Behind the Smile: Stewardess from air travel’s “golden age” shares tales of sex, humor and terror

Bobbi Wolverton was an international flight attendant from 1965 to 1973.

Bobbi Wolverton was a young woman straight out of college in 1965 when she went to work for World Airlines as an international flight attendant — or stewardess, as they were then known. “Those were the glamour years of aviation,” she said of her eight years in the air.

Wolverton, who now lives in Tellico Village, shared stories of her flying experiences with guests at a recent Elegant Dining dinner arranged by the Knoxville Symphony League to raise funds for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra.

To qualify for the job, Wolverton said, women had to be between the ages of 21 and 28 and they couldn’t be married or wear eyeglasses. They had to be between 5’2″ and 5’8″  and weigh less than 135 pounds. Stewardesses wore designer uniforms and had designer luggage — without rollers. “We weren’t allowed to pick our suitcases up,” she related. “We had to hire valets to do that. But it only cost 25 cents, so that was not so bad.” They traveled from the airports to their hotels in limousines.

The hours were grueling. Stewardesses had to be on the plane four hours before passengers boarded. And, because these were flights to Asia and Europe, sometimes they worked for 30 hours. But, in exchange, they got to see the world and could explore foreign countries on their layovers.

This was before serving carts were on airplanes. Stewardesses had to walk down the aisle with each tray. Bobbi demonstrated.

For passengers, flying was a wonderful experience, she recalled. “In 1965, only 10 percent of Americans had ever flown,” she said. “People dressed up for the occasion. Men wore suits and women wore dresses with gloves and high heels.” Airlines allowed smoking. In fact, Wolverton said she and her co-workers distributed five-cigarette packs and matches to customers before takeoff.

Here’s what first class service looked like from “behind the smile:” Before takeoff: Pass hard candy, magazines, pillows and blankets. Pass five-cigarette packages with matches bearing the airline logo. Once the plane reaches cruising altitude: Pass hot scented towels. Clean up. Pass hors d’oeuvres. Clean up. Pass two mini-bottles of hard liquor, a glass with ice, sodas and water. Clean up. Pass dinner trays containing the entree, salad, dessert, roll and a split of wine. Pass coffee, tea, milk and champagne. Clean up. Pass two mini-bottles of after dinner drinks. Clean up. (Wow, that’s six bottles of alcohol!)

Whew!

Wolverton has written a book about her flying experiences. Called “Behind the Smile: Sex, Humor and Terror during the Glamour Years of Aviation,” it is available at www.bobbiphelpswolverton.com.

It’s a breezy read. The sex part: she caught folks trying to be initiated into the “Mile High Club” by having sex during the flight; she was on a flight when GIs went on a rampage of harassing the flight attendants to the point that the women locked themselves in the bathroom and the cockpit to get away; and, while overseas, various romances occurred.

The terror? Bad weather, close landing calls and, the worst part to me, being fired on when flying into and out of Vietnam. “Every airline had to fly there during that time,”  she said at the dinner gathering. “We were shot at 100 percent of the time.”

As for the humor, it abounds throughout the book as Bobbi and her young co-workers have escapades in foreign cities — and American cities — over the eight years. Settings for the tales include Japan, Egypt, Vietnam and eight other countries.

I thought this was a very creative Elegant Dining event and a fun way to raise money for the Symphony. There are still a few slots available at upcoming Elegant Dining events. Click here for the list.

What do YOU remember most about the golden age of air travel?

The dinner was in Farragut at the home of Barbara and Jeff Crist on Andover Boulevard. Here is Polly Anna Harris playing the piano as guests arrived.

Globes were the focal points of the centerpieces. Clever.

Little origami airplanes in the plants were cute. They were folded from maps.

One of the co-hosts, Jane Venable, had an important job!

Fred and Gina Buffum are frequent guests at Elegant Dining events.

Tom and Linda Bolen

Jeff Crist and co-host Joyce Simms

Frank Venable and co-host Willene Chalmers

Bobbi Wolverton with my husband, Alan Carmichael, left, and Richard Ford

Dinner was in the den.

Mixed green salad with poppy seed dressing was served first.

Entree was beef tenderloin medallions with brown sauce, roasted red potatoes with basil and dill sauce, marinated asparagus and a sweet potato biscuit with butter.

Dessert: black forest cake

Then it was time for Bobbi to talk.

Charlene Mischlich, left, and Cynthia Offutt

Here are Chef Rex Bradford Jones and hostess Barbara Crist in the kitchen.

Haha. Co-host Barbara Furlong with a Stewardess Barbie.