When Typewriters Were 'Standard Equipment' for Airline Passengers
I've carried an Olivetti portable typewriter on to many a DC3 flight, in New Zealand in the mid-1960s, and I've flown in and out of Cincinnati with typewriters. But sadly I've ever been on a flight on which typewriters were "standard equipment". If it had been 1954, and a DC7, maybe I'd have had the chance. So much has changed in 65 years. Nowadays, fellow passengers wouldn't let you use one! This advertisement appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer on April 21, 1954:
4 comments:
I wonder how many passengers actually typed while flying.
I note that the ad says "an" Olivetti is standard equipment, which I take to mean that there's one on board that you must be the first to ask for.
How wonderful! Maybe it was available only in first class ...
I had no idea. Even if there was only one, I wonder how many people vied for it. I wonder too whether there was a special seat for its use. But then, back in 1954, people smoked on airplanes - so maybe the sound of a typewriter was considered an acceptable irritant (to those for whom typing was not music to their ears).
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