South America by Air!

[Ad Orientem]

An early travel infomercial from Pan American World Airways
http://youtu.be/IbpcxRrj1YY

Unlike today, air travel in the 1930's was exotic, adventurous and occasionally a little dangerous. Before World War II produced an explosion in airfield construction all over the globe there were relatively few decent commercial airports and runways outside of the United States and Europe. But with 75% of the world's surface covered in water you had a great natural runway that had low maintenance costs. Thus the 1930's was the golden age of the passenger flying boats. Some of the later models were akin to airborne ocean liners complete with lounge and cocktail bar, smoking room, dining room with seven course first class cuisine served on real china and sleeping cabins with Pullman berths. It was also an expensive way to travel with a one way ticket from San Francisco to Manilla on the famous China Clippers in 1938 running over $700! (By contrast you could sail to Europe first class on the Queen Mary for about half that.)

But it got you there in less than four days instead of the more normal ten plus days by trans-Pacific passenger ship.

[WildAboutHarry]

Cool stuff.

For a fictionalized account of this kind of travel, try Ken Follett's Night Over Water