Airline nostalgia is a hobby of many hobbyists out in the travel world. I know that I’ve got an unwrapped deck of NWA playing cards from a 747 flight before the airline merged with Delta, and others I’ve met have collected things ranging from silverware to barf bags to life vests.
Never, however, have I seen someone collect an entire first class cabin.
As it turns out, it can be done. Anthony Toth, a sales director at United Airlines has been working on his mock-up of a Pan-Am first class cabin for twenty years. Reconstructed in his Los Angeles garage with original vintage and reconstructed materials, the model is a near replica of the Pan-Am cabins from yore, down to the flatware, seat covers and almonds.
Right now he uses the $50,000 investment to host friends and colleagues from United, but some day Mr Toth hopes to turn the mock-up into a museum. With the broad legacy that Pan-Am has left upon the current airline world, it would be a shame for it to be used otherwise.
Check out the Wall St. Journal link below for actual pictures.