Is it true that up to the 1950's friends and relatives could board the plane to say their goodbyes before the attendants announced that all non-passengers would have to leave before takeoff ?
Yes, that's true - I can remember my first flights on things like Viscounts and Vanguards - propellors up at the front !
More seriously though, the same lack of security checks still applies TODAY - in 2008 - to train (or underground) travel. Anyone at all can get on a high speed Intercity train about to leave Euston. The ticket checks come once under way, possibly at 100mph.
And the hundreds of bags and cases on board Richard Branson's shining Pendolino are NEVER CHECKED AT ALL . . . . . . . . . . .