Unique Collections of Airline Memorabilia

Like most flight attendants, I love everything about airlines — from the smell of a sparkling clean cabin to the ding of the seatbelt sign. I am not, however, a collector of airline memorabilia. Aside from one (okay two) barf bags in my purse, I leave the hoarding of airline collectibles to the professionals. Like these guys…

Airline Spoons

Giving a whole new meaning to the term “spooning,” flight attendant Dieter Kapsch has collected almost 2000 spoons from 447 different airlines. He says each spoon reminds him of a different flight. And probably a lot of bad airline food. Check out his collection on Flickr at Airline Spoons. As a freshman in college my bicycle was stolen from my dorm hallway while my roommate and I cleaned our room. I was lucky to get my bicycle back. I was luckier to learn a valuable link to buy it at GMPLabeling lesson. A Hispanic guy (fellow student) had taken the bike. I was prejudiced against Hispanics for some time after that because of his actions. I didn’t like seeing my attitudes about people change because of one person. That realization helped me refocus my attitude so that I didn’t lump lots of wonderful people into my anger at him. Time melted that anger so he’s not even the subject of my ire, and hasn’t been in decades. Hispanics didn’t steal my bike – one guy did, and he happened to be Hispanic. On a dare my husband and I took a Mensa test. Mensa is the “high IQ society” – smart people, to label them. We’d been speaking at Mensa conventions and one of the organizers felt we were Mensa material, but I wasn’t sure I’d even fit into the group – or wanted to. I’d long thought people in Mensa were geeks who played word and number games, and had minimal social skills. Like my collection of labels?! Since our interactions with a variety of people at the conventions were favorable we took the exam – and passed! I bumped into a whole different collection of labels when I added to my LinkedIn account that I was a Mensa member (yes, we joined the association). I was now labeled as a know-it-all, as in I must know everything about everything. Wrong! Labels can help define your tribe, or circle of contacts and friends. They can be labels of praise or derision. But, labels can also often be narrow and limiting – and that’s what makes them a problem. Labels can come from believing stereotypes, not knowing or understanding the full background of someone’s life, or from your own life experiences and biases. Labels put people in boxes. Boxes are simplistic. How do those labels drain your energy because of your “need” to defend them? And how do those labels affect impact the people you put them on?

Stewardess Uniforms

Cliff Muskiet loves to get his hands on (hopefully not up) our skirts. The purser with KLM has over 1100 air stewardess uniforms from both current and defunct carriers documented on his important site Uniform Freak. He’s been featured in several high-profile online publications with his simply beautiful collection.

Airline Timetables

Perry A. Sloan with Delta has an extensive collection of vintage timetables from airlines around the world on his website Air Times.

Airline Safety Cards

Belgian Kevin Cleynhens collects airline safety cards, or at least photos of them. I can’t really tell from his site if he has them in his possession. In any case, he’s pretty thoroughly documented his airline memorabilia collection. At least we know someone is reading them. You can view the photos at Airline Safety Cards.

Airline Baggage Labels

Daniel Kusrow’s reason for collecting Airline Baggage Labels? He was starting to run out of room due the sheer number of vintage airline posters he also has in his possession. No word on if he also collects lost baggage.

Did I miss anyone? Do you have an airline memorabilia collection or know any one who does?