I found this Pan Am Airlines promotional photo (ca. 1956) in Christine Yano’s new book on the history of Nisei stewardesses called Airborne Dreams (Duke University Press, 2011). Yano argues that “Japanese American (and later other Asian and Asian American) stewardesses [as they were called in the 1950s
I’ve always loved vintage photos, and I stumbled upon this amazing blog, Of Another Fashion, that has vintage photos of “not-quite-hidden but too often ignored fashion histories of U.S. women of color”, along with personal stories. There’s an interesting and subtle message in the trends of their clothes and updos, and I love looking at this – it always leaves me feeling bittersweet and nostalgic, and like I am gaining a better understanding (or realizing just how much I don’t know!) about history and our past.
