Vintage photos show what airport security was like before 9/11

Airport security in the 1970s. Duane Howell/Denver Post via Getty Images Before 9/11, airport security was far more relaxed than it is today.Friends and family could accompany travelers through security without a boarding pass. Knives and blades were allowed in carry-on bags as long as they were smaller than 4 inches. Private companies, not the government-run Transportation Security Administration, handled screenings.Airport security did evolve over the decades in response to bombings — like the Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 — as well as hijackings and other threats. X-ray machines and metal detectors slowly became familiar features, but the experience was vastly different compared to modern air travel.In the aftermath of September 11, airport security transformed almost overnight. These vintage photos show how travelers once navigated a system that now seems unrecognizable. Before 9/11, checked luggage was not subject to universal explosives screening. The conveyor belt, pictured in 1955, took baggage to the bus docks at New York's East Side Airlines Terminal. Orlando /Three Lions/Getty Images X-ray baggage screenings weren't introduced until the 1950s. An early airport security X-ray. Science Photo Library via Reuters Connect Signs warned passengers from bringing weapons and explosives, but screenings were lax by today's standards. New airport signage in 1970. Federal Aviation Administration/PhotoQuest/Getty Images More stringent security checks at John F. Kennedy Airport in 1970 caught weapons such as guns, daggers, and hand grenades. Weapons confiscated from passengers at John F. Kennedy Airport in 1970. Keystone Press Agency/ZUMA Press Wire In 1973, the FAA mandated the use of magnetometers and X-ray machines to screen passengers and carry-ons on commercial flights. A magnetometer at Stapleton International Airport in 1972. The Denver Post via Getty Images Full-body scanners wouldn't arrive until 2007. Airport security in 1987. John Prieto/Denver Post via Getty Images Many airports had kiosks with life insurance vending machines geared toward nervous flyers. Passengers could buy short-term life insurance policies at the airport. Don Cravens/Getty Images Before 9/11, people who weren't flying could obtain gate passes and access the gate area. An airport security officer checking carry-on luggage in 1980. Jacques M. Chenet/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images There were also no restrictions on bringing liquids or gels in carry-on bags back then. Security at Stapleton International Airport in Denver. John Beard/Denver Post via Getty Images The first security lines at San Francisco International Airport formed in 1973, with an express line for passengers with no carry-ons. The first security lines at San Francisco International Airport. Clem Albers/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images Separate lines for TSA PreCheck and CLEAR didn't exist yet. Security at Denver International Airport in 1995. Brooks Kraft/Sygma via Getty Images There was no TSA at all — private contractors screened passengers until the federal government took over airport security in 2002. Security lines at San Francisco International Airport in 1973. Clem Albers/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images The computer monitors used for automated explosives detection systems were much clunkier than they are today. Automated explosives detection systems at John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1998. Willie Anderson/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images The knives and box cutters that the hijackers used on 9/11 were legal to bring on planes at the time. After that day, flying was never the same. Hijackers Mohammed Atta (right) and Abdulaziz Alomari went through airport security before boarding American Airlines Flight 11. US Navy/Getty Images Read next Airports