight Center at New York's JFK Airport today. No flights fly from it, no passengers check in beneath its departures board, and no cocktails are pushed across the bar of the Lisbon Lounge...any longer.

Unless you're renting out the entire space for a big-budget event or photoshoot (as Banana Republic recently did for their fall/winter 2012 ads), there's no way inside...with the exception of one day when the Flight Center is opened, for free, to the public during the openhousenewyork (OHNY) festival.

This last weekend may have been the 10th anniversary of OHNY, but it's only the second year the TWA Flight Center has participated. The first year obviously went well enough as they extended the hours for 2012, which nicely thinned the crowd to make for ideal photography and a mood that approached conviviality. To put it simply, it just seemed like everyone was truly enjoying being there.

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Get Inside JFK Airport's TWA Flight Center for One Day This Fall

Where: JFK International Airport [map], New York, NY, United States
August 22, 2012 at 4:10 PM | by | Comments (0)

YESSSSSSSSS. Please commence with the exuberant jumping around (we have) as it was just announced that the TWA Flight Center at New York's JFK Airport will again be open to the public for one day this coming fall: Sunday, October 7.

The reason? The 10th annual openhousenewyork festival (OHNY), a weekend event that flings open private doors to showcase typically hidden gems of the city. Last year was the very first instance of the TWA Flight Center welcoming hoards of the curious and, even better, access was free!

The ohny newsletter noted this year's good news, but further information is minimal. Here's what it said:

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Chicago's O'Hare Airport (and Air Traffic Control) of 1963, in Video

August 16, 2012 at 10:15 AM | by | Comments (0)

It's Thursday! That means...it's almost almost the weekend, right? And we can spend half an hour distracted by a video from 1963 showing Chicago-O'Hare and United Airlines in all their Mad Men historic glory?

The video below circulated 'round the Twitter #avgeeks yesterday, but it's so delicious that we can't not share it here as well.

We won't spoil it all for you, but here are some things to take notice of:
· The airport at the very beginning, from which the helicopter departs. It's Meigs Field!
· Drooling over that TWA SuperJet livery
· So. many. men. in hats. · "You know, it's hard to believe but last year in this country, there were more than 26 million take-offs and landings handled by air traffic controllers."
· Nice mild Chicago accent on that United co-pilot

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An 'Airline-Inspired' Chair Made for Your Living Room

August 8, 2012 at 7:03 AM | by | Comments (0)

An extra $2,000 or so can’t get you your own airplane, but it might just be able to get you your own airplane seat—kind of. We’ve had our eyes on some aviation-inspired seating surfaces in the past, but now we just spotted a brand new option. We’re not totally sold on this one just yet, but if you’re looking to get us something for the holidays we’re certainly not going to turn one down.

The Flight Recliner won’t be heading anywhere at 35,000-feet in the air, but it will be making its way into living rooms and offices across the globe. Designed by Jeffrey Bernett—he designed some seats for Northwest Airlines—the chair is now on sale for a cool $1,759.50 from Design Within Reach.

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Today, the First Day of the Jet Age

August 7, 2012 at 11:53 AM | by | Comments (0)

While it's true that the birthplace of aviation is the state of Ohio, the birth of the jet age happened on the other end of the country, in Seattle, WA when, 57 years ago today, the public got a first glimpse of Boeing's 367-80 (the "Dash-80" for short), the prototype plane which would become the 707.

While purists will point out that it was actually BOAC (the precursor to today's British Airways) who had the first commercial jetliner with their de Havilland Comet, the Boeing 707 was far more successful (and less crashy). So, we return to that day that stunned the public—August 7, 1955 at the Seafair Gold Cup Hydroplane Race.

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