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HE privileges of writing and flying were not the only heritage of the Atlantic Flight. Business beckoned, too, and to me “business” meant commercial aviation, as I have said before.

I had entered the scene when the industry was boiling with new enterprises. Even when the first sizeable passenger lines started, neither the oper­ators nor the traveling public quite knew what it was all about. Aviation certainly had to be “sold” and the operators leaned to the notion that a luxury service was what the public wanted. Thus, the advertising of the period carried descriptions of the amenities to be found in flying.

“Interior decorations and fittings are in soft restful tones with here and there a touch of modem art. For the most part interiors have been designed to harmonize with the natural colors of the country along the route. A wall lamp is above the seat of each passenger and an indirect ceiling light brightens the entire cabin on dark days.”

I think there were several good reasons for this publicity policy. First, it informed people that riding in airplanes was not materially different from travel by other means. By making the trap­pings of aviation as familiar as possible, timid souls were the more easily persuaded to climb aboard.