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Ellen Church became the first ever airline stewardess on May 15th, 1930 - when she took to the skies with a Boeing Air Transport flight from Oakland, California to Chicago.\xa0\nA licensed airplane pilot, she\u2019d approached the airline to inquire about flying planes, but, when she was told that in fact they didn\u2019t employ women at all, she suggested that they put registered nurses like herself aboard to care for the passengers - and was hired to recruit and train seven additional women for the role. Candidates needed to be no taller than 5 feet, 4 inches; not more than 25 years old\u2026 and single. Their salary was $125.00 per month.\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the seemingly never-ending list of safety responsibilities given to this first generation of \u2018Sky Girls\u2019; unpick the sexist recruitment policies underpinning their employment; and discover some of the most sexualised ad-campaigns of all time\u2026\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u2018Flight Attendants of History: How the First Stewardess Got Her Job\u2019 (Time, 2015): https://time.com/3847732/first-stewardess-ellen-church/\n\u2022 \u2018Shaking up a cocktail, tucking passengers into bed and calming nervous flyers: Fascinating vintage photos reveal life in the sky for the first air hostesses of the 1930's\u2019 (Mail Online, 2015): https://rb.gy/h01wa\n\u2022 \u2018Southwest Airlines\u2019 - commercial circa 1972: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR7JApjgIGw\nLove the show? Join\xa0\U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS\xa0\U0001f334 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!\nJoin now via\xa0Apple Podcasts\xa0or\xa0Patreon.\xa0\nWe'll be back tomorrow!:\xa0podfollow.com/Retrospectors\n\xa0\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices