Hydration, Libation, and Lift: Airline Inflight Beverage Service

Hydration, Libation, and Lift: Airline Inflight Beverage Service

Over the centuries, liquid refreshments have provided travelers with a means to sustain a long journey, whether simply water for much needed hydration, or tea, coffee, and mixed drinks. During the initial years of commercial aviation in the 1920s, weight was a critical factor for early airliners, and airmail often took precedence over the beverage needs of passengers. Beverages were either brought onboard by the passengers or served with what was available at the time, weight permitting.

By the 1930s, larger airplanes carried heavier loads, and some airlines began providing passenger services comparable to standards developed by commercial rail and steamship companies. This new inflight service often consisted of beverages such as coffee and tea served in fine china cups as well as water and alcoholic drinks (served in the U.S. after the end of Prohibition in 1933) provided in elegant glassware. Other carriers, determined to maintain maximum passenger and freight loads, served beverages in lightweight plastic containers.

Following the postwar era of the 1940s and 1950s, air travel was available to a far greater portion of the population through reduced or "economy" ticket prices. Inflight beverage services varied accordingly, with the airlines reserving premium services for first-and business-class passengers. Often services incorporated thematic or culturally-specific offerings based on the airline's country of origin or its route destination. These included green tea and sake service on routes to Japan, tropical drinks served on routes to Hawai'i and the Caribbean, and French wines poured on flights to Europe. Airline special promotions often highlighted a particular beverage service, such as champagne flights on Western Airlines, Trader Vic's cocktails served on United Air Lines, and bottles of Coca-Cola offered on Delta Air Lines. This exhibition presents a legacy of airline inflight beverage service over the last eighty years with a selection of objects representing a wide range of carriers and their offerings.

Photography is not permitted.
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