Stirring up the Airlines; Swizzle Sticks

Google’s definition of swizzle stick is:

A small thin rod, often adorned on one or both ends with spokes, spheres, or other ornaments for stirring mixed drinks.

This does not seem adequate for an item that is utilized at 35,000 feet when traveling at more than 500 mph – stirring a mixed liquid while avoiding spillage. If swizzle sticks were used by the U.S. Air Force or NASA in the space program, it would most likely be classified as a "Reciprocating Fluid Propulsion System" (RFPS) or some similar exotic nomenclature.

Why then would something as lowly as the simple swizzle stick be worthy of customization? Why not just give the customer a highly functional flat wooden or plastic stick to stir their drink with? The answer comes from marketing, where the objective of the item being placed in the receiver’s drink is to help build brand awareness, launch new products or services and to enhance customer relationships.

Airline swizzle sticks usually provided with drinks served in the premium classes once had identifiable character and were very collectible. Unfortunately, today, they are becoming extinct. Gone are the days when your in-flight drink came with a thought provoking swizzle stick in various colors related to your flight or destination. With the passage of time, many of the airline logos present here have gone the way of the specialized swizzle stick, and some of the airlines themselves have followed as well.

Airlines provided swizzle sticks in many colors and sizes, so as a collector one needed to fly a lot and drink frequently in order to build a complete set. If some observant reader is disappointed that his or her special airline swizzle stick is not displayed, it is due to this author’s limited drinking ability and infrequent flights, thus having an incomplete collection.

Back in the days, some airlines went so far as to customize their swizzle sticks to specific routes. For example, flying on American Airlines with Hawaii was your destination your drink came with a substantial decorative "Hawaiian canoe paddle" swizzle stick, allowing as you stirred and sipped for your thoughts to drift toward those balmy breezes and light waves. However, as you stirred your fingers also clasped the "AA" logo or airline name on your swizzle stick, which of course was to remind you who was contributing to your enjoyable moment. But should your flight be to New York on the Douglas DC-7 "Royal Coachman Service," your in-flight drink swizzle stick might come in the shape of a "Top Hat" as a reminder of all the wonderful theater shows you might attend upon arrival, with of course the always attached airline identification.

American Airlines provided most of their swizzle sticks in red, white and blue – their corporate colors, also the colors of the national flag. The "AA" flag swizzle stick may be . . .