Southwest Airline Stewardess, c. 1972

Via: imgur

Things were different in 1972. A flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles was under fifteen dollars, smoking was allowed, and the crew gliding down the aisles delivering drinks named 'Love Potion' and 'Passion Punch' weren't known as "flight attendants."

In an era of using the fairer sex to fill seats, Southwest raised the bar along with the shorts. In his book Airline: Identity, Design and Culture, author Keith Lovegrove states "According to a spokesman at Southwest Airlines of Texas in 1973, when stewardesses were interviewed for jobs, he started with their legs and worked up to their faces."

Lovegrove continues "In stark contrast (often to the point of prudishness) shown by most airlines to that date, in 1973 Southwest Airlines threw caution to the winds with its stewardess uniform. ‘The girls must be able to wear kinky leather boots and hot pants or they don’t get the job,’ said the airline’s male bosses.”