30 Historical Photos of Flight Attendants That Show How Much the Job Has Changed

For the past century, travelers have relied on flight attendants to usher them across the globe. But almost everything else about the profession (and the iconic uniforms that accompany) has changed since it's advent. All you have to do is look at historical flight attendant photos to see the transformation.

The very first flight attendants were men, usually the sons of airline financiers known as "cabin boys," according to Society Pages. But in the 1930s, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum noted that that women nurses became flight attendants, tasked with keeping passengers safe and attending to those who became air sick. War time followed, causing men in aviation to enroll in the army, leaving the positions widely available to women. Then came the "Golden Age" of the 1950s and 1960s, when flight attendants were considered among the most glamorous and fashionable women of their time. Even still, flight attendants could be fired for gaining weight or getting married. Thankfully, that changed due to a series of lawsuits in the late'70s and early-'80s, and in the 1990s, the flight attendant's job began to look much like how we know it today. Here's a visual history of the illustrious profession.

The first "stewardess" was a 25-year-old registered nurse named Ellen Church, according to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. She was hired by United Airlines in May of 1930, and is credited with convincing the airline that nurses should be employed as flight attendants.

Following Church's lead, nurses were hired by many airlines as the first fleet of female flight attendants. This strategy was used to make passengers feel safe, since many still considered flying dangerous.

In Europe, Candor Airlines was the first to employ a stewardess. A Swissair stewardess stands in front of a Condor aircraft at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin in 1934.

The profession was one of the few in the United States that permitted women. Women rapidly replaced male stewards, and by the mid-1930s, women dominated the field, according to this 1937 report by Time.

Trainee flight attendants graduate from the American Airlines Stewardess College in Chicago in 1939.

Joan Waltermire, an instructor at the American Airlines Stewardess College in 1941.

An early fleet of flight attendants holds hands in front of a large twin propeller commercial airplane.

The 1950s ushered in the "Golden Age of Travel." Commercial air travel became more accessible to the public, and altogether more luxurious for the rich and famous.

The commercial air travel boom of the 1950s was not unique to the United States. Here, Nigerian prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa greets stewardess Christina Twsela after the inaugural flight of the West African Airline Company.

In-flight meals became common (and more elaborate) in the Golden Age, replacing the frozen foods and minimal variety of earlier years, according to the Washington Post. Here, a pair of flight attendants serves refreshments on a Japan Air Lines flight from San Francisco to Tokyo.

In 1958, Ruth Carol Taylor became the first Black flight attendant in the United States, according to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Her first flight was aboard a Mohawk Airlines flight from Ithaca to New York City. She was fired six months later due to a common marriage ban.

A trio of Scandinavian Airlines System flight attendants sight-seeing during a layover in New York City in 1958.

Marian Tagawa, a Pan American Airways flight attendant in 1955. Ms. Tagawa, 21, was a San Francisco secretary before she decided on a flying career.

As commercial flight became more fashionable, so did the flight attendant uniform. In 1962, Air France unveiled their new uniforms designed by Marc Bohan of Christian Dior.

In the 60s, flight attendants (and their uniforms) became the face of the airlines.

Some uniforms were more avant-garde than others. This uniform, designed by Emilio Pucci for Braniff International Airways in 1965, was complete with a space-like helmet of transparent plastic. The helmet was designed to shield the flight attendants from wind and rain on the tarmac, according to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

This Cristóbal Balenciaga design was another couture uniform commissioned by AirFrance in the 1960s.

Through the 1970s, some airlines pushed the uniform boundaries and exploited their employees. Flight attendants with Southwest Airlines had to wear hot pants and leather boots. The airline's motto was "sex sells seats."

National Airlines stewardess Janet Heinz models a synthetic tigerskin coat and hat in the airlines' new "uniform that purrs."

Utilitarian uniforms became the status quo again in the 1980s — and have largely remained that way ever since. Also, the name stewardess was largely replaced with the more gender-neutral "flight attendant."

A group of flight attendants receive their wings from Aer Lingus in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin in 1988.

A German flight attendant serving caviar to guests in 1990. Throughout the '80s and into the '90s, more men started to become flight attendants.

Cathay Pacific flight attendants modeling the airline's new uniforms.

Virgin Atlantic flight attendant Lisa Leeson on her first day on the job.

Flight attendants from All Nippon Airways introduce the Pokemon Jet in June 1999 at Tokyo International Airport. The jet design was selected as the winner from the airline's Pokemon design contest.

A flight attendant passing snacks to passengers on September 6, 2001. After 9/11, flight attendant training became much more expansive, with rigorous safety protocols and personal defense, according to NPR.

A flight attendant preparing her service cart on board an AirFrance flight.

A Qatar Airways cabin crew aboard their new Airbus A319CJ business jet.

An American Airlines flight attendant with his crew baggage during a layover at Dallas Fort Worth airport.

An Etihad Airways flight attendant passing out global newspapers aboard a flight from Washington D.C. to Abu Dhabi

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