Fun Fact – My Aunt Virginia was a Stewardess for Western Air Lines

I always knew that she had been a stewardess for Western Air Lines, but today I found a newspaper article with two photos of her.[1] It describes the hassles that she and another stewardess, Jessie Bathgate, had to put up with from male passengers.[2]

Both women were interviewed and gave their tips on how to deal with passengers. The paper described my aunt as a honey blonde who had been flying with Western Air Lines for two years. I learned some information about the plane, a Convair ’49, and that there were 40 passengers aboard.

They printed two photos of her, one on board the plane helping a male passenger and the other in her apartment listening to jazz records.

The funniest fact: when asked for their phone number, they gave the number of the zoo.

#52 Ancestors-Week 29: Fun Fact -- My Aunt Virginia was a Stewardess for Western Air Lines

This is my fifth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week on one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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[1] Yeah, I know they are called flight attendants now. This was when women were called stewardesses and men stewards. Also, when they married, they had to quit their jobs.

[2] “Airliners ‘Wolves’ Get Short Shrift,” The Mirror (Los Angeles, Calif), 29 Mar 1949, p. 30.

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