big old jet airliner
Though technically outdated now, of course, those early TransAtlantic passenger jets of nearly sixty years ago still manage to look modern and contemporary-----at least to my eyes!
And that is, you'd have to say, a tribute to the functionality of their design. Contrast the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC8 with the CARS of that era (let's say, a 1958 Oldsmobile or Buick). I say 'contrast' because there's really no comparison. Those bulky, lumbering, chrome-laden automobiles were styled in hopes of catching the fickle fancies of the car-buying public and, in GM's case, they missed the mark. With the jets, form followed function much more closely, and it shows. From a strictly aesthetic perspective, a good design is always a good design. Think of a Fender Stratocaster or Telecaster guitar-----forms originating in the early 1950s and STILL being produced and copied. * * * * *
I find it kind of interesting, though, that Douglas found it advisable to advertise these aircraft. That must have been a fairly unique circumstance. I mean, it's not like the passenger had any say in the matter-----the airlines had already decided which planes they'd fly. Maybe it was an attempt to calm the nerves of certain older travelers suspicious of them newfangled flying machines with no propellers!
big old jet airliner
Though technically outdated now, of course, those early TransAtlantic passenger jets of nearly sixty years ago still manage to look modern and contemporary-----at least to my eyes!
And that is, you'd have to say, a tribute to the functionality of their design. Contrast the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC8 with the CARS of that era (let's say, a 1958 Oldsmobile or Buick). I say 'contrast' because there's really no comparison. Those bulky, lumbering, chrome-laden automobiles were styled in hopes of catching the fickle fancies of the car-buying public and, in GM's case, they missed the mark. With the jets, form followed function much more closely, and it shows. From a strictly aesthetic perspective, a good design is always a good design. Think of a Fender Stratocaster or Telecaster guitar-----forms originating in the early 1950s and STILL being produced and copied. * * * * *
I find it kind of interesting, though, that Douglas found it advisable to advertise these aircraft. That must have been a fairly unique circumstance. I mean, it's not like the passenger had any say in the matter-----the airlines had already decided which planes they'd fly. Maybe it was an attempt to calm the nerves of certain older travelers suspicious of them newfangled flying machines with no propellers!