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Jet Set: The People, the Planes, the Glamour, and the Romance in Aviation's Glory Years
In October 1958, Pan American World Airways began making regularly scheduled flights between New York and Paris, courtesy of its newly minted wonder jet, the Boeing 707. Almost overnight, the moneyed celebrities of the era made Europe their playground. At the same time, the dream of international travel came true for thousands of ordinary Americans who longed to emulate the “jet set” lifestyle. Bestselling author and Vanity Fair contributor William Stadiem brings that Jet Age dream to life again in the first-ever book about the glamorous decade when Americans took to the skies in massive numbers as never before, with the rich and famous elbowing their way to the front of the line. Dishy anecdotes and finely rendered character sketches re-create the world of luxurious airplanes, exclusive destinations, and beautiful, wealthy trendsetters who turned transatlantic travel into an inalienable right. It was the age of Camelot and “Come Fly with Me,” Grace Kelly at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco, and Mary Quant miniskirts on the streets of Swinging London. Men still wore hats, stewardesses showed plenty of leg, and the beach at Saint-Tropez was just a seven-hour flight away. Jet Set reads like a who’s who of the fabulous and well connected, from the swashbuckling “skycoons” who launched the jet fleet to the playboys, moguls, and financiers who kept it flying. Among the bold-face names on the passenger Juan Trippe, the Yale-educated WASP with the Spanish-sounding name who parlayed his fraternity contacts into a tiny airmail route that became the world’s largest airline, Pan Am; couturier to the stars Oleg Cassini, the Kennedy administration’s “Secretary of Style,” and his social climbing brother Igor, who became the most powerful gossip columnist in America—then lost it all in one of the juiciest scandals of the century; Temple Fielding, the high-rolling high priest of travel guides, and his budget-conscious rival Arthur Frommer; Conrad Hilton, the New Mexico cowboy who built the most powerful luxury hotel chain on earth; and Mary Wells Lawrence, the queen bee of Madison Avenue whose suggestive ads for Braniff and other airlines brought sex appeal to the skies. Like a superfueled episode of Mad Men, Jet Set evokes a time long gone but still vibrant in American memory. This is a rollicking, sexy romp through the ring-a-ding glory years of air travel, when escape was the ultimate aphrodisiac and the smiles were as wide as the aisles. Praise for Jet Set “Aeronautics history, high times from the 1950s and ’60s, incredibly versatile name-dropping (from Mrs. John Jacob Astor to Christine Keeler of the Profumo scandal) and Sinatra’s ‘Come Fly With Me’ as a kind of theme song [all] connected to the glamorous days of air travel.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times “What a book William Stadium has written. . . . The Kennedys, the Rat Pack, Frank Sinatra, and early financiers like Eddie Gilbert are dealt with in depth. . . . I lived intimately through it all in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s and I am yet to find a mistake in author Stadiem’s amazing book. Order it now. All the players are here.”—Liz Smith, syndicated columnist “William Stadiem sexes up the glory days of aviation in Jet Set.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
53 people are currently reading
881 people want to read
About the author
William Stadiem
30 books10 followersWILLIAM STADIEM is the author of twelve books, including the bestselling Marilyn Monroe Confidential; Dear Senator; and Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra. In 2014 he has two major books coming out: Daughter of the King and Jet Set. A feature length documentary of Mr. S, which Stadiem is scripting for producers Graydon Carter, Brian Grazer and Brett Ratner, is also planned for production this year. A Harvard JD-MBA, Stadiem abandoned Wall Street for Sunset Boulevard, where he has written such films as Franco Zeffirelli’s Young Toscanini, Elizabeth Taylor’s last major starring role. As a screenwriter, a columnist for Andy Warhol’s Interview, and the restaurant critic for Los Angeles, Stadiem has enjoyed a ringside seat for the decadence and outrageousness he recounts in his 2013 Moneywood. He lives in Santa Monica, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
August 4, 2014
I'm a reader who loves books about history and various other "boring" non-fiction subjects.
Airplanes are one of my many (many) interests.
Unfortunately, “Jet Set: The People, Planes, Glamour, and Romance in Aviation’s Glory Years” spends far more time on the glamorous people (and their life stories) than it does on the planes.
The writing itself is jaunty, often witty or wry, and the author manages to tell much more than a little about just about anyone who was anyone in mid-20th century.
Airplane-wise the Boeing 707 receives top billing with the book focusing primarily on the who's who from its inception in 1958 until it was supplanted by the 747 in the 70's. The handful of otherwise noteworthy jets that manage to get barely a passing mention include the de Havilland Comet, DC-8, DC-10, and Concorde (and its would-be American competitor the 2707).
The real focus of the book is celebrity. Famous people, the people who made them famous, and the personalities that surrounded them.
The problem for me is that I have a hard time caring about celebrities.
That said, there are still a few interesting things to be learned from this book.
It briefly touches on what may well be called the origins of modern celebrity as we know it, and that (at least anthropologically speaking) is pretty fascinating. Additionally, it gives a short but sweet background on the genesis of passenger airlines (primarily Juan Trippe's Pan Am, but TWA and Eastern are included as well) and the changes and challenges that put a stop to their rapid growth.
All in all it's worth a read, doubly so if you're interested in the hotshots and newsmakers of the 50's through 70's.
Thank you to Goodreads First Reads for providing the book and (by extension) a history lesson on most of the bigger names of the last century.
Airplanes are one of my many (many) interests.
Unfortunately, “Jet Set: The People, Planes, Glamour, and Romance in Aviation’s Glory Years” spends far more time on the glamorous people (and their life stories) than it does on the planes.
The writing itself is jaunty, often witty or wry, and the author manages to tell much more than a little about just about anyone who was anyone in mid-20th century.
Airplane-wise the Boeing 707 receives top billing with the book focusing primarily on the who's who from its inception in 1958 until it was supplanted by the 747 in the 70's. The handful of otherwise noteworthy jets that manage to get barely a passing mention include the de Havilland Comet, DC-8, DC-10, and Concorde (and its would-be American competitor the 2707).
The real focus of the book is celebrity. Famous people, the people who made them famous, and the personalities that surrounded them.
The problem for me is that I have a hard time caring about celebrities.
That said, there are still a few interesting things to be learned from this book.
It briefly touches on what may well be called the origins of modern celebrity as we know it, and that (at least anthropologically speaking) is pretty fascinating. Additionally, it gives a short but sweet background on the genesis of passenger airlines (primarily Juan Trippe's Pan Am, but TWA and Eastern are included as well) and the changes and challenges that put a stop to their rapid growth.
All in all it's worth a read, doubly so if you're interested in the hotshots and newsmakers of the 50's through 70's.
Thank you to Goodreads First Reads for providing the book and (by extension) a history lesson on most of the bigger names of the last century.
May 17, 2015
Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
2.5*
My disappointment in this book lies not in the book itself but in my own interests. The book is entitled: "Jet Set: The People, the Planes, the Glamour, and the Sex in Aviation's Glory Years" but the only bits I was interested in was "The Planes". I read this book because of my obsession with air travel and planes, not for the people involved. Therefore, whilst I enjoyed the beginning and the sections to do with the planes and skyjacking (and, okay, the 007 chapter), I skimmed over the rest which to me seemed like one mini biography after an other of the rich and famous of the 1950s-1970s.
Essentially, I wanted this:
and got this:
October 10, 2014
What to say about this book that reads like an extended article for Vanity Fair? The parts that outline the history of the aviation business as it moved into the age of the jet, the jumbo 747 and the Concorde are very interesting indeed. But then there is the writing in obsessive detail about celebrities and scandals from fifty and sixty years ago, and one has to wonder, is anyone really interested?
Author William Stadiem is especially enamored with Igor & Oleg Cassini, who traded on their dubious European titles to fame and fortune - at least for a while - and he manages to squeeze one of both of their names into each chapter whether it's relevant or not. Again, does anyone care anymore?
The book is also riddled with historical inaccuracies that should have been corrected if any kind of editing had been done on the copy (e.g. The Duke of Windsor did NOT become King Edward VIII; it was the other way around). I suppose this can be a fin book if you're amused by the antics of Euro-trash in the 1950's & 1960's and titillated by how they to bilk the American establishment, but these days the money and the accompanying are much bigger
Author William Stadiem is especially enamored with Igor & Oleg Cassini, who traded on their dubious European titles to fame and fortune - at least for a while - and he manages to squeeze one of both of their names into each chapter whether it's relevant or not. Again, does anyone care anymore?
The book is also riddled with historical inaccuracies that should have been corrected if any kind of editing had been done on the copy (e.g. The Duke of Windsor did NOT become King Edward VIII; it was the other way around). I suppose this can be a fin book if you're amused by the antics of Euro-trash in the 1950's & 1960's and titillated by how they to bilk the American establishment, but these days the money and the accompanying are much bigger
September 17, 2014
Too much set, not enough jet.
February 25, 2018
Trashy and pretentious, but kinda fun, and it’s not as if the reptiles in this book deserve better.
October 7, 2014
What an odd book. Based on the title, I thought it would be about the history of aviation - a fun, not-to-deep history. I wanted to learn more about how awesome flying on planes used to be and understand better why it sucks so much today. Instead, the book was a weird mishmash of truncated biographies about various people related, some very tangentially, to the rise of the airplane era.
It was interesting learning about Juan Trippe and the rise and fall of Pan Am but all of the information about the Cassini brothers seemed strange. At times it seemed like that author was writing a biography of Oleg and Igor Cassini rather than a book about aviation's glory years. And that big section about the Profumo Affair? For the life of me I could not figure out what the author's point was. Did he have any sort of outline at all? It reads like he was just winging it, writing down interesting facts as he came across them.
Ok, I did learn lots of pointless, fun factoids from this book. Ethel Merman was married to the founder of Continental Airlines, Bugsy Siegel was at a ritzy house party in Italy in the 1930's along with Goring and Goebbels and wanted to kill them both but was talked out of it, Alain Delon's body double was murdered in Paris and had his penis cut off and stuffed in his mouth - all wacky things to learn but not related to aviation's glory years.
I am dying to know who was the editor of this book and what they were smoking when they allowed this book to be published in the form it is in. It makes no sense.
It was interesting learning about Juan Trippe and the rise and fall of Pan Am but all of the information about the Cassini brothers seemed strange. At times it seemed like that author was writing a biography of Oleg and Igor Cassini rather than a book about aviation's glory years. And that big section about the Profumo Affair? For the life of me I could not figure out what the author's point was. Did he have any sort of outline at all? It reads like he was just winging it, writing down interesting facts as he came across them.
Ok, I did learn lots of pointless, fun factoids from this book. Ethel Merman was married to the founder of Continental Airlines, Bugsy Siegel was at a ritzy house party in Italy in the 1930's along with Goring and Goebbels and wanted to kill them both but was talked out of it, Alain Delon's body double was murdered in Paris and had his penis cut off and stuffed in his mouth - all wacky things to learn but not related to aviation's glory years.
I am dying to know who was the editor of this book and what they were smoking when they allowed this book to be published in the form it is in. It makes no sense.
September 13, 2015
Jet Set: The People (you don't care about), the planes (that are glossed over), the Glamour (which is alluded to), and the Romance (which is described in jarring, anachronistic prose).
Be forewarned, this is really about a dozen biographies of famous people tied loosely together because at one point or another, they flew on a jet.
Be forewarned, this is really about a dozen biographies of famous people tied loosely together because at one point or another, they flew on a jet.
May 28, 2014
I received this as a Goodreads First Reads win! This book was solid, but not what I expected it to be. From the cover and the blurb, I was under the impression that it would be an account of the glamorous life of pilots and stewardesses, but it wasn't at all. I think this book just took too much on. It began with a narrative of the early transatlantic flights and the tragic AirFrance crash outside of Paris, but then backtracked into the lives of celebrities...and honestly, I didn't care. I want to know more about the lives of those who worked for the airlines during this glamorous time, not those who flew. So, two stars. It was okay.
June 12, 2014
This was my very first First Reads win, and it was great fun! The author uses the development of the 707 to take the reader through the transition from the age of prop planes to the jet age. The threads we as readers follow include the history and evolution of the people composing the Jet Set, the people and personalities behind the then-major airlines, and the forces driving the airlines themselves. If you have even a passing interest in commercial aviation history, this is the book for you.
April 27, 2016
walking a fine line between technical and popular history, the book covers a lot of ground and highlights many events that are still to recent to be history but to far removed to be in (my) living memory.
February 4, 2016
Probably would have made a decent Vanity Fair article. Definitely didn't make for a decent book. Stadiem is a good writer, but that can't make up for the content, which is just vapid name-dropping and dull minutiae.
February 16, 2019
William Stadiem's book, "Jet Set: The People, the Planes, the Glamour, and the Romance in Aviation's Glory Years," was a history of the making of airplanes, the competition in making the bigger, fastest, and most glamorous and comfortable mode of travel for, first, the rich and famous, and then for anybody who could get a ticket.
The first two players with Douglass and Boeing. We learn that President John F. Kennedy was the first president who used airplanes for travel, along with movie stars like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, and many, many more.
Stadiem also shows us the competition between the Frommer and other travel guidebooks which not only influenced the travelers as to which airplanes to travel on (i.e., Pan Am or TWA, or United, Eastern, etc.), but also they influenced the travelers as to which hotels and restaurants to visit during their travels.
Later in the book Stadiem focuses on the negative influences that the age of flying gave society. These concerned safety (crashes), security vs. time spent going through the airport and getting on the plane. From here Stadiem goes further telling about the crime that airplanes brought on in a global, smaller world, i.e. high-jackings, violence, and "Ponzi" schemes like the Cornfield-Vesco money laundering stunts; and finally war-like outbursts when planes were blown up in the Mid-East, etc. In the latter section, I was quite surprised that Stadiem considered the Pan Am plane that was blown up in the 1970's as "the worst one yet." I was stunned that there was no mention about the terrible Pam Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, when many young students were returning home from their semesters abroad, and before they arrived home to waiting parents on the first day of Winter that they met death instead. This is a moment like 9/11 when airplanes flew into the World Trace Center and thousands were killed again. To Stadiem my comment is, "We Will Never Forget." and I wonder why he did not mention Pan Am 103 anywhere in his book?
Laura Cobrinik,
Boonton Township, NJ 07005
The first two players with Douglass and Boeing. We learn that President John F. Kennedy was the first president who used airplanes for travel, along with movie stars like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, and many, many more.
Stadiem also shows us the competition between the Frommer and other travel guidebooks which not only influenced the travelers as to which airplanes to travel on (i.e., Pan Am or TWA, or United, Eastern, etc.), but also they influenced the travelers as to which hotels and restaurants to visit during their travels.
Later in the book Stadiem focuses on the negative influences that the age of flying gave society. These concerned safety (crashes), security vs. time spent going through the airport and getting on the plane. From here Stadiem goes further telling about the crime that airplanes brought on in a global, smaller world, i.e. high-jackings, violence, and "Ponzi" schemes like the Cornfield-Vesco money laundering stunts; and finally war-like outbursts when planes were blown up in the Mid-East, etc. In the latter section, I was quite surprised that Stadiem considered the Pan Am plane that was blown up in the 1970's as "the worst one yet." I was stunned that there was no mention about the terrible Pam Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, when many young students were returning home from their semesters abroad, and before they arrived home to waiting parents on the first day of Winter that they met death instead. This is a moment like 9/11 when airplanes flew into the World Trace Center and thousands were killed again. To Stadiem my comment is, "We Will Never Forget." and I wonder why he did not mention Pan Am 103 anywhere in his book?
Laura Cobrinik,
Boonton Township, NJ 07005
November 17, 2024
As someone who genuinely loves Old Hollywood and the gossip of that era, I found this book to be immensely boring. While I understand the appeal for some readers, it didn’t hit the mark for me.
Pros
- Learning about the origins of jets: It was mildly interesting to learn about the development and history of planes, including the types of jets that defined the era.
- Igor Cassini’s drama: The section on Igor Cassini and his treasonous escapades caught my attention. It was fascinating to read about how he navigated the power plays of the time and ultimately became a cautionary example for the Kennedy administration. This part of the book made me want to find a biography specifically about him.
Cons
- Too much focus on planes: While I noticed some reviews from aviation enthusiasts saying the book didn’t focus enough on planes, I felt the opposite. There was too much technical information about planes and not enough juicy, campy, trashy gossip about the jet set crowd.
- Boring biographies of executives: The sections about the Delta and Pan Am moguls were dull and lacked the intrigue or flair to hold my interest.
- Missed opportunities for engaging content: The book seemed torn between appealing to aviation enthusiasts and lovers of scandalous Hollywood gossip. By trying to cater to both, it ended up feeling flat and unsatisfying for either group.
The book ultimately lacked the “meat” and excitement I was hoping for, especially given the dramatic potential of the jet set era. It didn’t deliver the kind of scandalous storytelling or engaging historical content I expected, leaving me bored enough to skim large sections. I think the author tried to serve two masters—aviation enthusiasts and gossip lovers—but ended up failing to satisfy either camp fully.
November 17, 2018
This was an alright book, worth reading once, but I don't think it is re-readable.
The books discusses the start of the Jet Age in travel, and how it became a status symbol. The status was not only being able to afford traveling on a jet, but also being able to go to Europe in a few hours. In addition to that, the famous started to scramble for their own private jet. Within the pages of the book the reader will see how jet travel came about, became a lifestyle, dealt with a number of scandals, and how the last "playboys" tried to keep this lifestyle so prevalent.
Ultimately, this is a book that each reader will need to read to decide if they enjoy it. As previously stated I feel that it is worth reading once. It just did not appeal to me, mostly because I thought the stories told came across as force, which made the reading more dragged out than it should have been, i would recommend this book to people who are interested in sociology and American history.
The books discusses the start of the Jet Age in travel, and how it became a status symbol. The status was not only being able to afford traveling on a jet, but also being able to go to Europe in a few hours. In addition to that, the famous started to scramble for their own private jet. Within the pages of the book the reader will see how jet travel came about, became a lifestyle, dealt with a number of scandals, and how the last "playboys" tried to keep this lifestyle so prevalent.
Ultimately, this is a book that each reader will need to read to decide if they enjoy it. As previously stated I feel that it is worth reading once. It just did not appeal to me, mostly because I thought the stories told came across as force, which made the reading more dragged out than it should have been, i would recommend this book to people who are interested in sociology and American history.
November 18, 2022
When I bought this, the part of the title about "Aviation's Glory Years" drew my eye. I didn't really pay much attention to the "Glamour and the Romance" part - which is I guess is on me because that turned out to be the lion's share of the book.
This was ostensibly about the creation of the 707 jet, which revolutionized flight and travel, cutting the trip to Europe in half.
But it was really more about the beautiful people, the movers and shakers, the stars and politicians, the models and musicians and journalists that were the real Jet Set. Because of this, it's as gossipy as the columnists the author writes about. Beautiful, shallow, powerful people and their conquests.
It goes on and on about famous people, using the 707 merely as a framing device to tell its tales of drunkenness, orgies and affairs.
I learned less about the development of the plane than I did about Zsa Zsa Gabor. No lie.
This was ostensibly about the creation of the 707 jet, which revolutionized flight and travel, cutting the trip to Europe in half.
But it was really more about the beautiful people, the movers and shakers, the stars and politicians, the models and musicians and journalists that were the real Jet Set. Because of this, it's as gossipy as the columnists the author writes about. Beautiful, shallow, powerful people and their conquests.
It goes on and on about famous people, using the 707 merely as a framing device to tell its tales of drunkenness, orgies and affairs.
I learned less about the development of the plane than I did about Zsa Zsa Gabor. No lie.
July 3, 2017
This book didn't really deliver on it's promise in the title. It gives almost equal devotion to the jets themselves and the histories of the individuals who created them, plus a general history of the era, that the actual people whom were considered "The Jet Set" are just barely sprinkled in to keep you reading. Ultimately, an okay read.
September 17, 2017
Read several chapters but lost interest as I'm not into old celebrity gossip.
The beginnings of international flights was worth reading. The Fielding vs Frommer guidebook section was the most interesting to me since we lived next door to Temple Fielding's son for a year or so, and even watched his dog.
The beginnings of international flights was worth reading. The Fielding vs Frommer guidebook section was the most interesting to me since we lived next door to Temple Fielding's son for a year or so, and even watched his dog.
March 8, 2018
After reading two books involving murder and mayhem, I was in the mood for a gossipy trifle like this one. Unfortunately, Stadiem's snarky wit was fun to start, but ended up getting on my nerves. I'd give this a 3.3
November 16, 2020
Too much about people, not enough about planes. I found most of the book confused and had difficulty following the different people’s stories. An American might have done better as it assumed a knowledge of American celebrities I didn’t have.
May 2, 2018
Surprisingly entertaining! Of course I'm more interested in the people than the planes, but this provided some fascinating pop culture insights to the Jet Set era.
July 9, 2019
I enjoyed learning about 1958-the start of the Jet Set. the beautiful ones and the just affluent ones.
October 4, 2019
Meticulous and often enjoyable, but gets bogged down in its own tangents and circles about certain celebs or businessmen to tell a coherent narrative that keeps you going all through.
December 9, 2019
While I liked the two subject matters, the bouncing around was a bit too much to follow. Had they done the history on the planes and then the celebs, it might have been easier to keep track.
November 27, 2014
Today, jetting off to a far-flung locale for either work or pleasure is not uncommon; we can get from Winnipeg to Europe in a matter of hours, not days.
But before 1958, commercial passenger flights were beyond the means of most middle-class North American families. Reserved for those who could afford it, most people could only dream of taking a flight to an exotic destination.
The introduction of affordable air passenger services in the late 1950s and early 1960s brought the glamour of speedy air travel to the masses. In Jet Set: The People, the Planes, the Glamour, and the Romance in Aviation's Glory Years, bestselling author and mid-century social historian William Stadiem deftly examines the first glamorous years of commercial air travel.
The creation of the Boeing 707 was key to the development of passenger air travel. In October 1958, Pan Am launched a regular passenger air service between New York and Paris, making the trip in less than eight hours. Prices were kept low, making it possible for middle-class Americans to make the trip.
Inevitably, comparisons to Mad Men storylines will spring to mind, but Stadiem uses his legal and screenwriting backgrounds to take the book deeper into the historical record, digging past the newspaper headlines of the day. He outlines the technical and creative battles between the major airlines racing to be the first to offer commercial jet flights and introducing the major players of the jet set themselves.
Stadiem notes the importance of "the division between the Jet, which was business, and the Set, which was social." While businessmen had made global travel by plane possible, the celebrities that "populated the slopes of Gstaad, the topless beaches of San Tropez, the tables of Maxim's, the dance floor at Regine's and... the gossip columns of the world" built the fantasy of jet travel.
Fuelled by stories from gossip columnists such as Maury Paul, Elsa Maxwell and Igor Cassini, the public was captivated by the antics and undertakings of the "beautiful people." Now, they too could venture abroad for the first time, following the footsteps of the jet set. These tourists began to rely on the advice of others to make their way in an unfamiliar city, and travel guides became big business, as did hotels that catered to American expectations.
Stadiem presents the warts-and-all version of events, traipsing behind the scenes and revealing the dirty laundry between almost everyone, including Conrad Hilton, Juan Trippe of Pan Am and even John F. Kennedy. From aviation executives and travel writers to Hollywood starlets and Main Line debutantes, he seamlessly winds these smaller stories together to bring the big picture into focus.
By the late 1960s, the rise of terrorism and the fall of the playboy lifestyle brought an end to the reign of the jet set. Stadiem seems more pragmatic than mournful about the end of the age, noting: "The problem for the Jet Set was that... it was simply too aristocratic for an increasingly democratic and meritocratic world."
Jet Set brings back the ambience of the golden age of air travel and makes one wish for that kind of excitement and glamour on every plane ride.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 5, 2014 G8
But before 1958, commercial passenger flights were beyond the means of most middle-class North American families. Reserved for those who could afford it, most people could only dream of taking a flight to an exotic destination.
The introduction of affordable air passenger services in the late 1950s and early 1960s brought the glamour of speedy air travel to the masses. In Jet Set: The People, the Planes, the Glamour, and the Romance in Aviation's Glory Years, bestselling author and mid-century social historian William Stadiem deftly examines the first glamorous years of commercial air travel.
The creation of the Boeing 707 was key to the development of passenger air travel. In October 1958, Pan Am launched a regular passenger air service between New York and Paris, making the trip in less than eight hours. Prices were kept low, making it possible for middle-class Americans to make the trip.
Inevitably, comparisons to Mad Men storylines will spring to mind, but Stadiem uses his legal and screenwriting backgrounds to take the book deeper into the historical record, digging past the newspaper headlines of the day. He outlines the technical and creative battles between the major airlines racing to be the first to offer commercial jet flights and introducing the major players of the jet set themselves.
Stadiem notes the importance of "the division between the Jet, which was business, and the Set, which was social." While businessmen had made global travel by plane possible, the celebrities that "populated the slopes of Gstaad, the topless beaches of San Tropez, the tables of Maxim's, the dance floor at Regine's and... the gossip columns of the world" built the fantasy of jet travel.
Fuelled by stories from gossip columnists such as Maury Paul, Elsa Maxwell and Igor Cassini, the public was captivated by the antics and undertakings of the "beautiful people." Now, they too could venture abroad for the first time, following the footsteps of the jet set. These tourists began to rely on the advice of others to make their way in an unfamiliar city, and travel guides became big business, as did hotels that catered to American expectations.
Stadiem presents the warts-and-all version of events, traipsing behind the scenes and revealing the dirty laundry between almost everyone, including Conrad Hilton, Juan Trippe of Pan Am and even John F. Kennedy. From aviation executives and travel writers to Hollywood starlets and Main Line debutantes, he seamlessly winds these smaller stories together to bring the big picture into focus.
By the late 1960s, the rise of terrorism and the fall of the playboy lifestyle brought an end to the reign of the jet set. Stadiem seems more pragmatic than mournful about the end of the age, noting: "The problem for the Jet Set was that... it was simply too aristocratic for an increasingly democratic and meritocratic world."
Jet Set brings back the ambience of the golden age of air travel and makes one wish for that kind of excitement and glamour on every plane ride.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 5, 2014 G8
May 30, 2014
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. My copy was an Advance Uncorrected Proof, and there will be considerable changes made to the final product, due to be in stores June 2014.
This is a chatty history of the period from 1958, the introduction of the 707 passenger jet, through approximately 1970, the heyday of fast, easy and almost affordable travel between the United States and Europe. The book opens with an account of the Cháteau de Sully crash in 1962, the worst blow to Atlanta, Georgia’s society since General Sherman, as a 707 crashed in Paris with most of the Atlanta Art Association aboard.
But most of the book is less about the ordinary travelers of the period, or even the pilots and crew of the jets. Instead, we get short biographies of the movers and shakers of the jet aircraft industry and airlines, the glitterati who made up the “Set” even before jets were added, and the various hoteliers, restaurateurs, movie folks and gossip columnists that gave the era much of its glamour.
It’s very much a “six degrees” book, with Celebrity A having been married to Model B, who then married Executive C, who attended parties for Movie Star D…There’s a lot of name-dropping. Often, the narrative will flit through three or four different tangents before coming back to the story the chapter is telling.
There was an awful lot of sex going on in the Jet Set, it seems, with many of the people discussed having three or four spouses, and twice as many affairs. Also a lot of sexism. While there are stories of a few notable women who managed to beat the odds, becoming successful and influential in the society world, the Jet Set was not a hotbed of the Women’s Lib movement, which was going on elsewhere.
By the end of the time period discussed, a number of factors killed off the Jet Set era; skyjacking, inflation, the aging out, imprisonment or death of many playboys, and the youth movement making “cool” more important than “smooth.” The final chapter describes the fate of many of the main people discussed.
There’s a scattering of black and white photos, and in the finished product there will be a bibliography and index.
The book’s style tends towards the gossipy, with more sober chunks interspersed. I’d recommend it more for the casual reader who is nostalgic for the era, or would like to know what it was all about, than the serious scholar.
This is a chatty history of the period from 1958, the introduction of the 707 passenger jet, through approximately 1970, the heyday of fast, easy and almost affordable travel between the United States and Europe. The book opens with an account of the Cháteau de Sully crash in 1962, the worst blow to Atlanta, Georgia’s society since General Sherman, as a 707 crashed in Paris with most of the Atlanta Art Association aboard.
But most of the book is less about the ordinary travelers of the period, or even the pilots and crew of the jets. Instead, we get short biographies of the movers and shakers of the jet aircraft industry and airlines, the glitterati who made up the “Set” even before jets were added, and the various hoteliers, restaurateurs, movie folks and gossip columnists that gave the era much of its glamour.
It’s very much a “six degrees” book, with Celebrity A having been married to Model B, who then married Executive C, who attended parties for Movie Star D…There’s a lot of name-dropping. Often, the narrative will flit through three or four different tangents before coming back to the story the chapter is telling.
There was an awful lot of sex going on in the Jet Set, it seems, with many of the people discussed having three or four spouses, and twice as many affairs. Also a lot of sexism. While there are stories of a few notable women who managed to beat the odds, becoming successful and influential in the society world, the Jet Set was not a hotbed of the Women’s Lib movement, which was going on elsewhere.
By the end of the time period discussed, a number of factors killed off the Jet Set era; skyjacking, inflation, the aging out, imprisonment or death of many playboys, and the youth movement making “cool” more important than “smooth.” The final chapter describes the fate of many of the main people discussed.
There’s a scattering of black and white photos, and in the finished product there will be a bibliography and index.
The book’s style tends towards the gossipy, with more sober chunks interspersed. I’d recommend it more for the casual reader who is nostalgic for the era, or would like to know what it was all about, than the serious scholar.
February 24, 2017
Interesting in parts, but some of the "gossip column" forays got a little long and boring to me. Overall it was interesting.
April 20, 2014
Jet Set is a very ambitious look at the age of the Boeing 707, from its first flight in 1957 to the end of its production in 1979. The 707 was the first passenger jet that was commercially successful and it was the symbol of the Jet Age and the Jet Set. Author William Stadiem writes about the development of the aircraft as well as the major role that Pan Am played in creating, or at least catering to, the Jet Set.
The book is about much more than the airplane itself or the airline -- Stadiem tried to capture the atmosphere of the time by imitating the style of the most popular gossip columnists of the time, so the tone is often breezy and irreverent. You might suspect that the author was sipping champagne as he wrote.
While the gossip column style is fun for the length of a column, it begins to wear thin for a book-length narrative. Still, Stadiem has crammed a lot of information into the book. I was interested to read about the 707 and Pan Am, as well as the advertising campaigns. He writes about hotel mogul Conrad Hilton, about airline deregulation and the rise and fall of Freddy Laker, the Profumo Affair, French movie star Alain Delon, and much more. I was less captivated by the glamorous personalities of the time such as Frank Sinatra and Oleg Cassini and his brother, gossip columnist Igor. There are many of these characters and much about their hijinks, but old gossip is old gossip and it has limited interest.
I liked reading about travel guide writer Temple Fielding, who wrote for upper middle class James Bond wanna-be's, those who wanted to know the best restaurants and how to find "entertainment" for gentlemen. Then there was Arthur Frommer, who appealed to an entirely different demographic, the budget traveler.
As you can see, Jet Set covers a lot of ground, but doesn't go too deep. So if you don't care about celebrity scandals of the past, you can skip past and learn a little about the rise of hijacking in the 70s or the relative costs of airline travel today compared with fifty years ago. Three stars.
The book is about much more than the airplane itself or the airline -- Stadiem tried to capture the atmosphere of the time by imitating the style of the most popular gossip columnists of the time, so the tone is often breezy and irreverent. You might suspect that the author was sipping champagne as he wrote.
While the gossip column style is fun for the length of a column, it begins to wear thin for a book-length narrative. Still, Stadiem has crammed a lot of information into the book. I was interested to read about the 707 and Pan Am, as well as the advertising campaigns. He writes about hotel mogul Conrad Hilton, about airline deregulation and the rise and fall of Freddy Laker, the Profumo Affair, French movie star Alain Delon, and much more. I was less captivated by the glamorous personalities of the time such as Frank Sinatra and Oleg Cassini and his brother, gossip columnist Igor. There are many of these characters and much about their hijinks, but old gossip is old gossip and it has limited interest.
I liked reading about travel guide writer Temple Fielding, who wrote for upper middle class James Bond wanna-be's, those who wanted to know the best restaurants and how to find "entertainment" for gentlemen. Then there was Arthur Frommer, who appealed to an entirely different demographic, the budget traveler.
As you can see, Jet Set covers a lot of ground, but doesn't go too deep. So if you don't care about celebrity scandals of the past, you can skip past and learn a little about the rise of hijacking in the 70s or the relative costs of airline travel today compared with fifty years ago. Three stars.
June 22, 2014
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
Jet Set: The People, the Planes, and the Romance in Aviation's Glroy Years tells us exactly that, and in that order or importance. It's mostly about the people: from Frank Sinatra and his anthem "Come Fly With Me" to Juan Trippe of Pan Am, to the gossip rags, movie stars, and socialites of Atlanta and New York. This isn't a coffee table picture book or a technical manual of airplanes from the 1960s; this is a fully researched look at the era, people first.
The book is comprehensive and well researched and I greatly enjoyed the writing and tone of the author. What cold have been a drone of facts and technical instead becomes a conversationally friendly recount of everything about the jet age. It's like having an Uncle who lived through the period giving his memories - sure, they deviate and side track a lot but that ends up making it much more personal and endearing as a result.
I typically have a lot of questions raised when reading an informative book like this. But with Jet Set, the only thing I used Google for was to see the pictures of the interesting people, places, and of course planes.
As the title suggests, this really is mostly about the people first. The planes, the glamour, and the romance are products of the incredible personalities of the time (from airplane engineers to the new tourist). The author's point of view is that anything that came from the era, came from the people who lived and breathed and worked their own particular magics at the time. That is the story (or stories) that he wants to tell.
Reviewed as an ARC.
April 7, 2014
The Twentieth Century was the first time that there was a world-wide culture. People all over the world could read about the lives of the rich and famous. Being a “celebrity” became a vocation all on its’ own. Those who were to become the “Jet Set” or the “Beautiful People” were the product and creation of the “Mass Media”. In America as well as in Europe, the growth of the “Tabloid Press” led to what was later referred to as “Gossip Columnists” and today is seen on nightly TV as “Entertainment Tonight” and “TMV”.
The early celebrities were the rich tycoons (Vanderbilt and the Robber Barons) and the ‘real aristocracy’. After WW1 the ‘Stars and Starlets’ of the ‘silver screen’ were added to Generation” (Hemingway and Fitzgerald). After WW2 they were mostly American millionaires and heiresses. The advent of the first commercial jet (Boeing 707) was to make Pan Am “the” airline of the stars and the wealthy. Along with the building of “American” style hotels all over Europe, travel was now “the” thing to do.
This book is the story of those people who built the planes, airlines and hotels and the people who made them the ‘place to be’. With the rise of the middle class in America, everyone wanted to go where the ‘beautiful people’ went. Overnight, small fishing villages in Spain and Italy, became “the” place to go, because that’s where the “rich” went.
But it wasn’t that long (only twenty years) before the “real rich” didn’t want to be where the “regular” people were. Now towns that had catered to the rich and famous, catered to the semi-wealthy, while the rich went places (in their private jets) that the ‘others’ couldn’t get to such as private islands and resorts. But if you want to know where it was ‘happening’ in the late fifties and sixties, and who ‘they’ were, it’s all in here. Fasten your seat belt it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Zeb Kantrowitz
The early celebrities were the rich tycoons (Vanderbilt and the Robber Barons) and the ‘real aristocracy’. After WW1 the ‘Stars and Starlets’ of the ‘silver screen’ were added to Generation” (Hemingway and Fitzgerald). After WW2 they were mostly American millionaires and heiresses. The advent of the first commercial jet (Boeing 707) was to make Pan Am “the” airline of the stars and the wealthy. Along with the building of “American” style hotels all over Europe, travel was now “the” thing to do.
This book is the story of those people who built the planes, airlines and hotels and the people who made them the ‘place to be’. With the rise of the middle class in America, everyone wanted to go where the ‘beautiful people’ went. Overnight, small fishing villages in Spain and Italy, became “the” place to go, because that’s where the “rich” went.
But it wasn’t that long (only twenty years) before the “real rich” didn’t want to be where the “regular” people were. Now towns that had catered to the rich and famous, catered to the semi-wealthy, while the rich went places (in their private jets) that the ‘others’ couldn’t get to such as private islands and resorts. But if you want to know where it was ‘happening’ in the late fifties and sixties, and who ‘they’ were, it’s all in here. Fasten your seat belt it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Zeb Kantrowitz
May 4, 2016
I feel that, as a historical account goes, Jet Set sets a pretty ambitious goal for itself. It tries to cover so many people and places and such a large amount of time that you wonder if it wouldn't have been better to narrow down to a more specific area or even just split this into more than one volume.
This was a good read if not an extremely laborious one. Ironically, I think I started reading this right after spring break when I'd been on at least four different planes. I swore planes off forever in that moment, and then the next day I start reading this. What a nutcase I am. Disregarding my mental state, one of my problems with Jet Set is the lack of coherent narration. It did seem to follow a timeline at least, but it jumped from one person and tangent to another and with so much information that an overload is occasionally possible. I also didn't like the fact that the pictures were published right on the page, but that could've been just a quirk of my ARC. I did get bored by the business aspect of the airline industry. I know it might be important in the grand scheme of this account, but some of those details could've been cut for pacing and organization.
Honestly, as a whole, I think there is nothing wrong with Jet Set that couldn't be fixed with some serious editing. The writing and storytelling are solid, and Stadiem is a genuinely good nonfiction writer. What Jet Set really needs is the subtle eye of a good editor. Hopefully the published copy is better. Thanks to Ballantine Books and Goodreads for the free ARC!
This was a good read if not an extremely laborious one. Ironically, I think I started reading this right after spring break when I'd been on at least four different planes. I swore planes off forever in that moment, and then the next day I start reading this. What a nutcase I am. Disregarding my mental state, one of my problems with Jet Set is the lack of coherent narration. It did seem to follow a timeline at least, but it jumped from one person and tangent to another and with so much information that an overload is occasionally possible. I also didn't like the fact that the pictures were published right on the page, but that could've been just a quirk of my ARC. I did get bored by the business aspect of the airline industry. I know it might be important in the grand scheme of this account, but some of those details could've been cut for pacing and organization.
Honestly, as a whole, I think there is nothing wrong with Jet Set that couldn't be fixed with some serious editing. The writing and storytelling are solid, and Stadiem is a genuinely good nonfiction writer. What Jet Set really needs is the subtle eye of a good editor. Hopefully the published copy is better. Thanks to Ballantine Books and Goodreads for the free ARC!
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