Flight To California 1952

[MerleOberon]

Dick didn't have whitewalls on his Packard...

[KenaiLycos]

Oh my God (O.o) the airplane´s food,... 

[ELECTRICCLOCK]

Life was beautiful then. So comfortable, so many opportunities.

[brucencalifornia]

every plane, every seat was first class, person had to save enough room desert

[greenpredetor]

yea and before this it was western times ols wild west and they destroyed there way of life when fancy people from the east started looking for "exotic" when people here didnt really like them much for their way of living , like may be 1905 around los angeles and like in san diego were still with the older ways

[indy66]

That almost makes me cry!! Any time machine somewhere??

[reddnec]

What a treat. Thanks sooo much!!!!

[Zanikow]

Looks beautiful because it is beautiful!

[frostfiredani]

what amazes me more is noticing HOW MODERN WAS LIFE BACK 60 YEARS. They didn't even pictured what a cell phone or the internet was... and life was AMAZING, nothing was missed!

[landsker]

Ah, no mention of the war in Korea then..or how about the segregation of black people in the South.

[yomamasapeach]

@landsker better than now.

[costernocht]

The Lockheed Constellation was such a beautiful plane.

[johneddy98033]

Great footage of the Lockheed Constellation ready for takeoff.

[jarjarwaters]

Oh My God!

Black Face !....in 1952.

Dick and Mona sure no how to show those kids a good time.

[kmont1992]

Just looking how deserted Los Angeles was, wow. Now you can't even find an empty lot. It's nice to have wide open land, but at the same time, now it's nice to have things close by. You lose to win.

[ELECTRICCLOCK]

You can't deny the fact that the quality of life was better. This will never occur again.

[jooshiscrazy]

Wow, what happened to Tijuana? It's still a tourist town, but everyone visiting is just college students wanting to get drunk. And now it's all run down and there are drug wars going on in the streets.

[kassandrasduplex]

What a load of CRAP. The "good old days" when rich white people lived off the sweat and misery of everyone who wasn't.

The only reason these days might have been better than what we have today is only because we hadn't had our economy GUTTED by the richest 2 percent. WE HAD A STRONG ROBUST AND UNIONIZED MIDDLE CLASS!!!

[cslofficial]

Is it me or does the lady in the video look just like LeAnn Rimes?

[cslofficial]

Everything was so classy back then....

[childerscarl]

Oh my God, look at those meals. All you get today is a tiny bag of peanuts. 'Further proof that the 1950's was the best time in America.

[Rufskin13]

@MsPaulaJo1 Before commenting please travel and read about life time changes. Mexico was a divine city from the 20's through the 60's. Glam and self politeness was culture. Mexico Innocence has been corrupted by the influence of U.S.A. I live in Mexico and i dislike what is happening not juts in Mexico but around the globe. but hey, you guys slap the shit of out the black people having them as slaves, but look at the now. So i guess paradise is being captive in inner memories only.

[MsPaulaJo1]

@Rufskin13 If you live in Mexico, I agree with anything and everything you say.

[zhred]

When they were in San Francisco i thought about that they were gonna show Alcatraz... but then i found out it was still in use when this was recorded so offcourse they couldnt show that becouse then it wouldnt be so ''perfect'' Was it really this perfect as they show? It was probobbly inmates tortued or something while they took the boattrip past the island... but i like the clothes and stiles thought.

[musicom67]

at 8:40 it starts getting REALLY CREEPY, first with "Dick" filming the couple in the pool, then saying "It was fun for us too.... the way they played and teased each other..." then it gets edited... *clip*... LOLOL!

[harmgb1]

C'mon guys, take it easy. There ARE oddities that bear mentioning, it's true

how white the people are, but all in all, holding it to 2010 p.c. standards is like

shooting fish in a barrel. It's a fascinating bit of history.

[Gemini730]

Richard Carlson had a nice speaking voice which makes his narration enjoyable to listen to. Lorraine

[Gemini730]

The young aspiring actor playing Henry is Richard Beedle-younger brother of William Holden. Richard and Mona Carlson had a long happy marriage-married in 1939 for 48 years until Dick`s death in 1977. Thanks for sharing with Us.  Lorraine

[jjbingsnyc]

blackface @ 10:30.. wtf

[mythicalness]

i love how the actor decides to have total strangers in his home, like they didnt have plans in the first place, LMAO! happy-go-lucky hyper happiness

[boeingguy223]

I was born in 1996 and i live in this age of ipods and laptops and facebook and other modern crap. If there was one wish that could be given to me, it would be that i would grow up in the 50's. I could live without all this crap. SERIOUSLY

AND AIRLINE ADS SHOULD BE WELCOMING AND GENTLE, i hate how airline ads promote useless crap like Free bags or their fancy buisness or first class, Airline Ads should be humble and welcoming to people.

[capsizebrian]

Will this be available in it's entirety for commercial sale? Vintage travel collectors would eat it up as part of a set.

[lasuvidaboy]

Most people don't seem to understand that air travel was only for the very well-off in those days. It was all first class. The middle class took the bus or train. Those airline tickets in 1952 cost the same as a Transcontinental business or first class ticket does today. Coach or economy class did'nt exist. If you want comfort flying coast to coast today-buy a first class ticket on a 3-class plane like American or United offers.

[ghostseeker1]

Oh yeah! When our Southwestern states still belonged to America!

[casperfriendly47]

Those were the days!

[MEATYOKERRable]

Sappy but effective.  Edie and Henry would never be allowed to get within 6 feet of that guy in this day and age.

[mnc90034]

I love this sort of thing, thanks!

[greenpointguy]

a little creepy that the movie star invites the young couple to their house?!

[tonybklyn]

@greenpointguy  Knda thought there was a "hidden agenda" involved. ;-)

[TheMrdanjames]

I love how theyve made the leading lady sound like an airhead lol

[drewdudy]

is this really america, or a dream world?

[Nationsnotregimes]

The mechanical achievments of Aircraft and civility is alien to All of South of the border, and the African Continet IMO.

[193322009]

The really sad thing about being old (I was born in the SF bay area 1933) is

that you know how nice it use to be.

When you compare the pre-war (WWii) with today you want to cry.

Today's generation have no idea how great the bay area use to be.

Now when I visit Oakland where I was born we have to make sure

the car doors are locked and the windows are rolled up.

San Francisco's roads are really falling apart and the town is over-run

with homeless druggies.

This video is great but makes me sad also

[kngkrl22]

@193322009 I totally agree with you. These young kids of today don't know how great life was back 60 years ago.

[orion7763]

This video is really something else. I really enjoyed watching it.

[orion7763]

Wow... This video is really something else

[Nationsnotregimes]

Clean folks and clean head rests.

Starting the late 1950's with Rican's leaving the Roach Island for NYC left cockroaches on every flight, and as the 1980's came along so did the fumacation business.

Nothing like piloting at night and seeing lovely roaches crawling over the instruments in the cockpit.

No wonder the Charter flight business sky rocketed after 2001.

This planes could have been constantly up dated IMO and would be less expensive and safer too.

[Nationsnotregimes]

Hostile enemy aliens opened our borders and gave constant war.

IMO these planes could be operated at a fraction of todays jets and to have continued to build with only updates for aviontics and etc.

[amateurphilosopher]

@Nationsnotregimes Sorry, but you're completely wrong about those propeller-driven planes. The engines they used were very complicated and highly stressed, requiring huge amounts of expensive maintenence. The reason why the airlines switched to jets so rapidly wasn't for the speed, but because the jet engines required much less maintenence. The typical time between overhauls for a piston engine was about 1200 hours, for a modern jet it's about 20,000 hours.

[Nationsnotregimes]

@amateurphilosopher

Thank you for those facts.

Maybe Jet Turbine Prop's would be better ? Ha.

Thanks get US the facts.

[PrismaMD]

The days when 90% of California was whites. The governments accounted for 20% Of GDP and the US was the wealthiest country on the planet.

[Nationsnotregimes]

@PrismaMD

NO TATTOO"S and flip flops and savage langauge!

[ultimessence]

The nostalgia is so think you can spackle with it! I love it! The music, corny as it is, lulls you into a state of bliss, longing for that uncomplicated era. This is the ultimate 50's fantasy; being swept up by a Hollywook movie star and taken into his home for several days while he shows you the sights of California. Its all from the eyes of a child... Don't question it, just fall into the hypnotic lure. Ahhhh...

[barthoedemaker]

A lot of legroom, better seats, free meal, free newspaper delivered to chair. Mankind went backwards !!

[MrMfloor]

We're screwed!!!

[gaguy1967]

California was great in the 1950s and 60s. Now it is a mess

[XEpikurX]

Great Superconny!

[radajan]

And now everyone is leaving California like rats on a sinking ship.

[kngkrl22]

Life was so much better back in the 1950's, compared to these crappy days that we are living right now.

[hollbri1]

@kngkrl22 i couldn't say it better-i feel the same about the fifties and sixties.i wish i could turn time back...

[TheMrdanjames]

@kngkrl22 im sure black people would disagree lol

[mythicalness]

@TheMrdanjames LOL EXACTLY

[airhab]

@kngkrl22 Yeah for white people!

[Affentanz]

@kngkrl22 yeah sure, if you were a christian middleclass white man

[kngkrl22]

@Affentanz don't forget back 60 years ago, unemployment was almost 0%, gas prices was cheap, Americans had moral values, every product was American made, our infrastructure was first class, and buying a house was affordable to all Americans. Compare it to today's society, we have high unemployment, manufacturing jobs have been outsourced overseas, high fuel prices, inflation out of control, massive amout of foreclosures, and we have the worst infrastructure . Go figure.

[am1966ath]

@kngkrl22 Agree with you..these people looked on the future with hope..many today have no hope.

[Quex01]

@kngkrl22 I agree, everything is now bad and ruined, EXCEPT for Goldman Sachs, Bernanke&Co and Wall Street swindlers. They are making trillions.

[FireInTheOrganism]

@kngkrl22 Unless you were Black, right? Lol.

[jatreservice]

no way it color 50s film

[gaguy1967]

yes, there was

[lasuvidaboy]

Sure there was discrimination but many blacks actually had it better in those days than today. Here in L.A. there was a thriving black middle and upper class and plenty of union jobs at GM and the aircraft plants. The jobs disapeared and drugs and unemployment became the norm in South Central. That's progress??

[larbacmc]

I agree

time to leave but where?

[lasuvidaboy]

Flying was all 1st class in those days. There were no coach planes. Middle class people took the train and lower class people took the bus.

[larbacmc]

Grayhound would be better then todays flying nightmares.

All the highjackings ect

The upper class no longer fly on the airlines they have their own jets instead.

[Mexicanboy67]

y do people from the 50's have southern accent

[LordLith]

the only bad thing about society back then was that EVERYONE smoked

[glimmertitz]

Why does everyone from the 1950´s talk like a news reporter or talk show host? For me the 50´s is the most plastic and fake looking era I have seen. DENIAL. Pretending that the 40´s didnt happen and the 60´s weren´t coming.

[cybersalad]

That's because most of the people in this movie were probably news reporters and talk show hosts. Movies were very 'actorly' until Brando came around and revolutionized film with realistic style acting.

[skot66]

what happened to society...no class these days.

[dithbmine1]

@skot66 liberalism that is what happened....look at this crap president....

[skot66]

@dithbmine1 Yeah...I agree.

[MegaELECTRICEYE]

@dithbmine1 Liberalism?? Do U know what a liberal is? maybe not if U think this video is about conservatives. And u must have missed that crap president before. NO wait he was not crap, he did help us elect the current crap president we have now.

[skot66]

@MegaELECTRICEYE Liberalism defined... steal from the rich and give to the poor.. bottom line :)

[MegaELECTRICEYE]

@skot66 CONservatism definded.....Steal from the middle Class and give to the RICH...Bottom Line. Rich get the tax cuts and the middle class and poor pay the rest. As the CONservative song goes The poorer get poorer the rich get richer my my ain't we having fun yet.

[kassandrasduplex]

@skot66

FDR defined liberalism as freeing the common man from the tyranny of the rich corporations. Capitalism can be defined as the powerfl stealing everything from the less powerful.

American Robber Baron Jay GOuld: "I can pay one half the working class to kill the other." Wihtout a huge population of poor, the rich would not be possible.

Privatization is the antithesis of socialism.

The USA was founded on equality. Freedom came third.

[AmberWaves444]

@skot66 I agree with you so much. I'd give anything to go back in time and live in the 50s. Peace!

[erick103]

@skot66 I blame the dirty hippies. 

[imundiath]

@skot66 Let's all form a cultural revolution!

[musicom67]

@skot66 like at 10:50, right?

[Summerslam96]

@skot66 They didn't have class back then either, they just were more secret about it lol

[lambertwm]

@skot66 don't forget this is a commercial, not real life in 1952

[EkBalam707]

Back then, and even before...Mexican-Spanish Rancheias and Spanish speaking Rancheros in Alta California enjoyed huge beautiful lands in the Golden State before the arrival of the Nuyorkers and other Immigrants.

[GeorgeVreelandHill]

Life was better back then.

Yes, we have computers and all kinds of advances today, but give me a time when you could walk down any street with no problems or drive ten miles without taking two hours to get there.

You could go for a swim while leaving your things in the sand under an umbrella

Try that today.

Schools were good places, and crack was what you saw when a repairman bent over.

Cities were safe.

Life was cool.

Thanks for the flight to L.A. and the past!

George Vreeland Hill

[rickzters]

You have to admit that the 1950's was the turning point for violence and rebellion. Music fueled much of this and times change.

[NafeesLACC]

yeah and blacks were treated like second class citizens, japanese people were put in internment camps and anyone who wasn't considered white was treated like second class citizens, what a great time.

[larbacmc]

Thing were so much better in the past

even with the smoking

I would rather deal with the cancer sticks then deal with todays crap and problems.

[yarra23]

Stop overhyping the 50's. I can name 3,4 decades better. Like 60's for example. I'd rather live in the 70s, or early 90s.

[garys737]

Cant wait to go home, and leave miserable texas........

[garthrussel]

fantasic film...loved it!

[emforty2]

how glamourous flying was

now its more like cattle poked proded by tsa

cramped and cooped

the grayhound bus ride can even be considered better !

[NafeesLACC]

then again a lot more people can afford it which is far more important than having a bunch of elites being able to travel farther and faster.

[cybersalad]

Not to mention the fact that the flight in this movie probably had like 5 stops! It probably took them 16 hours to get to THE GOLDEN LAND OF CALIFORNIA!

[gaguy1967]

No, more like 8-9 hours nonstop on a DC-6B or Super Connie. Stopping in MDW or MKC would make it like 10 hours

[wcstflyer]

The TWA L1049A Super Constellation in the video was N6904 (Star of the Ganges) delivered on 8/27/52 and sold on 8/7/64. According to a 11/57 OAG, flight 93 operated from Chicago Midway to LAX. By Fall 1957, TWA flew the route with a 1049G (Super G.) It left Chicago at 11:30 am and arrived in Los Angeles at 4:26 pm.

[320k]

@wcstflyer I thought the Super Constellation had pods on the wings?

[2000Ajjet]

@320k ...if it was a 'G series. Other than that tip tanks could be retro-fitted.

[wcstflyer]

@320k The tip-tanks, which held 600 gallons or 3,600 lbs. of aviation fuel, were incorporated into some overseas 1049G and H model Super Constellations. Carriers like TWA were still range limited westbound on their transatlantic routes, especially from late fall until early spring when the Connies fought strong westerly winds aloft. The ultimate solution was the high aspect ratio wing of the last Constellation, the 1649A.

[mjd775]

...thats brilliant!!

[hudson501]

Wow, what a nostolgic TWA travel film. The TWA L1049A Super Constellation, 1950's LAX with its old control towers, Dick's 1950's Packard, Catalina Island and even Mona are all just too much! I wonder if then TWA owner, billionaire Howard, "you know who", had a hand in making this film.

[larbacmc]

I am sure he did

[KevCarrico]

great to see a conny in operation!