MONROVIA, CA — John McKaughan Jr. was a Texas native who served as art director for Houston-based Braniff International, a regional and long-haul airline serving the southern and southwestern United States along with Central and South America. McKaughan worked for Braniff from 1955 until the airline’s cessation in 1982 due to increasing fuel costs and competition from mega-mergers resulting from the 1978 airline deregulation legislation. His lifetime career collection — including original works by the famed artists he brought in to decorate Braniff’s plane fuselages, interiors and personnel — came to market August 13 at John Moran‘s Art and Design sale, and Braniff collectors — a passionate and financially formidable group — showed up in a big way. Complete results are available at LiveAuctioneers.
In 1965 Braniff decided to set themselves apart from other national carriers with a full redesign — logos, ticket jackets, terminals, aircraft, uniforms and more. McKaughan brought in Mary Wells of Jack Tinker & Partners, who in turn hired architect and designer Alexander Girard and fashion designer Emilio Pucci created a total brand design for the airline. Girard himself would create more than 17,000 items for Braniff. Pucci’s fashions debuted that year as the ‘Gemini IV’ line in a nod to that year’s space mission, which included his trademark psychedelic color schemes and the now-famous ‘bubble helmet’ for stewardesses to wear on the tarmac to prevent mussed hair.
In 1975, in anticipation of the upcoming American Bicentennial, McKaughan hired Alexander Calder (1898-1976) to create a series of exterior designs for Braniff’s fleet of jets, creating what became known as the ‘world’s largest flying artworks.’ The bold and stunning designs applied to Braniff equipment all bore the distinctive lower-case calder signature, leaving no doubt whose aircraft they were. The planes were an instant sensation upon their unveiling, garnering Braniff international attention and respect for pushing the boundaries of what commercial aircraft could look like. Today’s routine custom-wrap designs on various carriers are direct descendants of Calder’s innovative Braniff jets.
It was the Calder items that garnered so much attention from bidders. A Calder-designed Braniff ‘Flying Colors’ desk aircraft model and associated FC materials came to the podium with a humble $500-$700 estimate. Opening at $250, it immediately jumped to four figures and did not stop until the final hammer of a staggering $31,750 with buyer’s premium. A group of Calder Braniff ‘Flying Colors’ ephemera had a low-ball estimate of $300-$500 but would sell for $4,950 with buyer’s premium. And a limited edition lithograph (of an unknown total number) of Calder’s ‘Flying Colors of the United States / The Bicentennial Plane’ dated to 1976 made $1,584 with buyer’s premium against a $400-$600 estimate.
Also in strong demand was Braniff fashion items. A 1966 Emilio Pucci for Braniff International hostess ensemble featuring a multicolored Pucci Harlequin signature print brought $5,715, far exceeding the $150-$250 estimate.
A group of Pucci for Braniff International hostess accessories dating to 1965 and 1971 was also a big winner. Variously labeled for Pucci and Italy with the gloves labeled for Kay Fuchs, the grouping included a Pucci print umbrella in pink and green from the 1971 ‘747 Braniff Place’ collection, a matching Pucci shoulder bag in Pucci print-covered leather with buckled leather strap, and a pair of deep plum and pink nylon gloves by Kay Fuchs from circa 1965-1966. The four-piece set realized $2,376 with buyer’s premium against a $100-$200 estimate.
The final highlight includes two pairs of vintage Braniff International hostess shoes and boots dating to 1965 and 1974. A pair of Beth Levine/Herbert Levine/Neiman Marcus mint green calf leather mid-calf boots in size 7B were matched with a pair of dark pink and green Baldino for Braniff smooth leather block heels. Estimated at just $100-$150, the lot took off to $3,492 with buyer’s premium.
