National Air and Space Museum Archives

Velma Maul Tanzer Scrapbook

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.2005.0036
Creators:
Tanzer, Velma Maul, 1911-1990
Dates:
bulk 1933-1983
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.29 Cubic feet
1 box
Repository:
This collection consists of Velma Maul Tanzer's scrapbook which documents her career as flight attendant with American Airlines, 1933-1936.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of Velma Maul Tanzer's 10 x 14 inch brown scrapbook which documents her career as flight attendant (Stewardess and Chief Stewardess) with American Airlines, 1933-1936. The scrapbook includes the following material: 8 X 10 inch American Airline publicity shots; newspaper articles; correspondence and a telegram; the passenger list for the first flight Chicago-New York direct service; American Airways brochure, "Travel Log for American Airways New York to Chicago;" a 1933 American Airlines menu; and American Airlines tickets. The collection also includes the following: later newspaper articles on Tanzer and American Airlines; American Airlines Kiwi Club documentation, including a few issues of the Kiwi Kaleidoscope (Kiwi newsletter) and a 1966 menu from the Kiwi Club in 1966; a few issues of the Flagship News, the American Airlines Employee newsletter; Tanzer's flight diary from April 17 - September 6, 1933; and a 12 x 13 inch color-tinted photograph of an American Airlines Curtiss Condor.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Arranged by type.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Velma Maul Tanzer (1911-1990) was born in Alton, IL. She attended high school in Burlington, IA and received nurses' training at Chicago's Jackson Park Hospital in 1933. Later that year, Tanzer joined American Airways as one of its first four stewardesses, rising to the level of chief stewardess. She remained with the company until 1936, and then went to work for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Los Angeles as a visiting nurse. After her stint with Metropolitan Life, she became a nursing supervisor at Frances Shimer Junior College in Mount Carroll, IL. In 1942, Tanzer joined the Army Nurse Corps with the rank of Second Lieutenant. She was assigned to Bushnell General Hospital in Brigham City, UT, where she met Radford Tanzer, a plastic surgeon who she married in December of 1943. Velma Maul Tanzer was assigned to the 104th Evacuation Hospital in Bend, Oregon, before being transferred to England in 1944 and serving one year in the European Theater. In 1946, the Tanzers were released from military duty and moved to Hanover, New Hampshire. Velma Maul Tanzer was a member of the American Airlines Kiwi Club.

Administration

Author
Patti Williams
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Jonathan Battle, Gift, 2005, NASM.2005.0036
Processing Information
Arranged, described, and encoded by Patti Williams, 2019.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access.
Preferred Citation
Velma Maul Tanzer Scrapbook, NASM.2005.0036, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Flight attendants Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aeronautics, Commercial Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
American Airlines Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Air and Space Museum Archives
14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151
NASMRefDesk@si.edu