NWA Systems Operations Control, Segment 2 October, 1996

NWA Systems Operations Control, Segment 1 October, 1996

Thanks to Bob DuBert for alerting me to this. A fond look-back at a great airline! Watch for Segment 2, tomorrow!

Howie Wing, A Saga of Aviation

"Howie Wing, A Saga of Aviation," was a children's radio serial about a young pilot and friends who foiled spies and smugglers with some fancy flying. Written by Captain Willfred Gibbs Moore, a flying reservist who served as a pilot in WWI,  Howie Wing was considered authentic and educational."  
From  Kellogg's and Howie Wing, by Kathy Hammel, Radio Recall, June 2007, the journal of the Metropolitan Washington Old-Time Radio Club.

Earlier this year, in my tribute to Helen Jacobson Richardson, I mentioned having seen a newspaper clipping at Helen's memorial about the first dramatic broadcast in radio history made from an airplane, "Howie Wing, a Saga of Aviation." Helen was the stewardess. Below she is pictured with (l-r) Bill Janney, who played the part of "Howie", sound effects man Alexander Binnie and actor Robert Strauss on an unspecified United Airlines airplane,  January 20, 1939.

Minneapolis Star, January 20, 1939, courtesy Mary Jo Nelson, Helen Richardson's daughter

I visited the NWA History Centre and the Minnesota Historical Society, searching their Northwest archives for news of this flight.  No luck.  I entreated Helen Jacobson Richardson's children to search for the newspaper clipping I had seen at her memorial, still assuming that she was working for Northwest at the time of the flight.  Mary Jo Nelson came up with the photo above and sent it to me. The photo's caption reminded me that Helen had flown for United before joining Northwest that same year, 1939.  No wonder there was no mention in Northwest Airlines archives anywhere.  The clipping Mary Jo sent me had no source or date.  I took it back to the Minnesota Historical Society to their Gale Family Library newspaper collection and found the above clipping in The Minneapolis Star, Jan. 20, 1939.

In the process Lady Skywriter became enamored of Howie Wing, and set out to find out more about him. I discovered a wonderful resource for old radio shows, The Metropolitan Washington Old-Timer Radio Club. I requested information about Howie Wing, and was put in touch with Jack French, editor of Radio Recall, the organization's newsletter.  He, in turn, referred me to Kathy Hammel, their Howie Wing expert.  Kathy responded immediately and began educating me on Howie Wing.

Stay tuned to learn more about Howie Wing, A Saga of Aviation.

Bob Reardon's 90th Birthday Party ~ Thanks for the Photos, Richard Moody!

A gathering of former Pursers to mark the occasion.
l-r  Bruce Retrum, Bob, Richard Moody, Lou Reynolds 

Look at the blaze!  That's a lot of candles, Bob.

I love the message on Bob's cake:  "Robert is 90! Happy Birthday! Otherwise All is Lovely & Serene"

All the well-wishers at Bob's 90th . . .

. . . plus Lady Skywriter and countless others who have flown with you 

and admire your style, as you continue your 63rd year in the air, Bob!

Keep Flyin' High and Having Fun

Marianne Blomquist, Former NWA President Donald Nyrop's Secretary, Passes Away

A great lady has left us. In her heyday, Marianne Blomquist was secretary to NWA President Donald Nyrop, and spent a total of 42 years of loyal service working for our beloved airline.  She has been a frequent visitor to the NWA History Centre over the years, thanks to her dear friend Shirley Huskins offering to drive when Marianne's vision failed.

Her memorial service will be held Tuesday, May 6, at Normandale Lutheran Church, Edina, MN.  See StarTribune obituary for details.

Marianne at the NWA History Centre, Nov. 2, 2013 for the book launch of author Jack El Hai's "Non-Stop"
Friend Shirley Huskins on the left

Marianne relating great stories about her boss, Donald Nyrop, at the "Remembering Donald Nyrop"
tribute at the NWA History Centre, June 11, 2011

We'll miss you, Marianne.  

Behind the Scenes with TPT (Ch 2) at NWA History Centre April, 2014

Later this summer, Ch 2 will take a look at another "lost" Twin Cities gem:  Northwest Airlines

Wayne Snyder, NWAHC BOD with Elaine Mielke, volunteer, at NWA Museum door

Lost Twin Cities IV Assistant Producer Leya Hale taking a "selfie."

TV production equipment everywhere

Leya "powdering" retired NWA F/A Fay Kulenkamp and sound engineer Eric "wiring" Anne Kerr (Lady Skywriter)

Fay and Anne during the interview

Retired NWA Captains get ready: Norm Midthun getting "wired" and Red Sutter signing his life away

Where did that red tail go, Red?

Fay and producer Lisa Blackstone with Anne's old uniform (top) and Fay's green "caterpillar" uniform (bottom)

Norm, Anne and Fay

Stay tuned for future details as to the showing date. . . . . .

Photos by Joe Callaci, Bob Johnson and Anne Kerr

Helen Jacobson Richardson Loved Northwest Airlines!

Courtesy, Minnesota Historical Society

Among many artifacts Richardson donated to the Minnesota Historical Society is the "gum caddy" that Helen used to pass gum to passengers to alleviate pressure-popping in their ears.

Helen Jacobson Richardson died January 6 at Friendship Village in Bloomington Minn.  She was 99 years old.  She was the third stewardess hired by Northwest Airlines in 1939. All registered nurses, the first two, in order, were Dorothy Stumph and Virginia Johnson. Helen brought additional experience to Northwest, having already flown for United Airlines for a year, and surviving an airplane crash in the process. 

Helen began her career in the air on a dare from her friend, Bob Richardson, a medical intern at St. Paul Bethesda Hospital, where Helen was a nurse.  Helen surprised Bob and her family when she took him up on it, flying for United for a year before home-town Northwest began hiring. Bob and Helen kept in touch and eventually married in early 1942, which meant Helen was done flying.  Married stewardesses were not allowed. ("I know," Lady Skywriter groans, "the same thing happened to me in 1960!") 

After Helen's memorial service at Fort Snelling Chapel, friends and family gathered at the Officer's club. It was nice to meet Helen' kids and peruse a table of mementos. I became distracted by the sight of two uniformed Northwest and Delta flight attendants in attendance and I raced over to them to ask the obvious . . . how did you know Helen?

Wayne Snyder, Denise Martin, Anne Kerr, Marsha Martin, Jerry Nielsen
Wayne and Jerry serve on the NWA History Centre Board.

It seems Helen was a passenger on a flight of Denise's in 2006.  She sat in an aisle seat and they talked from time-to-time.  Helen shared the story of her early flying days with Denise, and when she deplaned Denise said, "Helen pressed a piece of paper in my hand with her phone number on it." She said, "I'd like to continue this conversation." And they did.

Denise called her sister Marsha, also a NWA flight attendant, and they visited back and forth with Helen. Then one day Denise was asked to work a demonstration flight on an A-380 that Airbus was bringing in to MSP, hoping Northwest would buy for their fleet.  Denise got the idea to invite Helen to come along to see this huge new aircraft.  She went to her boss at the airline, telling Helen's story, and a ticket for Helen was obtained. Although Helen declined to go on the flight, she had a great time visiting the airport, meeting then-NWA President Doug Steenland and various other dignitaries, and enjoyed sharing the limelight.

Marsha Martin retired from NWA just before the Delta merger, and Denise is still flying. They came to Helen's service to pay tribute to a special friend.

Remember that table of mementos I mentioned earlier?  On it I saw a newspaper clipping about a flight Helen worked for United in January, 1939, before she joined Northwest.  The clipping referred to the first radio broadcast from an airplane. WCCO and "Howie Wing" were mentioned.  This clipping has opened up a whole new world for Lady Skywriter. Stay tuned for news on this in a future blog.  Although she has left us, Helen continues to bless us.

"What are you running, an airline or a whorehouse?"

United Airlines

The title of this blog is what Representative Martha Griffiths said in a 1964 Congressional hearing, after airline executives testified that it was imperative for businessmen that attractive women light their cigars and fix drinks.

I came across this gem in Amy Bloom's review of Gail Collins' new book "When Everything Changed," in The New York Times this week.

In it she chronicles American women's social and political history, and uses the experience of flight attendants to illustrate one of the ways our world has changed since then. When the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was established, Collins tells us, its first complainants were stewardesses, and airline executives found themselves in Congressional hearings.

Sadly, it was too late for Lady Skywriter, who had to "retire" four years earlier in 1960 because she got married. Had she not gotten married, she could have kept her job until her 32nd birthday, when she would have had to "resign" due to old age. But by then the rules would have changed and who knows? She might still be flying the Orient today, alongside Bob Reardon, who is still flying for NWA, ... er Delta, at 85 years of age.

Bob Reardon and Bonnie Vork in the galley of a Boeing Stratocruiser in 1957

Fujiyma rays & Oshibori Towels, recalling a time when passenger flight was an adventure and the Boeing Stratocruiser ruled the skies by Anne Billingsley Kerr now available on Amazon.

The Red Dress

Oh Boy.  I've dithered over the red dress issue since learning of it early yesterday. It is fraught with peril. But, gulp, here goes:

On the one hand, 

I find it incredible that the union that represents Northwest Airlines flight attendants believes the size cap imposed by Delta on its signature red dress uniform (size 18) is not large enough and is asking the airline to offer it in sizes up to 28.  It should be noted here that the airline offers "a range of outfits in other colors and styles up to size 28 that flight attendants can wear."

Although I am more than 50 years older than I was when I worked for NWA, I still haven't achieved size 18 (thank goodness) and I cannot possibly imagine a size 28 making it down the aisle on any airliner I can think of without immediately getting hung up on arm rests, elbows or any manner of protrusions, and consequently blocking the aisle.  Which calls into question the union's statement that "the job isn't about sexy, it's about safety."

On the other hand,

I fully subscribe to the hard-won rejection of the ancient beliefs that "looks" has anything to do with the ability of a woman to work a flight, and that she can do so competently and efficiently, even while married and over the age of 32.  (See ancient history in my book Fujiyama Trays & Oshibori Towels - Recalling a time when passenger flight was an adventure and the Boeing Stratocruiser ruled the skies.)

But over size 18?

What do you think?