I flew a fair number of times as a kid, many more than most of my school mates. I remember simply going up to the gate without anything more stringent than passing a bored security guard - two, maybe three times between 1968 and 1972.
I guess it was DB Cooper-era incidents that set up the metal detectors, because I remember going through those a few times, too, by about 1975.
Airplane was around 1980, and there’s a brief scene of a guy in the terminal greeting his friend by calling out “Hi, Jack!” He’s immediately tackled by security guards.
In the summer of 1973, I remember taking a Hughes Air Worst flight from Monterey to SFO - they ran carryon bags thought security. A fellow traveller had his four-pack of wine inspected and he commented, “Yep, I have a machine gun in those bottles.”.
He was taken aside for a discussion and almost missed the flight.
In December 1970 I smuggled my hamster on board in my camera bag - nobody checked. Despite the fact I checked his cage.
My daughter is very amused by the 1950-1960s vintage Nancy Drew books where Nancy pops onto planes at the last minute.
I did it in about 1992 at Indianapolis International. My grandparents were driving me to the airport for a flight that left around 7am. They were very nervous about air travel, and having read that one should always arrive two hours before a flight, they insisted on getting me there very early. So I got to the metal detectors before 6am, and there was nobody there, so I went on down to my gate and took a nap until my plane boarded. Nobody said a word to me.
I remember the days when there was no security at all. You bought a ticket, got on and later got off. Family and friends met you at the gate. Don’t remember when this started to change, but certainly the D. B. Cooper thing timeline sounds about right.
In 1970 we had the Dean Martin movie “Airport.” If you remember there was a grandmotherly old lady who made a habit of getting free rides by showing up at the gate with, “her son’s wallet,” which she was excitedly waving in the air at the gate. The ticket takers waved her through with a condensending smile. She took a seat and enjoyed the flight. At the time it looked pretty reasonable.
Reading the Wikipedia article on D. B. Cooper I was taken by the passage, "Cooper boarded the aircraft, a Boeing 727–100 (FAA registration N467US), and took seat 18C[2] (18E by one account,[9] 15D by another[10]) in the rear of the passenger cabin.** He lit a cigarette** and ordered a bourbon and soda.
He lit a cigarette!!! Ah, how times have changed.
Properly marketed, at least in some circles, this could prove to be a godsend to struggling airlines.
I thought it was following this case (Airline bombing, 1955), but it might have started with the plane hijackings in the 1960s. I certainly remember when going to the airport was a fun thing. You could go with friends to the gates or meet them there, or just go watch the planes land and take off. 2001 took care of all that though.
Bob
I have flow large distances on commercial airlines though multiple airports in Alaska and never go though even the simplest security. There was some temporary stuff for about a year or so after 9-11 but that seems to be gone.
The only in state security I am aware of are some of the larger flights to and from the north slope. Of course it exists if we fly out of state.
It’ll be mighty interesting to see what happens the day a terrorist tries smuggling a bomb aboard a plane by shoving it up his ass. :eek:
Still the case to this day in smaller New Zealand terminals. You can check in and have your boarding pass printed at a little machine, wait for a bit and then line up to walk out to the tarmac. No metal detectors at all, and virtually no interaction with airline staff.
Of course flights out of Napier, Nelson or New Plymouth are hardly magnets for international terrorism.
Before 2001, it used to be when you boarded a plane at some of the little towns in the Rocky Mountain region that were served only by tiny turboprops, you did not have to go through security, but you would have to pass through security when you landed in Denver. I’ve been looking for a cite, but I can’t find one right now.
It’s not as crazy as it sounds: they didn’t want to let anyone into the sterile area in Denver who hadn’t been checked out. I don’t know what would have happened if they found contraband on you.
And it’s not as crazy as the TSA rounding up passengers who were leaving an Amtrak train and putting them and their bags through a thorough search.
I’m sure it may have varied some per airport, but 9/11 put the universal kabash on anyone other than passengers going to the gate. Relatives used to be able to wait right there for you to come up & out of the JetWay. Now they have to stay in the ticket counter/lobby area outside any security checks.
I flew across the US about two weeks after 9/11 (I had booked it months earlier). It was no big deal. Obviously everyone was very calm & cooperative while going thru the new security checks. This was before the whole TSA crap though. On board the actual plane I felt a real palpable sense amongst us passengers that if anybody started anything at all, we’d all pounce on them mercilessly (I know I would have)… 
That was the situation in Canada after about 1972-73 or so. Nobody without a boarding pass got past security.
I was amazed when I went to the US, the UK, Australia, and so on (up until September 2001, that is); that non-travelling passengers could go to the gate. That just wasn’t allowed here, and hasn’t been allowed for forty years.
About two years ago I got a gate pass to wait with a friend of mine until his plane took off. I was helping him check in - he used to be homeless, hadn’t been on a plane in over a decade, and is very shy. He didn’t talk to the agent, and I had to handle everything. When we were done, the agent asked me if I wanted a gate pass.
It looked just like a boarding pass, but clearly said something about being just for the gate. I went through security as normal, and they didn’t seem to think it was odd.
I think Broomstick is right. As I remember it it was at the turn of the decade and it was probably staggered implementation like the current scanners were.
Prior to 9/11 the news of a hijacking (in the US) usually meant a trip to Cuba. I always attributed the metal detectors to these hijackings.
Nobody seems to have–ahem–taken a shot at this part of the OP.
It appears that the first federal law against carrying weapons on commercial aircraft was in September 1961, when the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was so amended (PDF file). This article (from a pro-gun-rights group) agrees with that chronology.
OK, a tangent. The current law, 49 USC 46505, states:
(emphasis added)
So…Is it legal to fly with an unconcealed weapon? Like, openly carrying your six-shooter (or your katana, a la Kill Bill) is OK. I mean, that can’t possibly be right, but the language since 1961 has consistently talked about “concealed dangerous weapons”. 
My impression is that gate passes are most commonly used for parents who are seeing their children off at the airport, to enable them to take their child all the way to the gate. It wouldn’t surprise me that they can be given out at the discretion of the airline agents, though.