11 Vintage Photos of Airline Meals From the Jet-Set Era

Today, the experience of flying in an airplane is mostly a horrible one. You put yourself through the misery of dealing with an airport, only to sit in an uncomfortable metal tube and rocket through the sky for hours. If you’re lucky, you can pay $18 for the worst turkey sandwich of your life. 

It wasn’t always like that, though. In the jet-set era, food on planes was a big deal, a celebration, an occasion. Miss those days? Here are 11 photos of airplane food from the ‘50s through the ‘70s. 

The look on this girl’s face! I can’t blame her. That would also be me if I just got a delivery of fresh hot food like that. Her siblings have clearly been chowing down, too. She probably had to sit there and wait while her sister chugged grape juice. 

The only thing better than good food on a flight is being served good food on a flight by a chef in a big, silly chef’s hat. Our friends in the front are excited about what’s to come, but check out my man in the glasses back there. Are you kidding me with this guy? Hey dude, stop touching the food with your fingers. Raised in a barn, this one. 

Holy ham! Look at what we’ve got going on here. Are we in Spain? We’ve got jamón. We’ve got beautiful bread. We’ve got assorted meats and foreign beers. We’re living the high life. 

This feels so staged that it has to be an ad, but check out this spread. And when you’re done checking out the spread, check out this man’s face, which is either expressing extreme disinterest or extreme wonder. Tough to say.  

This is an airplane? This looks like a cool bar on the roof of a hotel in Paris or something, or maybe even that one from the opening of the new “Final Destination” if you want a much less pleasant comparison. Look at all the space.

There’s a lot to marvel at in this photo, the food in particular, but the thing I can’t stop staring at is the size of the seats. So much room! Flying seems like it used to be … pleasant. 

It seems like these flights were a lot like the Hogwarts Express, with treats from the trolley just zipping by all the time. Cheese, semi-fresh fruit, even a big honkin’ tomato; these carts had it all. 

More ham. More bread. And what looks to be a big, salted or smoked fish of some sort. What do we suspect is going on over there on the right? Haven’t these people seen “Airplane,” or do we need to warn them? 

People were dressed for the occasion on these flights, the same way you would be to go out to a restaurant. Look at all the booze available, too. People were getting lit in the air in 1967. You love to see it. 

Did you also think that guy was Bob Dylan for a second? I sure did. Looks like we’ve got an early morning flight here, with full coffee and pastry service. And a whole entire table. That’s the nicest part of the whole situation, if you ask me. 

We’ve got ourselves another chef’s hat! One thing that should be stated here is that just because this food was considered gourmet in the jet-set era, doesn’t mean that it’s something I’m dying to have now. For example, I’m terrified to know what that lobster is garnished with, or why maraschino cherries are anywhere near that … chicken? Goose? Duck? I’m good.