Scandinavian Airlines (or simply SAS), was founded in 1951, when three Scandinavian transatlantic airlines merged. In the late 1950s, SAS was the first airline to offer round the world service over the North Pole via the North Pole shortcut Copenhagen – Anchorage – Tokyo. This “polar express” became popular with Hollywood celebrities and production people travelling to Europe. SAS entered the jet age in 1959 when its first jet aircraft, the Caravelle, entered service. They did not opt for the Boeing 707 like so many other airlines.
In 1958, the 23-year-old Swedish SAS stewardess, Birgitta Lindman (seen above), landed the cover of LIFE magazine’s special jet issue about airlines. She beat hostesses from 53 other airlines. In ABC’s television show Pan Am, the voluptuous Laura gets to be on the LIFE magazine cover.
In 1971, SAS put its first Boeing 747 jumbo jet into service, a massive airplane that proved to be way too oversized for the small Scandinavian market of travelers during that period.
(Thanks Mike Klarmeyer for the photos)
By Chris
February 22nd, 2012
On the show this week, Koop Kooper talk to Sydney lounge act the Acca Daiquiris, meet the inspiration for Mad Men character Don Draper. There is also an interesting JFK story and Swank advice on what not to email about the workplace.
By Chris
February 19th, 2012
Ultra Swank takes you back in time into the kitsch, chic and swank living of the 50s, 60s and the 70s. We mainly focus on the design, architecture and the lifestyle of the happy-go-lucky and space-age-living mentality of that era – but also on the music and movies that takes you back to happier times. Ultra Swank is run by Chris, a Swede born in the wrong decade that currently resides in Barcelona. Read more
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The weekend is around the corner and what could be a better start to it than some evening seduction? Paul Dupont and his Orchestra takes us on a steamy and sensual journey through what looks like clips from a kitschy 1960s Franco-Italian movie. For more lounge videos check out Soft Tempo Lounge on Youtube. What do you daydream about today?
By Chris
February 17th, 2012
There are numerous times in my role as the self- appointed retro cultural historian for Boston that I feel just like Gloria Swanson in 1960 standing in that classic photo taken amidst the destruction of the once splendid crown jewel of cinemas, The Roxy Theater in New York City.
Boston, like so many other American cities, has been pillaged… truly stripped bare of what made it once such a vibrant and totally unique place to shop. Many highly paid city planners sit around polished tables in various meeting rooms and discuss where Boston went wrong and why the shopping heart stopped beating.
My job, and frankly my sanity, demands that I celebrate and jubilantly recall what Boston did right for so many years in attracting throngs of eager shoppers into the city’s shopping heart at Washington and Winter Streets.
By Guest
February 16th, 2012
“Here’s to men… bless their clean cut faces and dirty little minds!”
A publishing house typing pool is the seething heart of the aspirations of a cadre of working girls, marking time until they marry Mr. Right and settle down. Caroline Bender (Lange) battles her career aspirations and fear that she will morph into scary book editor Joan Crawford. It’s the original Sex in the City.
Rona Jaffe’s novel, The Best of Everything, is about four girls (and their friends). The author’s stand-in is the ambitious Caroline, who is pining for her overseas fiancé. She shares an apartment with April, who sleeps with her dream man expecting marriage and Gregg, an aspiring actress whose rejection by a noted playwrite turns her into a deranged stalker. In the book, there is a fourth, Barbara, divorced after a year of marriage and raising a small child. All these girls feel the pressure of society’s expectations, which say they must start to panic, at around 23, if they aren’t married. They want freedom, but only a taste of it, before they settle for domesticity.
By Guest
February 14th, 2012
On the show this week, Koop Kooper chat with our movie expect Kramer about loungin bachelor pad movies. He’s also got news on a Grace Kelly exhibition in Australia, an interesting story about a war time flyboy, advice on the digital vs analogue question and of course a look at the world of Swank with some great gigs across the globe.
By Chris
February 12th, 2012
Here is a handy guide written by Roger 99 that shows us how to create old-fashioned posters with that special vintage look, complete with aged paper feel. The tutorial explains in detail using a step-by-step guide how a advertisement for Facebook could have looked if it was available in the 1950s. There are also examples of YouTube, Twitter and Skype included.
By Chris
February 10th, 2012
The Cocktail Nation — a radio show and podcast hosted by Koop Kooper that plays the very best in swingin’ tunes from the 50s and 60s. Listen here
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