Braniff International Airways
Stewardesses pose in a mod mauve interior, 1965.Braniff International Airways was founded in 1928 by brothers Thomas E. Braniff and Paul Revere Braniff.
In 1964, the poorly-managed airline was bought over by insurance tycoon Troy Post. Under the direction of advertising executive Mary Wells of Jack Tinker Associates, a massive overhaul of the Braniff image was launched in 1965: a campaign known as "The End of the Plain Plane". New Mexico architect Alexander Girard and Italian fashion designer Emilio Pucci were among those recruited for this project.
First on the agenda was to overhaul Braniff's public image, which included changing the staid red, white, and blue color scheme to a wide palette of bright hues. A new jelly bean fleet consisted of bold colors such as ochre, orange, turquoise, baby blue, lemon yellow and lavender; with white wings and tails. (Interesting to note is that lavender was dropped after one month as it is considered bad luck in Mexico.)
Wild colors were also applied to aircraft interiors, gate lounges, ticket offices, and even the corporate headquarters. Art to complement the color schemes was flown in from Mexico, Latin America, and South America.
For the crew's uniforms, Emilio Pucci used nautical themes, while the stewardesses were outfitted in "space age" themes. The latter included clear plastic bubble helmets (to protect coiffures) and uniforms with interchangeable parts that could be removed and added as needed.
Today, the vintage Pucci attire designed for Braniff is highly valuable...
747 Braniff Place on her home turf... Dallas, Texas.
Stewardesses in Pucci's 1969 uniforms, in a groovy orange interior.
Fort Worth room at Dallas Love Field, 1968.
This meal is actually an example of the coach class! How times have changed!
Emilio Pucci's space age designs for Braniff stewardesses, 1965.images: (1) worldofkane.blogspot.com
(2) braniffpages.com
(3) oobject.com
(4) unknown source
(5) braniffpages.com
(6) unknown source
Labels: trippy transportation
posted by Jason Stockl @ 4:45 pm
10 Comments:
Way Cool!!!
I knew you'd like this one...
;-)
What ever happened to Braniff International ?
According to Wikipedia:
"The airline ceased operations on May 12, 1982, a victim of escalating fuel prices, aggressive expansion, and fierce competition."
Color color color!!! Wow, that makes you wonder why today's companies, airlines or otherwise, are so shy in using bright, full-of-life colors. And those uniforms!!!
awesome post! i LOVE braniff pictures + you found some great ones i haven't seen.
happy holidays jason :)
please check out my new 1967 house of the future videos here
http://modmom.blogspot.com/2007/12/1999-ad-educational-video-predicts_13.html
That really brings back some memories...my father worked for Braniff for 20 years...I grew up with all this...very cool.
Wow, it seems nobody ever actually READS my website.
FACT: Braniff was not, I repeat, NOT a poorly managed company in 1964. In fact it was debt-free with a triple A Credit rating, and it was making money.
The lie about its real status was sold to the public by Mary Wells and Harding Lawrence so they could make themselves look like Braniff's savior. Of course, they weren't, and this resulted in the 1982 bankruptsy.
I love Girard's designs, and Pucci's outfits, and it is part of Braniff's history.
Unfortunately, Girard and Pucci were brought in as a distraction so that Lawrence N' Pals could set up golden parachutes for themselves and pay themselves money through preferred stock. Prior to 1965, Braniff re-invested the profits in the company. After 1965, it all went to a "select few."
You say that red, white and blue were staid...well, they worked for American and Delta, who are still around.
Again, I'm not saying the designs were bad, but please get your facts straight about motives.
The airline industry was never as exciting or interesting as Braniff. I remember talking to one of their pilots back in 1982 right before bankruptcy, who said that Braniff had one of the best safety records - not a single fatality since the late 60's - something no other major US airline, including American, United, Eastern, Pan Am, TWA, Delta, National, Continental or Western - could claim. Good operation.
Don’t know if Hawaiian Airlines is in major U.S. airline status in terms of revenue but they have never had a fatality in there entire history of existence and have been around since 1929.
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