Qantas safety cards from the past

REMEMBER Furbies? They were banned, along with pagers. And how dare you bring a calculator on board? These amusing old leaflets show just how far we’ve come.

It’s the item on a plane most often ignored by regular flyers. The safety card — with all its line diagrams of what to do in case of emergency — remains a regular fixture in the seat back pocket, despite few passengers bothering to look at them.

If you want to see just how much things have changed over the years, however, you need to look no further than safety cards of years gone by.

Not only do they reveal the changing technology through the decades, but also the changing attitudes and standards throughout the ages.

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Flying first-class with Qantas in 1971. Picture: Qantas

In a recent blog post, Qantas has dug up some of its safety cards from the past, which range from the hilarious to the downright strange.

Remember when Furbies were a thing? And pagers, radios (on a flight?) and walkie talkies? Well, none of these were to be used at any time during a flight, according to this sign:

Don’t play with a Furby during a flight. Picture: Qantas

And don’t even think about pulling out that digital calculator to work out your next tax return during takeoff or landing either.

Also, be sure to take your cigarette out of your mouth before you put on your oxygen mask. And don’t forget to put the oxygen mask on your baby as well, because it’s the first breath of non second-hand smoke he’s had on the entire flight.

Don’t smoke and put on your oxygen mask at the same time. Picture: Qantas

At least these relatively modern cards have minimised the use of words. Going back a bit further, the safety cards were probably your in-flight entertainment, so they were somewhat more of a lengthy read than a simplified diagram.

It’s just like a playground slide. Picture: Qantas

This one is even bilingual, though you can see the beginnings of trying to make the diagrams more relatable, likening the evacuation of a plane to a playground slide. How the children of yesteryear must have yearned for an emergency landing.

Getting rid of the five o’clock shadow at the Qantas in-flight shave bar in the 1970s. Picture: Qantas

The 1950s was an even stranger time, though, going by its safety cards. Gentlemen were asked to remove their neck ties and ladies had to leave their jewellery behind before entering the life raft. Oh yeah, ditch those false teeth as well, or you’re on your own.

A very wordy explanation of what to do in a water landing. Picture: Qantas

Not sure how many passengers would have read it, however, as most probably wouldn’t have been able to get past the cover.

Ditching is like its own holiday. Picture: Qantas

With mermaids, fishing and pipe smoking, ditching has never looked so much fun. Clearly, there’s something for everyone — except the missus. There’s even a menu, though we’re not too sure where the life raft food service is coming from.

Qantas retro safety cards.

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