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May 30

Red-eye Flight Movies

Long ago, before the invention of In-flight entertainment, did the airlines show projected movies on their red-eye flights? I think it's tolerable because people were given masks and earphones. -- Toytoy (talk) 01:45, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

On December 5, 1983, I took an American Airlines red-eye from Los Angeles to Chicago, and they showed the movie Staying Alive. Sorry, no WP:RS to cite. --142.112.143.8 (talk) 02:34, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Why do you remember the date?! I could look up when in December 1976 I landed at O'Hare, but only because that was the day Mayor Daley died. —Tamfang (talk) 19:34, 12 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Toytoy: How long ago? The article you link says in-flight entertainment began in 1936. It also says After World War II, food and drink services were offered, and movies were projected onto big screens viewable by all passengers on long flights. You can read more about in-flight movies in the History section of that article. RudolfRed (talk) 03:21, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I suggest the original poster was talking about seat-back screens with individual entertainment selections. --142.112.143.8 (talk) 05:25, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

From my memory, the overnight flight would stop showing movies at some point in the night, and turn lights down low. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 04:31, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Before the invention of seatback LCD monitor, technically, you may still watch movies without disturbing others at night, as long as people are wearing sleep masks and earphones. I just don't know if they DID SHOW MOVIES alll night long on a red-eye flight. If not, people who don't like to sleep may find it difficult to pass the time. -- Toytoy (talk) 11:59, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

In the 1980s, movies were projected onto large pop-down screens but without sound (you had to use earphones to listen to it). So it wasn't too disturbing for passengers who wanted to sleep or read or whatever. As Graeme Bartlett mentions above, only one movie would typically be shown on an overnight flight, after which the cabin lights were dimmed until breakfast was served before landing. This is all from personal recollection Xuxl (talk) 15:35, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Your recollection is correct. Viriditas (talk) 21:49, 1 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The earphones were made from plastic tubing and plugged into a speaker in the armrest. You had to pay for the earphones and then give them back at the end of the flight, presumably so that you didn't get a free listen on the way back. I watched a whole James Bond film (maybe The Living Daylights) without the sound on the way to Australia (it still made sense - kind of). There was only one film in the 23 hour flight. Alansplodge (talk) 16:48, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

And IIRC, they didn't even stop using those ancient earphones until very recently, possibly as late as 2008, give or take a few years in either direction. Now you get free earphones on most long-haul flights. I'm using a new pair right now that is plugged into my computer. I got it after I recently flew from JFK to HNL. Viriditas (talk) 20:12, 10 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Particular curiosity 1992 European Cup Final

It is a tradition that on the ‘ears’ of the trophy, ribbons in the social colours of the winning team are wrapped. In the case of Sampdoria's success at Wembley in 1992, what colour ribbons would they have been? One has to take into account the fact that Samp, that evening, was playing in the visiting team's uniform. Is it plausible to think of a pair of white and blue ribbons, like the uniform that night? Thank you very much. 93.148.11.229 (talk) 22:27, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

One can hope to move this out of the area of speculation by looking at earlier cases in which the winning team played in away colours. But how old is this tradition? For the 1991 European Cup final, photographs show the winning team hold up a cup with bare ears.^[1] Also for the 1990 European Cup final, the captain of the winning team is seen to hold up a trophy with unadorned ears.^[2] --Lambiam 05:43, 31 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Websearching images for "1992 European Cup Final trophy" finds images of the winning team Barcelona with the trophy adorned with ribbons of their colours (blue and red, although 1992 European Cup final misleadingly shows a graphic of a mostly orange strip), so certainly had Sampdoria won it would have borne their colours instead.

Whether it would have been their (then) home or (then) away colours that they actually played in remains unresolved, but I note that, according to their article UC Sampdoria (is it correct?), their current home colours are (mostly) blue shirt and white shorts, and their away strip is white shirt and blue shorts. If that was also the case in 1992 then the ribbons would have been white and blue regardless.

Perhaps the OP knows, and will kindly tell us, what Sampdoria's home strip was in 1992? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.2.67.173 (talk) 12:42, 31 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The colours do not change, so the substance does not change. Sampdoria's home uniform consisted of a blue shirt and white shorts. At Wemblely, it was simply the other way around, the colours of the ribbons would not change. Thanks a lot guys.