Tek Lado Rewind: Man Turns Garage Into 1979 Pan Am Cabin

Anthony Toth was so nostalgic about a childhood spent on Pan Am airplanes, he’s recreated a 1979 Boeing 747 first class cabin in his garage. Toth works for United Airlines, but when he’s not working he can relax with Pan Am in a period-perfect installation. From Ultraswank:

He has spent 20 years and well over $50,000 to recreate his Pan Am cabin in great detail. Everything from the overhead bins, to the seat covers, to the inflight magazines and safety cards are all period. Even the curved staircase leading up to the upper deck of the 747 is there … To help him recreate all the details and features, Anthony uses thousands of reference photos, taken by himself on his travels back in the 1970s and 80s. … To source everything needed for his own cabin, Anthony frequently visits a airplane scrapyard in California.

Here’s a condescending news story about Anthony Toth; the tone really bothers me. Yes, it’s an unconventional thing to do and way to live, but what is everyone else doing that’s so interesting? At least he’s pursuing a dream that he’s had since childhood. If it weren’t for people who had crazy passions they indulged, we’d probably have no progress. Look at Howard Hughes or Orson Welles or Hedy Lamarr or Emile Zola, who said: “If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud.” And Nelson Mandela who said: “There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” I wake up, do my work, watch TV, surf the web, walk the dog, go to a movie, read a book … who am I to say what Anthony Toth is doing is crazy? In the end, when he finishes his plane, he’ll be remembered as some kind of visionary. He is living his true self, and that’s a remarkable way to live.