News — Airline Time Machine

New at Airline Time Machine - Twinjet Swizzle Stick Sets in six colors! Capturing the classic shape of a T-tail twinjet, our acrylic swizzle sticks are an outstanding gift (for yourself or another cocktail aficionado!) for stirring a refreshing beverage, capturing a cherry or olive in your glass, or using as a sturdy skewer for loading up Bloody Mary additions. Available in sets of four, these acrylic swizzles are approximately 6 inches long, with a 1.8 inch wingspan for the decorative aircraft shape. Laser cut, dishwasher safe, designed and crafted in the United States, and available now!

A recent order for Mohawk Airlines vintage-style swizzle sticks reminded me of the lasting power that a departed airline can have for those who worked there, flew the airline, or just admired it or were otherwise influenced by it. In the case of Mohawk, the airline left the skies 49 years ago when it was acquired by Allegheny Airlines, but orders keep coming for nostalgia items that recall the Mohawk story and influence on the airline's service area and the broader aviation industry. Mohawk was the first United States local service airline to end DC-3 use in the early 1960s,...

We received a tremendous suggestion from one of our Instagram followers, who wanted to re-create the crew tags his parents had used when they both worked for a small U.S. airline 20+ years ago. That request has resulted in a new series of old school crew-style bag tags for retro airlines. Back in the day, crew member luggage often carried special "Crew" tags, to identify those bags for special handling, proper loading by porters or hotel staff, and even expedited Customs/Immigration clearance. Like I mentioned - back in the day! The modern interpretation we've drawn up includes an artistic interpretation...

I'm launching Airline Time Machine because I couldn't find a place to buy something I wanted. It's that simple. Selfish? A bit. Foolish? Most likely. Profitable? Remains to be seen. And this powerful need that I identified is pretty niche - memorabilia that recalls and honors airlines that are no longer in business. Building on decades of collecting airline marketing materials and promotional items, along with many years working in the airline and airline technology fields, I started this project with a few Instagram posts featuring what I felt were interesting or unusual pieces of airline history from my collection....