151: Sex, Booze & Conspiracy Theories: The Dark History of Air Travel
57:29 Share

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Yes, and you know what that means. Turkey coma, pie, ooh I love pie, football, and for a lot of people, travel. Right? Now according to TSA, TSA, yeah, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after Thanksgiving are some of the busiest travel days of the year.

Congratulations, you did it. Personally, not a big fan of traveling, you know? Whenever I go through TSA, I'm always doing something wrong. I get yelled at. But I mean, that's just the price you pay to get somewhere quicker, you know? But it got me thinking, and I'm always thinking.

Has it always been like this? You know, because I've seen photos of people in the 60s having a lobster, smoking cigarettes on the plane. Flight attendants had these incredible outfits. The flight had like open bars, champagne was served and crystal glasses. Just, you know? But when I got to researching, I realized the old days of flying were not so romantic.

The captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign, so strap in and welcome to the dark history of air travel. Thank you so much. Sit down on the back. Sir, you need to sit down. Sir, we can't leave until you sit down. Sir, please get out of the aisle and sit down. Thank you so much. ♪

Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Here we believe history does not have to be boring. I mean, it might be tragic. Sometimes it's happy. But either way, it's our dark history. Now before we get into it, don't forget to like and subscribe because I'm always here posting new content. Yes, I am. And don't forget to let me know what you think. I love hearing from you guys in the comment section. Now let's get into it.

Look, do you remember learning about the Wright brothers from school? Well, let me tell you, if you don't remember. In 1903, the Wright brothers built and flew a small plane for about 12 seconds. Baby, listen, those 12 seconds changed everything. Because it proved to people we could fly.

Pretty incredible, honestly, right? For a while, like flying a plane was just for show, kind of like a circus act. You could like go see them at county fairs. They do spins and flips, which is like one person in the plane. And honestly, it was like the highlight of the show. But of

But of course, you know, big companies eventually see this as an opportunity to make money. And by 1914, the world's first ever commercial airplane took off in Florida. Yeah, 1914. That's a long time ago. Now listen, this airplane was actually called an air boat. Oh yeah. That's one of those old school planes with like an open seat and no roof. Kind of like a convertible.

Here's a picture, I'm sure. Now this airboat could only hold two people, the pilot and then a passenger, but this was still very exciting. Oh, and just a little heads up for you listeners, we're mainly talking about like commercial airplanes here, not like everything before that, okay? Go with me on this journey. So on January 1st, 1914, the first commercial flight was ready to take off.

and like a crowd, you know, they gathered to watch because they knew like they were going to be witnessing history. So the whole flight, it took only about 23 minutes from liftoff to landing. And it traveled about 18 miles going from St. Petersburg to Tampa. Now at the time, the only other way to get from St. Petersburg to Tampa was by train because it was separated by water.

Now the train ride, if you wanted to do that, it would take about 11 hours. So it wasn't ideal. 11 hours to 23 minutes? I mean, what are we time traveling? What is this? It's just people's brains were exploding. They just, what? Now with the airboat, it took less than half an hour. So people were like, you know, whoa.

This is a miracle. So this first flight was a success. And after this, the plane gets on a schedule and it would take off like four times a day and it would cost any future passengers around $5, which in today's money would be like $160. I know at first I was like, well, wow, that's not that bad. But this was actually like one fourth of the average person's monthly salary.

So at the time, so like if you really wanted to get on a plane, like it was a financial sacrifice. With the success of these short commercial plane trips, the airline industry was looking to expand. But then in July 1914, World War I broke out. Now all of the country's plane manufacturers focused their attention on helping out the military. I mean, nobody wanted war.

but it turned out to be a pretty good thing for planes. Because now like there was funding for the airline industry because engineers had to learn how to build like the best possible airplane for the government. And one of the people learning to build planes was a man named William, aka Bill, Boeing. Yeah, that Boeing. Yeah. Yeah.

I don't know about you guys, but sometimes I need a reminder to check in with my skin. Like, she's stressed. She's stressed. She's breaking out. But I just keep doing the same old routine. That was until I started using the sponsor of today's episode, Apostrophe. Now, if you do not know, Apostrophe is an online platform that connects you with your very own dermatology team.

Usually I spend way too long like guessing what products might work for me, but with Apostrophe I get access to experts who are ready to help customize my skincare concerns, my routine, whatever, and like make it right for me and my skin. Now all you have to do is fill out an online consultation about your skin goals and medical history, attach a couple selfies, and you're good to go.

Once you have your new skincare plan, Apostrophe even offers access to prescription treatments. I love how convenient Apostrophe is. Instead of running to the dermatologist's office or like going to the pharmacy, I get everything I need without having to leave the home. Okay. And then my new skincare arrives right to my door. I love that.

Apostrophe wants everyone to feel confident and love the skin they're in. We have a special deal for our audience. Get your first visit for only $5 at apostrophe.com slash dark history when you use our code dark history. That's a savings of $15 and this code is only available to our listeners. To get started, just go to apostrophe.com slash dark history and click get.

Get started. Then use our code DARKHISTORY at signup and you'll get your first visit for only $5. A big thank you to Apostory for sponsoring this episode. Now let's get back to the story. ♪

So Bill was born in 1881 and he was the first of eight children. Now his father was, I guess, very wealthy and he had his own logging and mining business. But when Bill was only nine years old, his dad had died from the flu, which was like sadly really common back then in the 1800s. So Bill, you know, he had a,

if he had to grow up pretty fast and help his mom raise his siblings. So Bill started college at the turn of the century, but he ended up not finishing. He left school to take up the family logging business. Now, after doing that for a few years, he's feeling kind of aimless, you know? Like he hasn't found his thing yet.

His passion, you know, my purpose. And then in 1909, his life totally changed. Bill randomly decides to go to a convention in Seattle. Now at the convention, there was like an airplane demonstration and Bill's like, "Yeah, you know, I'll watch." But as soon as he heard the plane's propellers and like watched the machine float up into the sky, like fricking magic,

His mind was just blown. Now he couldn't get this plane demonstration out of his head. So he goes to another convention in Los Angeles, but this time it was like mainly focused on airplanes. Allegedly he goes around and he's asking like every pilot that he meets if he can have a ride in their airplane. He's saying, please. And everyone says, no, you know, they're like, no, stop first. Bill is bummed.

But then he has a light bulb moment and he's like, wait a second, like I'm rich. I don't need you. You know, like whatever. He realizes like he doesn't need anyone to help him learn how to fly. He's like, I'm just going to do it myself. Most importantly, he was like, you know, he found his passion or whatever. So he's like, I'm going to make a name for myself in this airline industry.

He found his calling. Now Bill in his mind, he's like, I'm gonna make the best planes you've ever seen. So he uses the family money to start doing just that. He starts taking flying lessons. He buys planes from other companies and like takes them apart.

to like learn how they work. He tinkers. He's a tinker. Now this is all happening when Bill is like around 35. At this time, his airplane project, it couldn't just be a fun hobby, unfortunately. Like he needed to work for the government and help out with the war, like expected of him. So Bill gets like some government contracts and he starts his company, the Pacific Aero Products.

But eventually he decides like, eh, that name doesn't really slap. I should change it. So in 1917, Bill renamed the business Boeing Airplane Company.

I mean, pretty iconic, right? I don't think he was wrong. I mean, I think that's a way better name. After the war ended, the government didn't really need all these planes anymore. And like airplanes for everyday passengers were still, it was very rare. Like you weren't, you weren't really doing that. So the government started to sell off the planes that they were no longer using. But other than that, this company

It kind of seems like the end for the plane. There was no need for them. But by the mid 1920s, the boys in blue pulled through. And no, I don't mean the police. I mean the mail carriers.

Yeah. So the government decided to start using airplanes to ship mail cross country. Now, technically this began in 1918, but it wasn't until later that this like started to become more common. It had cost about 65 cents to send mail by airplane, which would be about like $15 to

But look, this literally saves air travel. So now all these companies start repairing old planes and building better ones to send everyone like their letters and their packages. And even though like the planes were improving, it was still considered pretty dangerous. Especially when it came to navigating. Imagine, close your eyes, go on this journey. You're flying an airplane. How do you know where you are? I don't know.

Where am I? I don't know. How did they know? I don't know. Most pilots, they would have to navigate using landmarks that they could see from the sky. Yeah, I don't know. Or they would use paper maps. And I was going to try and describe to you what these paper maps look like, but it's really hard to explain what they look like because I know you're imagining just like a normal paper map, but this was like, it was like on a scroll

It was a whole situation. It just wasn't ideal, but it's what they had. Now for a long time, there was like not really a way for the pilot to figure out exactly where they were. So it was kind of like, good luck. Good luck out there. Just look out for the Circle K, make a left at the Walmart,

And then you should see a blue house and I think you're there. Like that's how you got around, you know? In the late 1920s, some of these planes started to carry passengers instead of just mail. And at this time it was like only for the rich. So now it was like the average plane ticket would cost around $260. And if you want a little conversion in today's money, that would be about $5,000.

that's a lot right which um at the time was like half the cost of buying a brand new car could you imagine your brand new car for ten thousand dollars wow anyhow but okay so great they could do it if they wanted to but the experience

It was actually pretty uncomfortable. The planes at the time were not pressurized, meaning that they were not sealed against the outside air. And this meant that whatever the weather was like outside, that's what the inside of the plane felt like. So most of the time, because you're thousands of feet in the air, it's cold. It's colder than a witch's titty.

which rumor has it that's pretty cold. But passengers, you know, if you're gonna fly you'd have to like wear tons of layers of clothing to keep warm during the flight. So like guys would wear full-on wool suits and women would wear their fur coats. And like yeah it was inconvenient but you know

You know, it was also like a bit of a brag because you're getting to show off all their expensive clothes. The women are like, "Oh, might as well wear the pearls if I'm gonna be wearing the mink." So also at the time, windows, not fully sealed. This was a good thing because it allowed oxygen to come in so you wouldn't die. So it was kind of necessary. But it also meant that the planes couldn't go as high in the air because the higher up you fly, the thinner the air is and the less

You can breathe. And I guess when you're not high up, things can get bumpy. Okay, you think you experienced turbulence now. Back then, you're running into any storms and wind and like all sorts of weather, you know, because you're flying through it.

not above it. If you don't like flying, this is like the absolute nightmare. Now on top of all that, the plane itself didn't even hold that much fuel yet. So oftentimes they would have to stop to refuel before making it to their final destination. So at this point, air travel is just rich people paying to sit inside a tube made of wood and metal.

No AC, no heating, no oxygen flow. It's just a scary bumpy ride with lots of stops. It was freaky and dangerous and honestly, again, it seemed like this whole flying thing was just going to be like a passing fad. It wasn't gonna really be a thing. But then in 1930, a woman named Ellen Church would change the airline industry forever.

So flying around for the holidays, huh? Last year it got so crazy around here. I was arranging flights for Joan and the whole Crawford family. I mean, it was like chaos, huh?

Yes, they can fly on their own, but Joan's mother insists on flying on a plane. Now this year, I'm getting organized. I'm making a website with all the information the Crowfords need once they get to town. And I know, it sounds like it's going to be a ton of work, but it won't be thanks to the sponsor of today's episode, Squarespace. Squarespace is the all-in-one website platform to help you stand out and succeed online.

Whether you're just starting out or managing a growing brand, Squarespace makes it easy to create a great website and engage your audience all in one place. All online.

on your terms. Squarespace makes designing your own site easy with their new cutting edge AI technology. Their design intelligence system helps you create a personalized website that suits your specific needs and it looks great doing it. Plus you can add something called acuity scheduling to your site. Normally it's there to help you accept client bookings and manage appointments. But for me, it's the perfect way to track when people are coming into town and when they're leaving.

We want to see each other during the holidays? Well, book it as an appointment. Squarespace also helps you manage email campaigns. You can set up automated emails to reach out to your subscribers and increase traffic to your website. And I can use it to remind everyone that they need to show up to dinner at 6:00 PM. Head to squarespace.com for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, squarespace.com/darkhistory to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

So in the late 1920s and early 1930s, there were no real airline attendants like today. It was like the co-pilot's job to look over the passengers. Now he was always a man, you know, he would help them get into their seats, put their bags away. And during the flight, if they needed assistance, the pilot would like leave the cockpit and help them with whatever they needed, which was super nice. But I'd be like, hey,

Didn't she have to fly the plane? You know, I don't know. It's kind of sketchy, but...

customer service was great back then, I guess. And yeah, you know, this was always a man. At this time, women were not allowed to work on these booby bouncer planes. Completely inappropriate. I say that because I was driving the other day. This is a side note. I was driving the other day and like there was this older gentleman who had a bumper sticker on his car that said booby bouncer. And I was like, oh, okay.

Anyways, so I had to use it because I thought it was funny. Kind of gross, but whatever. Good for that guy.

So booby bouncer, no women, no. But this is when Ellen Church enters the chat. Okay, so Ellen, she's born in like 1904 in Iowa and she was just a small town girl with like big dreams. She grew up right at the dawn of flying. And during the summer, like her favorite thing to do is to go to the local fair and watch the plane demonstrations. I mean, she's like, wow, you know, it's so cool. Ellen made it her life goal to one day fly a plane.

Problem though, was that Ellen was a woman. Yeah, and women don't fly planes. Sorry. I mean, Amelia Earhart, we know her, hopefully, yes. I mean, she wasn't even a household name yet, which side note, let me know, should we do an episode on Amelia Earhart?

Let me know down below. So instead, Ellen becomes a nurse, which is great, you know, but it's not exactly what she wants to do. Eventually, she moves to San Francisco to work at a hospital. And I guess one of the perks of being in San Francisco was that she could take flying lessons. The other perk of being in San Francisco?

That's where the Boeing headquarters was at. So one day in 1930, Ellen walks in and she asks for a job with their airline. Now, at first, the manager's like, no, women can't fly planes, you know? But then, according to the New York Times, Ellen says, quote, don't you think it would be a good psychology to have a woman up in the air? How is a man going to say he is afraid to fly when a woman is working on the plane? He's like, hmmm.

I don't know what he's thinking, but the manager thinks for a second and he's like, well, you know, we were gonna start hiring someone to take care of the passengers like they've done in Europe. So can you do that? And boom,

Ellen gets hired as a stewardess. She's pretty much creating this job right here. Now on top of that, they saw it beneficial to have her on board just in case there was an emergency and they needed her medical skills. 'Cause she's a nurse, you know? So she was a stewardess/airplane nurse.

But there was a catch. Boeing tells Ellen she can only have the job if she finds seven other woman nurses to do it with her. Passengers were getting motion sickness and many were just nervous, right? So they thought, they thought it would bring comfort to have a mother-like figure on the plane. You know, it'd be adding a sense of security to the people. Plus again, if there was an emergency, nurse.

Now, I don't know how Ellen finds seven other women on like short notice, but she does. Okay. And I mean, she was determined. So Boeing tells her that this is probably just temporary, you know, that they would try this idea out for like three months, see how it goes.

And you know, I'm not making any promises. So Ellen agrees and she gets her crew together. And on May 15th, 1930, the eight women take off on their first flight from San Francisco to Chicago with one stop in Wyoming to refuel. Ooh, exciting. The flight would take just 20 hours to complete. That's it.

That's great. So during the flight, the woman would take care of the passengers. If they got sick, they would help them with the luggage and seating. They passed out food, which was usually a cold sandwich or maybe like some cold fried chicken, you know? I guess when the plane would stop to refuel the flight attendants, they would go like run to the nearest restaurant and grab food for the passengers. And like, yeah, sometimes it would be cold, but hey,

It was still food, you know? I mean, they were just, they were making it work. You know, I wish they would have like McDonald's on the flight. Why don't they do that? Like why doesn't McDonald's partner with the airlines? I just want fries when I'm flying, you know? I don't know. I always, I think about that. Like fast food companies, you think they would partner with airlines, right? No, okay, nevermind. I'm getting off track. That's not the point. Food is on planes. Another thing these women were responsible for

while keeping people in their seats. And no, I'm not talking about making sure they didn't walk around. Apparently there was so much turbulence on these planes, people's seats would come unscrewed all the time.

So, you know, the woman had to make sure that the seats were screwed down into the plane at all times. So I guess they'd be walking around with some extra screws just in case. Anyways, these ladies, they really proved themselves during this temporary trial. Ellen and the other women realized

really did make passengers feel better and they just had like a better experience. Now the pilot, they were like depending on these stewardesses in order to have a, you know, a smooth flight, everything go.

smoothly and according to plan. So other American airlines decided to copy Boeing and add their own full-time stewardess. And then another war rolled around. And just like with the last war, well, if you don't know, it's World War II, okay? It comes. Just like the last war,

now there were even more like advancements in airplane technology. So they made like better planes and stuff to fight in the war. And that really created the opportunity for more commercial flights to be better and more advanced. The time from around 1940 to about 1960, this became known as the golden age of flying. Golden age.

If you're listening on the podcast, I'm wearing a golden airplane pin. They always dress up. So I got a pin. Shut up. Anyways, look. Okay, golden age of flying. Great. We love that. But there was still... There was still room for improvement, you could say. Because airlines...

Yeah, okay, they're flying, that's great. But like, they didn't know how to entertain passengers because it was just like a long, boring flight and they didn't have any stimulation, just sitting there farting. Like there was nothing, it was just like, they needed something to do. So they were brainstorming. So some companies decided to put art

on the walls inside of the plane, which is so funny to me. I mean, that probably even helped the rich people feel even more bushy. They're like, "I'm on a plane and in a museum. Is that the Mona Lisa? Oh, champagne, please."

You know, just fancy. It also became popular for a while to give passengers postcards to write while they flew, which is cute. I mean, the postcards would have an image of like the plane on it or a picture of the destination, like where they were going. So you're like, here, write something. Like the idea was to write to their loved ones. And then once you landed, you could mail it.

I'm not sure how well it did because I mean, I'm thinking over here that the postcards probably were written all shaky because of the turbulence. Like, dear mom, you know, but it's the thought that counts. I mean, other than that, you got art on the wall. You can write a postcard. Many would pass the time by lighting up their favorite cigarette or cigar.

You know, have a smoke while in the air. Oh, yes. The life of the rich and the glamorous. Secondhand smoke for everyone. God, it must have been stinky in there. Everyone's eyes are burning. You come out smelling your hair. You know when you're around a lot of smoke and your hair stinks and you're like, ugh, it's not a wash day. But now it has to be a wash day because my hair smells. You know? That's annoying. It's an inconvenience. Anywho, but everyone smoked.

Great. Looking at art, writing postcards. It was a good time. Still, flying was considered dangerous. The ride was bumpy. The food was cold. The air was smoky. I mean, besides getting to your destination quicker, you know, was there anything else that made people want to fly? Well, I'm glad you asked. The answer when we come back.

I'm guessing a lot of you are like me and had read more books as one of your 2024 resolutions. Well, if you're behind on reaching that goal, now is the best time to catch up with Audible. That's because Audible's best of 2024 picks are here. You don't have to waste time searching for the perfect audiobook because other listeners have found them for you. You can discover this year's top audiobooks, podcasts, and originals in all your favorite genres.

Anything from memoirs and sci-fi to mysteries and thrillers, Audible has a specially curated list for every category. Some of the top selections include a star-studded production of George Orwell's 1984. Oh yeah, it's like this whole production, listen. It's narrated by Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, and Tom Hardy.

Oh, I love Tom Hardy. And that's just three people of this cast list. Audible has so many audio books to choose from and the best of 2024 lists can help you narrow them down to find your new favorite. Audible, there's more to imagine when you listen. Go to audible.com/darkhistory and discover all the year's best waiting for you. A big reason why people loved flying so much was because

of the alcohol. I'm sure and like getting here to your destination is pretty cool and the fact that you're flying through the air it's pretty wild when you think about it. Sometimes when I'm on a plane, god I hate flying, I really do, I'll start thinking like oh my god I'm literally in the sky, in the air, and I'm not supposed to be here and then I spiral and then I usually have a panic attack and then you know what the flight attendants do?

If they see me, they can tell I'm having a panic attack and they'll be like, do you need something to drink? And I'm like, yeah. That's happened a couple times. They could see that I'm terrified. And they

They've given me free alcohol, which was really nice of them. I really appreciated that. Anyways, alcohol. Great. So at this point, airlines, they started to add open bars to the planes and it was encouraged to drink your way through the flight. So this way, if you've got to sit in a cold, shaky metal tube that stops constantly, at least you'll be relaxed and not care if the plane goes down in a fiery blaze. So people would get sloshed.

is what I'm getting at. Side note, is it? Kinda. Well, once airplanes were able to like heat the cabins, I guess flight attendants, they used to jack up the heat so that the drunk people would just pass out. And honestly, it was a great idea.

I don't know, you see all these TikToks and stuff of people acting all wild on airplanes and like being assholes. Were they like that back then? That's what I was trying to figure out. Or were they like drunk with manners? 'Cause people now are drunk and messy. Were they drunk and messy back then? Or were they drunk and classy? The research I should have looked up. But people were getting drunk. You get it, that's the point.

Flying was like one long happy hour. I mean, over in Germany they had, and they still have an airline called Lufthansa and they took happy hour to a whole new level. So in the sixties, you know,

they were trying to rehab their image after World War II, because if you were a German company, chances are you were still being associated with Nazis. Fair. So they wanted to rebrand a little. So they had their flight attendants dress up in those traditional beer maiden outfits, and they served special Oktoberfest beer. Kinda love that, right?

I don't know. So at this point, it seems like planes are becoming more accessible to everyday people. I mean, you still had to have money to fly, but it wasn't as expensive as it used to be. But

You know, that doesn't mean everyone was welcome. For people of color, flights were usually just, just as racist as being on the ground. They were usually made to sit in a different section of the plane than the white passengers. For example, if you were black and you tried to buy a plane ticket over the phone, companies train their employees to profile a person. And if the phone operator thought you were black,

they would put you on like a specific flight. That wasn't the only problem. The flight attendants, they could kick you off the plane for any reason at any point. Ella Fitzgerald, you know her, a world famous jazz singer, she actually had this happen to her. In 1954, she was flying from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia. She was on tour and she was like going to Australia to do a performance. Ella was black and the staff on the plane

They took note. The plane made a stop in Hawaii to get more fuel. So when they would get more fuel, the passengers would all have to get off of the plane. You would wait and then you would have to get back on. But when Ella and her and her crew went to get back on with everyone else, they specifically were not allowed. They're like, what the fuck? You know, the plane took off with everyone.

with their suitcases and everything and just left them there. Ella and her friends were left and stuck in Honolulu. After three long days, they finally got on a new flight and later they were told why this happened and the company Pan American said that it was just an accident. Now Ella clearly knew this was not a freaking accident. She would later sue the airline company Pan Am for discrimination and she would win the case.

Hell yeah. But, you know, this wasn't the norm for, like, non-celebrity people. You couldn't just go sue. Like, you know, it's not an easy process. So a lot of them would just, like, get left behind and that was it. It was a common practice for airlines to remove black passengers from flights if, like, a white passenger just...

wanted their seat for any reason. Pan Am or Pan American was considered the best airline from the 1940s to the 1970s. They were known for providing a luxurious service during flight. They literally marketed themselves as the world's most experienced airline.

So Pan Am was the first airline to ever offer, ever offer around the world service. So starting in 1947, they launched flights that stopped in major cities within North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and then back to America.

It was wild. But at this time, like their planes were, they were still running on a propeller system and these were like super loud and they were not very dependable. Then in the 1950s, jet planes were invented. So Pan Am started flying 707s and these were like the biggest planes in the sky at that time. These were huge, huge.

You ever look at a plane and you're like how does that thing fly? Like how does that heavy thing that weighs a bajillion pounds fly in the sky? None of it makes sense to me. None of it makes sense to me. Okay anyways but these were huge. Now the engines on these jet planes would get people to their destination way faster. And you know who like manufactured these planes? Boeing.

Yeah, Boeing manufactured like a ton of planes and then these other companies would like buy them like Pan Am, you know, and make it their plane. But like they're all pretty much Boeing. Boeing pretty much owns the freaking all the planes.

Okay, great. I'm glad we had that talk. So Pan Am starts advertising their super fast flights. They're like six and a half hours to London, seven hours to Paris. I mean, what? Before these flights easily would take like 14 hours and now they were half of the time. This was major.

time traveling. Plus, you know, these planes, they were, they were huge, right? So they would have these plush seats that would unfold into beds. They also had like full sleeping areas. There were dining rooms that would have tables with like the tablecloth

flowers on the table, full waiter service. It was like you're staying in a fancy hotel in the sky. The food was provided by four-star Parisian restaurants. You can get a four-course meal and champagne on your overnight flight to Europe. It was the height of luxury air travel. The flight attendants, they would wear these iconic designer blue uniforms.

Kind of like Joan over here. She's got a little uniform on. But they wore the little skirts with the suit jackets with the little cap, you know?

It's Britney Spears toxic. But at this time, the flight attendants, they were not just anyone. They had super strict rules to get and keep this job. One airline hired 3% of their applicants. And at the time, it was easier to get into Harvard than it was to get a job with this company. Airlines still wanted their flight attendants to be women,

This wasn't really because they wanted a mother-like figure on board to bring comfort and safety. They wanted women attendants to appeal to the male fliers. You know what I'm saying? Do you want a lobster with that, sir? These women, they had to have a certain sexy look.

And again, very strict rules. They had to be thin. They had to weigh less than 130 pounds. Had to be childless. Had to be unmarried. And had to be completely single. Now, as soon as any of these things changed, you would be let go. And once they hit like the ripe old age of 35, fired. Get out of here, grandma. Go.

According to them, I'm not calling you grandma. Airlines, I guess, would force them to enter early retirement, you know, to make room for hotter, younger flight attendants. Now, by the 1950s and 60s, there were lots of different airlines and competition was pretty stiff. The government actually controlled how much ticket prices were. So the airlines had to find other ways to be competitive.

And they chose to do it in part by advertising who had the hottest flight attendants. So some ads around this time would say things like, "Does your wife know you're flying with us?" "How do you like your stewardesses?" Or I would say like, "Mix business with pleasure."

Surrounded by like busty stewardesses holding like a tray of drinks. Sorry, that scared me. I'm sorry, girl. I was just trying to be hot. I ruined it. Okay, there we go. Sorry. Mixed business with pleasure. Do you want to fly Joan Eyre? You'll get one of us serving you your drinks. Maybe. I mean, that's a really good name. Joan Eyre because she's a bird.

We should get an airline company going. We got energy drinks, we can get an airline. Come on. Why am I thinking of all the good ideas around here? What are you bringing to the table besides your good looks, Joan? Or there's one from the 60s that has like a sexy flight attendant and she's staring deep into your soul. And the ad says like, well, it's kind of weird actually. It's like, think of her as your mother.

She only wants what's best for you. A cool drink, a good dinner, a soft pillow, and a warm blanket. Now could you imagine buying a ticket based off of that ad? That says a lot about you, sir. You know? I don't know. They kept, they mean like this mom comparison with like a sexy lady. It's like, are you saying like he will suddenly fuck his mom? But okay, I'm not judging.

Kinda. It's weird. Well, this is what they were doing, okay? So, most flight attendants, they would only keep their jobs for like a few years. I mean, the rules were hard to follow. And I mean, when they were done, they were probably relieved. Like, finally, I can eat a burrito and not be judged. Jeez. But underneath the billboards of sexy airplane rides, something shady was going on.

The beginning of holiday shopping sucks. You know, it's like where do you even start? You know, and with who? I don't know. That's why it's one of my favorite things when brands I already love help make holiday shopping easier. And that's exactly what happened when Skims launched their holiday shop. Personally, I love wearing Skims and now I can give them to everyone I love.

because they have something for everyone. Skims offers the cutest and most comfortable pajama sets that are perfect for warm and cozy holiday gifts. Personally, I'm all about the long sleeve button-up set. It's literally the perfect thing to wear while I lay in bed watching the latest true crime shows. They even come in a limited edition gingerbread print. They even have baby onesies so little ones can be just as comfy as the grownups.

Shop Skims Holiday Shop at Skims.com. Available in styles for women, men, kids, and even pets. If you haven't yet, be sure to let them know that I sent you. After you place your order, select podcast in the survey and select our show in the drop down menu that follows. It's dark history. That's what you're watching.

So at the end of the 70s, the government was less involved in regulating the prices of airlines. So a lot of new smaller airlines started to pop up, which meant that someone had to fail.

Throughout the 1980s and 90s, tons of airlines went out of business or were bought by larger companies. Pan Am tried to hold on by offering less extravagant services to keep up with modern times, but

They couldn't compete. In 1991, Pan Am flew its last flight ever. To many people, this was like a clear sign. The golden age of flying was definitely dead. As the industry moved into the 2000s, companies began to look for more ways to save money. And this is when things take a turn.

Because some of the main ways airlines chose to save money was to start charging customers more and to lower costs when it came to how the airplanes were made. Now in the early 2000s, according to Forbes, Boeing outsourced around 70% of their manufacturing to over 50 different companies. And while that isn't always a bad thing,

It can be when you're not doing it right. For Boeing, this was done primarily to make more planes and like to keep up with competition from another big airline. They're called Airbus. They're coming for Boeing. But look, according to like many industry reports, this has led to a drop in quality and a drop in quality can mean a drop in safety.

So starting in the late 2010s, and even now, people have noticed problems. I'm sure if you're on social media, you've seen some of these problems. In 2017, Boeing, they unveiled like a new, bigger design of its 737 planes. But not long after that, in 2018, one plane crashed into the ocean and killed everyone on board. It was like almost 200 people. This was not great.

really sad, really scary, really tragic. And then like the following year, there was another plane crash that like killed around 150 people on board. And remember that airplane that like went missing? There was some weird shit going down.

I know you've been paying attention. Now, when these crashes were investigated, it was revealed that mechanical errors made it difficult for the pilots to steer correctly. And worse, Boeing may have known about some of these errors. I have to watch my verbiage or I'll get sued. So, but like, you know, they may have known about these errors. Yeah, okay. And if they did know about these errors,

they didn't properly inform people or even really try to like fix the problems. Then in early 2024, Boeing planes just start breaking. In January of this year, the door to a plane broke off mid-flight. Did you see that? It was just like, I don't know, snapped off.

blew away it was like the wizard of oz when she's in the house and that tornado is coming and like the door get isn't it the door gets sucked off it's like that oh my god scary just scary i would be crying oh i hate flying anywho there were like issues with windows flying off wheels getting stuck engine stalling again you've probably seen the stories on social media and it kind of felt like it was a running joke like oh is it a boeing airplane you know super scary honestly

After this, there were more investigations done and some workers even started to come forward about suspicious activity that they had noticed when it came to building the planes.

Joshua Dean was a worker at the Boeing factory in Kansas. And in 2022, Joshua realized that some of the planes didn't have the right screws in the doors. Now, I'm sure you're aware because you have a brain, right? Like not having the right screws can lead to like

Potentially dangerous problems. But when he raised the flag to the higher ups, I guess he got ignored. Then in 2023, Joshua got fired for allegedly not noticing a different problem with the planes. I think they were just looking for a reason to fire him. That's just my opinion.

And so in return, Joshua, he sues. So in court, Joshua brings up the initial problems that he found and he brings the receipts. Okay. Now, less than a year later, he was proven right when the door of a newly built Boeing plane breaks off mid-flight. Now this starts to blow up online and people are like, hell yeah, a Boeing whistleblower. Like, what is this about? Let's hear him out. What's he got to say? What's going on?

But tragedy strikes in May 2024 when Joshua dies out of nowhere. Now the weird part was that it happened very quickly. Now his family described him as like a very healthy man in his 40s. He dieted, he exercised, he took care of himself. His wife said that like...

He rarely got sick. And in just a few weeks from mid April to early May, he was hospitalized. Now I guess he had severe infections and like lung problems and his health got worse and worse and then he died. They aqua-tafana him. Allegedly, in my opinion. Personally, I believe, maybe. Don't sue me. Oh, and then

And then a few months before, another ex-Boeing whistleblower named John Barnett also died. Did you see this one? I know you saw this one online too. He had been in a lawsuit against Boeing. And in the middle of the trial, John allegedly went out to his car, like in the parking lot and took his own life.

He like, I don't know if you saw it, but it was online. There was a letter that he wrote before he took his own life.

and it's bizarre, it's freaky. I don't know, the whole thing gives me the goosebumps. To many people who knew him, it seemed like this came out of nowhere, you know? And usually, to be fair, to be fair, like a lot of the times when somebody takes their own life, it can seem like it comes out of nowhere, so he may have just been struggling, but I think a lot of us just believe, you know, we just think like Boeing had some kind of part in there.

I bet you they were gonna do something dirty, like take all of his money, ruin his whole freaking life. I don't know. Or maybe not. Anywho, get back on track, really. Am I gonna get Boeinged? Add him to the list. We got Monsanto, Nestle, Boeing. Who else is coming after me? The Russians.

Stalin, the Stalin lovers. They were after me. Oh my God. The comment section was so crazy. The people who were roasting me about like, remember the fragrance episode? Don't even get me started. I'm on everyone's shit list. So again,

weird deaths. Many people were thinking that these deaths were a cover-up and like some disagree right? Some were like no you guys are being like crazy. Regardless the public has been talking and to many flying just doesn't seem as safe as it once was but like after this today's episode I don't think it ever really was safe. Like it's always been like just cross your fingers and

Hope it goes well. And look, like we haven't even really talked about the real flying experience for the average person, right? I mean, it's awful. You spend a few hundred dollars to get a ticket. Your bags cost extra. You're sweating. There's signs everywhere and you still don't know where to go. You're like, where do I go? What am I doing? What? Where am I? Is this the right place?

Whenever I go to the airport, the whole way I am questioning myself until I get to the gate. And then I'm like, okay, I did it somehow. I don't know how. Then you're crammed into a tiny seat for hours. You're going to climb over people to go to the bathroom and you feel like such a big inconvenience to their lives. Everyone on board is like grumpy, rude. Hmm.

Gassy, everyone's so gassy. You get a little cup of water and you're like, wow, thanks. And sometimes you get heated nuts if you're lucky. And for me, once that door shuts, I am praying the whole way there that that door doesn't break off or a window doesn't crack open when we're 30,000 feet in the air. This episode is bringing me lots of anxiety. But still, like all of that, it still seems better than a 20 hour train ride, I guess, you know?

Look, at the end of the day, none of this even matters. Because while we were talking to our expert for today's episode, he shared that scientists are predicting we're going to run out of fuel for airplanes in less than 100 years. That's right.

It's not like planes are, you know, like Teslas. We can't just swap out their jet fuel engines for electric engines. It's a cool idea. It's a cool thought. But like as of today, there isn't a path forward to flying planes without petrofuel. I guess Boeing and other companies are trying to create something called biofuel planes. Essentially, they would run on synthetic versions of fuel made out of

corn and other plants. But so far no one has come close to like figuring it out. So you know at the end of the day maybe I should just shut up and enjoy the plane while we have it. Huh? Because who knows what travel is going to look like in the future. Well

I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts because this episode left me with nothing but questions. And speaking of having nothing but questions, listen. I was doing some research on Italian history for a future episode and while I was doing that, I learned about these famous Italian opera singers. Now these opera singers were full-grown men, but they were able to get their voices to hit super high notes.

Like out of control. Angels. Wow. And it wasn't because of years of training. It was because these men had their balls cut off on purpose.

I know, I know, I was blown away too. It turns out though, the more I went down that rabbit hole, this was not a rare occurrence. Throughout history, thousands of men have had their full members removed to become something called a eunuch.

Sometimes it was for a specific career and other times it was a form of punishment. And we're going to get into all of the shocking details. If you would have told me like a year ago, I was going to be doing an episode on Unix, I would be like, what are you talking about? But here we are because it was way more interesting than I expected.

even imagined and I kind of feel like that's how all these episodes are it's always just a thought and then it's like holy crap that was a wild ride so join us next time for the dark history of Unix by the way we are dark next week so there won't be a new upload but we'll be back on December 4th with the Unix episode

Well, friends, thanks for hanging out with me today. You can join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. And while you're there, you can also catch my murder, mystery, and makeup. It's on Mondays. Don't forget to subscribe because I'm here all the time feeding you my baby birds.

with some knowledge and stories and interests. I love to hear you guys' reactions to today's story. Thoughts, feedback, suggestion? Well, make sure to leave a comment down below so I can see what you're saying. And your comment might even be featured in a future episode. Now, let's read a couple of comments that you guys have left me. Sarah Isser-san says,

Am I saying that right, Sarah? 54952, she left us a comment saying, "You're the best, Bailey and team. Please remain awesome and please give Joan something shiny for me." That's so sweet. I don't have anything shiny, but Sarah, thank you so much for the love. I could give you my pin. Now, Sarah, thank you so much for the love. Joan made me buy her a brand new outfit for this episode.

She's quite demanding, so I can't give her anything shiny. I can't spoil her too much. Her wardrobe is getting out of control. That's sweet, huh? It's always nice when you get recognized. You've got such a winning personality. People just love you. Poor Paul. Paul? Is your arm gone, Paul? Oh, no. Oh, okay. It's fine. It's still there, Paul. You're fine. Sorry about that. His arm's still here. Poor Paul.

JustCraig1000 left me a joke. Oh, I love a joke. What do sea monsters eat? Hmm, you know, hmm. What do sea monsters eat? You know, I don't know. Fish and ships. LOL, dad joke. That's funny. Hey, Craig. Not bad. Not bad. That was good.

Fish and ships. Spencer Grego left us an episode suggestion. Hi, Gorge. Hi.

I have an episode suggestion. The dark history of adoption might be interesting. I showed your channel to my girlfriend and now dark history is her favorite YouTube show. You entertain us and make us laugh a lot. Thank you. Also laughed out loud at the Lady Gaga reference. It's a reoccurring inside joke between us. Spencer. First of all, thank you. That was really nice of you to say. I really appreciate that. I love hearing that people like dark history. Yeah.

Because a lot of times... Listen, Spencer. A lot of times I'm sitting at home, right? And it's just me and bozos. And I'm talking...

to you guys and I forget like well sometimes I wonder like are people even listening I don't know like I don't know so it's always nice to hear that you guys like the episodes it means a lot and also great episode suggestion you know what's funny kind of been looking into this for a future episode so I think we're on the same brainwave

Also, I love being a part of Inside Jokes. Thank you for including me. I love you guys so much for watching and engaging. So keep commenting because maybe you'll be featured in a future episode.

And hey, if you don't know, Dark History is an Audioboom original. A special thank you to our expert, Guillaume Desion. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. I hope you have a good day. You make good choices. Be safe out there. And if you see me on the airplane, just know I'm dying inside. Talk to you guys later.