Latest news with #1940s
Bloomberg
9 hours ago
- Health
- Bloomberg
RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Panel Purge Shakes Scientists — and Polio Survivors
Hi, it's Jason in Melbourne. Polio survivors' stories resonate deeply with me: My dad and his brother spent weeks isolated in an infectious disease ward after contracting the virus in the 1940s. It caused partial paralysis — and lasting trauma. But before I explain how that ties into the latest news from RFK Jr…. Help us improve Bloomberg newsletters: Please take a quick survey to share your thoughts on your sign-up experience and what you'd like to see in the future.
The Independent
6 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Fascinating photos reveal Delta's flight attendant uniforms through the decades
Delta's aircraft have changed dramatically across the decades. And as these vintage pictures show, so have the flight attendant uniforms. The airline's history begins in 1925 with Huff Daland Dusters, the world's first aerial crop-dusting operation. In 1928, Huff Daland Dusters was bought out and renamed "Delta Air Service" for the Mississippi Delta region it served. Flight attendants made their first appearances in the 1940s with Delta's Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 services. These images show uniforms from that era right through to the modern day, with insight on the designs from the carrier and tailor Robert Taylor-Southall, from tailoring firm Zebel. The 1940s Summer uniform The 1940s summer uniform consisted of a beige jacket and gored skirt, an open-collared blouse in rust, and an oval cap. Shoes were brown and cream spectators. Robert remarks: "This uniform, with a jauntily placed hat, offers a playful and novel approach to wartime service dress, during a time in which commercial aviation was still in its fledgling stages." Purser uniform, 1946-1948 Male pursers in maritime uniforms, purchased from Army & Navy Stores, briefly appeared post-war, reveals Delta, between March 1946 and summer 1948. The carrier remarks that each purser worked with a female flight attendant as a team of two onboard the DC-4, which at the time was a new four-engine, 44-seat aircraft. Winter, 1947-1949 "Military styling continued for winter," reveals Delta, "with navy jacket, gored skirt, overseas cap and pumps." Jackets were fastened with brass buttons and white blouses had a jewel neckline. 1950s summer Summers in the 1950s saw Delta flight attendants sporting light-blue collarless jackets, light-blue skirts, white V-neck blouses, and light-blue caps by Mae Hanauer of New York, with navy-and-white stiletto spectator pumps finishing the look. Delta reveals that this uniform was introduced in 1953 after it acquired its first international flights — to the Caribbean and Caracas, Venezuela — from a merger with Chicago and Southern Air Lines. It remarks: "This 'tropical weight uniform' was worn year-round on international flights." Robert describes the uniform as "an evolution of the 1940's outfit", adding: "Still sporting a stewardess hat that would go on to become a mainstay in aviation, this powder-blue ensemble had a more feminine cut and was complete with a blouse that reflected the departure from military dress and the welcoming of a more stylised approach to the classic uniform." 1960s winter red This 1960s uniform was designed by Harry Gilbert of Lady Simpson and included a set of two A-line wool dresses in red and black. A short double-breasted black jacket converted the black dress into a suit, and a red topcoat and raincoat, black kid gloves, alligator print pumps or boots, and handbag, finished the look, explains Delta. Robert says: "With vibrant colours and glamorous touches, this outfit reflected the 1960s' luxurious approach to aviation, creating a chic and stylish silhouette that reflected the period's growing individualism and stylistic choices. I particularly love the double-breasted coat — beautifully structured, yet quirky, playful and endearing." 1960s winter beige Delta describes the 1960s winter beige ensemble as its first Jet Age uniform. It was designed by eight-time Academy Award winner Edith Head, featuring a shirtwaist dress of honey-beige wool, a leather belt and "jet flame" orange ascot. The uniform, comments Delta, was paired with a Chanel-inspired jacket featuring fabric-covered buttons and three-quarter-length sleeves and a hat designed by Mae Hanauer of New York. Robert describes the uniform as "utilitarian yet refined". 1970s The year 1973 saw the arrival of male flight attendants on Delta jets, and they sported a wrinkle-free, double-knit polyester navy suit jacket and gray pants with a red/white/blue striped tie by Fashionaire Division of Hart Schaffner & Marx. Robert notes the "change of pace", adding: "[This is] a more business-first approach, with the classically 70s wide lapels and garish striped tie, and a badge emblemed on the chest. It is an outfit built to be iconic — recognisable everywhere you go." 1980s Delta boasts that this uniform, its "longest-lived", was a "classic" when it was introduced in 1983. Designed by Van Lupu for Omniform, it consisted of a suit made from tropical wool in navy blue. Robert describes the flight attendants in this image as having a "quintessentially 80s" look, with "oversized scarves, voluminous hair and gleaming smiles". 1990s Delta says that the 1990s uniform became an "easy-to-wear favorite". Robert remarks: "A further refinement of the blue blazer trend, these outfits were sharply tailored and reintroduced the classic double-breasted blazer, something not seen since the 60s. "With matching red accents and striking ties, these coordinated choices pointed to a time when the corporate world was booming, and flying meant business." 2000s The 2000s saw Delta flight attendants roaming the cabins in midnight-blue uniforms designed by Richard Tyler. Delta describes the collection as featuring "iconic red dresses with cinched waists", and "jackets with molded shoulders, torso-lengthening silhouettes and subtle stripes arranged in triangular shapes". Robert says they were a "refined look for a modern age", noting the "bold tie", "strikingly cuffed blouse" and a "striking red utility belted dress tying beautifully into the tailoring accents". 2010s Behold Delta's current crew-look in purple and graphite gray, by New York City fashion designer Zac Posen. Robert is impressed, remarking: "This is a big rebrand, moving away from the striking blue to a far more luxurious plum and purple combination for the women. "[For the men] it's an interesting sartorial twist on the classic suit, with a lapel-less jacket accented with what looks to be silk, and a lapeled waistcoat. "They have leaned heavily on sophisticated tailoring for a time where branding and detail are everything."
New York Times
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Fantasy Novel Inspired By Real History, When U.S. Hotels Housed Nazis
THE LISTENERS, by Maggie Stiefvater There's something peculiarly fascinating about novels set in self-enclosed communities with their own rules: a ship at sea, a research outpost, a university. While the inhabitants of such places may believe themselves to be insulated from the outside world, their stories tend to prove them wrong. In 'The Listeners,' the adult debut from the best-selling young adult author Maggie Stiefvater, the community in question is a hotel called the Avallon, built on West Virginia mineral springs. The surrounding area is hardscrabble coal country, but the Avallon is an island of luxury, a retreat for 'people so high on the social ladder they had to duck for the sun to go overhead.' And it's all overseen by June Hudson, the hotel's manager, whose 'holler-bred accent' betrays her humble origins and who sees her job as 'intentionally curating joy for anyone who came.' A self-made hospitality prodigy, June led the Avallon through the Great Depression without sacrificing its commitment to the finer things. But now it's 1942, and war will test her skills in a whole new way. In the wake of Pearl Harbor, the State Department is relocating captured Axis diplomats to upscale hotels pending an exchange for their imprisoned American counterparts abroad. At the Avallon, June must expel her well-heeled guests and give their rooms to Nazis and Japanese imperialists. This premise is based on real events. Some American hotels really did house enemy diplomats during World War II. But at the fictional Avallon, with its reputation as 'a place where past and future were erased, replaced by an immutable, carefree present,' the repercussions of this unusual arrangement are perilous. The bad vibes that arrive with the new guests threaten the Avallon's main attraction: the springs that run under the hotel and fill it with scents of 'perfume, blood, fruit, dirt, caves, blossoms.' The sweetwater is, you see, a bit alive. June's special sensitivity to it is one of the secrets to her success, and she fears the water will react poorly to the hotel's new occupants, who are essentially pampered prisoners. Melding history and fantasy in fiction can be tricky, but Stiefvater deftly pulls off this particular magic via a resonant central metaphor. For June, the 'guiltless game of luxury' is itself a form of enchantment that involves anticipating unspoken needs and smoothing over conflicts. Her mystical relationship with the water follows naturally from the same ability to 'listen' that makes her a superlative hotelier, and she's fully committed to the sleight of hand required to maintain the Avallon's legend. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Telegraph
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
L'elisir d'amore, Garsington, review: a delightful picture-perfect fantasy
Donizetti's ever-green comedy The Elixir of Love is one of those operas that resists heavy-handed directorial intervention. Sure, you could choose to highlight the grinding poverty of the Italian village where the action takes place, and emphasise the vast social gulf between Adina, the flighty landowner who rejects the hopeless passion of the peasant Nemorino, and the girls who develop a crush on Nemorino once they learn he's inherited a fortune. In this new production, director Christopher Luscombe wisely goes the other way, offering a realisation of such perfect picture-postcard fantasy you can only sigh with pleasure. Designer Simon Higlett evokes an Italian village square in the late 1940s in painstaking detail, complete with potted flowers, an old-fashioned petrol pump and fading marriage-and-funeral stickers on the ancient hotel walls. The Yanks are still in the vicinity, as we learn when Sergeant Belcore, the rival to the hapless Nemorino, turns up in one of those army motorcycle-plus-sidecars we remember from old war films. The quack doctor Dulcamara arrives in a Fiat of bright red vulgarity, and Adina herself has a spotless white Vespa—which perfectly captures the 'real but not real' feeling of the evening. The production could have coasted along on the beauty of the set, the beautiful playing from the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted with pert stylishness by Chloe Rooke—and Donizetti's immortal melodies. But there's a core of tender feeling at the heart of the comic froth, and the performers draw it out with some subtle acting. Adina's rejection of Nemorino in the famous aria where she compares her freedom to the winds can seem like 'Look, I'm a b----, just get over it,' but American soprano Madison Leonard lets Nemorino down with affecting gentleness. We know from the beginning she'll come round, which isn't the case in every production. Ukrainian tenor Oleksiy Palchykov is a Nemorino of affecting ardour, whose naïve passion for Adina inspires feats of bodily as well as vocal agility. The moment when he leapt several feet to embrace her brought an audible gasp of astonishment. Nemorino's rival Belcore can sometimes come over as harsh in his temporary triumph over Nemorino, but in Spanish baritone Carles Pachon's winning performance he seems good-natured under his vanity. Richard Burkhard's Dulcamara is less strong vocally, but he has a winning sly roguishness. Sharing the honours are the excellent chorus. Their naïve enthusiasm for Dulcamara's magic potions and lusty celebration of the eventually aborted wedding of Adina and Belcore are all enacted with choreographed precision, nicely directed by Rebecca Howell. In all, the evening offers a charming fantasy, leavened with moments of emotional truth. If I have one complaint it's that the singing, though athletically impressive, is not as refined as the acting. The principals tended to sing with huge force, as if they were trying to fill the Met Opera in New York. It compromised their sound, and it's hardly necessary in Garsington's modest dimensions. Only in Nemorino's famous Furtive Tear aria are we treated to some vocal delicacy on a par with the production's other delights.
Washington Post
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
At WNO, ‘Porgy and Bess' wins the heart by sticking to the script
Awash in the hard light of a summer afternoon in South Carolina, the opening scene of Washington National Opera's 'Porgy and Bess' bears the muted sepia glow of an old photograph — one that springs to life once the curtain goes up. It's a moment of stillness that conveys much about director Francesca Zambello's vision for George Gershwin's enduring 1935 'folk opera,' one she first realized in 2005 at the Glimmerglass Festival. Free of conceptual frills and narrative alterations (apart from a slight bump of the setting from the 1920s to the '40s), this is a revival that takes the reviving part seriously.
