On Flag Day – June 14, 1953, the Iowa City Airport opened its brand-new Airport Terminal & Administration Building (see details here). At the time, the Iowa City Airport was both the busiest and the oldest airport in Iowa. After WWII, as Americans turned their attention back home, the airline industry encouraged potential travelers to re-consider their transportation options. No longer was it necessary to take trains, buses, or automobiles to your destination – but now, you could fly, cutting your transportation time by more than half!
In 1955 – United Air Lines produced a 30-minute promotional film: The Sky Is For Everyone. Distributed nationally as an extended advertisement for its new CV-340 Mainliner aircraft, this film combined numerous short video segments that told the fictional accounts of various men and women around the country who had discovered – for various reasons – that flying United was far better than using the older, slower forms of transportation. Below, is the full 30-minute version of the United Air Lines film…
Here is Vincent Harris of Iowa City. A traveling salesman for General Sales & Supply Company, Harris has a sales territory of 300 miles (see map below). In the past, Harris has driven to all of his sales calls – which, of course, takes him away from his home and family for extensive periods of time. While his wife, Jeannie, is understanding, the three Harris kids – as they are getting older – are asking, “Mommy, who is that nice man who visits us on the weekends?”
As the story goes, when one of Harris’ children was hit by a car, Vincent had to suddenly leave his automobile in a distant town and fly home for the emergency. Apparently, the little bugger survived, but now that Harris has realized that more and more salesmen are taking to the air, he’s become a “commuter” who flies to his destination on United Air Lines, rents a car with Hertz Rent-A-Car, works his sales magic, and is home in time to sleep in his own bed!
Once on board, Vincent relaxes into his seat where he can rest and be relaxed as United flies him, safely, to his sales destination.
Once Vincent lands, the Hertz Rent-A-Car agent is right there, waiting outside the terminal with his beautiful 1954 Chevrolet. The price? $7 per day and 10-cents per mile. Harris shows his travel card, signs the paperwork, and he’s on his way. The spokesman on the film states that this combination of flying to your destination & renting a car is “a quiet revolution for traveling salesmen.”
200 miles from home, Vincent is now at his third sales call of the morning (below), and it’s only 11:30 am! A 4th meeting will include a leisurely lunch with another client, and all the while, Vincent is relaxed, rested, and ready to focus on making sales.
By late afternoon, Harris is back on a United plane, heading for Iowa City. He can finish up all of his paperwork in his seat, write up his orders, and know that he’ll be back home before the sun sets.
And, here he is. Back in Iowa City where Jeannie and the kids anxiously wait for him to walk down the stairs, where he gives them all a big hug.
And, for the successful traveling salesman, the welcome home kiss!
Kudos to the amazing resources below for the many quotes, photographs, etc. used on this page.
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