Southern Airways Vintage-style Swizzle Stick Set

Operating for 30 years beginning in 1949, Southern Airways initially relied on a fleet of DC-3s to connect small cities across the U.S. southeast to Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, and New Orleans. Fleet expansion came in 1961 with more than 20 Martin 404 airliners, acquired from Eastern Airlines. Southern’s first jets were DC-9-10s, supplemented later with -30 models.

From the early 1970s, Southern developed its route map with extensions to New York, Washington, Florida, Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis, though usually with a government-mandated route restriction, such as New Orleans to Minneapolis with three enroute stops, or  New York/La Guardia to Birmingham via Greenville, South Carolina.

In 1979, Southern merged with North Central Airlines to create Republic Airlines, by which time Southern had built up a connecting hub at Memphis, had finally acquired beneficial medium-haul nonstop routes,and operated an international service to Grand Cayman. 

An artistic interpretation of the airline's branding is laser-engraved onto an acrylic swizzle stick, and each swizzle stick measures approximately 5.7 inches in length, with a material thickness of 1/8 inch. The acrylic material used to manufacture these swizzles is suitable for use in beverages, but the sticks should be hand washed only, using regular dish soap, then hand dried.

This set of four swizzle sticks has been produced in four colors: Stratosphere Blue, Idlewild Green, Acapulco Gold, and Crystal Starry Sky. The choice of a mix of colors, or all four sticks in one color, is up to you! For good readability, the design is engraved as a reversed mirror image on one side of the swizzle stick material, so that it can be viewed with proper alignment on the opposite side.

While these have been created today as our interpretations of original vintage swizzle sticks, their mid-century look and feel make them a great addition to your airline or retro collectibles, or they can go to work as ideal enhancements to the beverages you're serving!