Catching a flight on the airline in the 1960s was a very different experience from catching flights today: flying was expensive and flights were luxurious.
On Sunday a new series, Pan Am, premieres on ABC 30. It depicts women working for the airline in the 1960s, women like Kristina Herrick.
Herrick was 20 when she tried for and landed the job at Pan Am. In many ways her experiences were similar to the new show on ABC.
"You had to be a certain weight and a certain height and everyone had to wear a girdle," says Herrick.
Menus were elaborate. They included items such as, duckling with and orange sauce, veal fillet with tarragon sauce and to top it off, cherries jubilee with flame and all.
Herrick says one of her most memorable experiences was being part of the crew who flew troops out of Vietnam for some rest from action. "It was also sad because they were so young and so many of them were so shell-shocked," she says.
She describes her time working for Pan Am fondly, adding, "It's the best thing that could happen to a young woman. I just learned so much. I think I went to 76 countries."
You can catch the premiere of Pan Am this Sunday night at 10 p.m. pm ABC 30.
