San Diego Air & Space Museum

Artifact Collection

TWA Flight Attendant Uniform

The Museum's popular stewardess or flight attendant uniform collection serves as a wonderful illustration of changing times. With over 250 uniforms in the collection, dating from the 1920s to the 1990s, they illustrate what was culturally or socially appropriate through the years. Our 1944 Trans World Airline uniform is especially illustrative of the breath of the Museum's collection.

WWII RAF Sector Clock

In the Museum’s World War II exhibit area, there is a Quonset hut reproduction that houses display cases of artifacts. Inside the hut above the main door, hangs a unique item known as a Sector Clock. Originally known as "colour change clocks," Sector Clocks were first used during World War I by the Royal Flying Corps to plot movements of incoming German aircraft. During World War II, Sector Clocks played a significant role in the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, and the bombing of British cities that followed by allowing the British to hold control of the sky with fighters ready to intercept enemy aircraft within five minutes of initial contact.

YWCA World War One Poster

Many of our Curatorial artifacts shed light on the society that created them. One example is SDASM's World War One Y.W.C.A. poster. The feminine stance and figure in this poster is saying a woman's femininity will not be compromised due to working in factories.