- The world's biggest airline collector.
(upbeat music)
- Japan airlines came out in 1977.
The Hawaiian long dress.
(upbeat music)
Very traditional KLM blue.
It's Northwest Orient, Regal Imperial Service,
the blanket, the pillow, the headset.
- The Garuda 1995 timetable here.
MV11 and 747200.
- My favourite United airlines meal setup ever.
- This sugar is from 1950s.
- It is.
And this is from Malaysian Airlines
and they used this set up for probably 30 years.
Look at the old ticket jackets here.
Compared to these days we use iPhone.
(sewing machine running)
- I wonder if you can guess what airline this crazy green
and orange fabric came from.
(upbeat music)
I think you've flown this airline more than anybody.
- This is my favourite, look.
So guys out on the airline collection I've shown you,
what's your favourite.
Today I'm visiting the world's biggest airline collector.
He invited me to his house.
He said there's even an airport terminal at his house.
(upbeat music)
- Hi Sam. Welcome to my pretend aviation terminal,
here in Los Angeles, California.
This looks and feels just like an airport did
probably about 25, 30 years ago.
One of the reasons that I recreated this look and feel
is because when I was young,
when I walked into an airport terminal
and saw every airline's brand
and all the different counters,
I literally had to run up to every single counter
and get luggage tags and timetables and ticket jackets.
Right now we have seven different airlines represented
from the past,
but I love each and every one of these brands.
Sam, since you're previously a United Airlines flyer,
let me invite you back over behind the check-in desk
of this United Airlines ticket counter
that you might remember from your past.
(upbeat music)
Everything back here looks and feels
just like a ticket counter would have back then.
And you'll remember, it was crazy day back then,
where we actually had paper tickets and paper luggage tags
depicting the destination that you were going to fly to.
So if you were to have flown from Hong Kong
to San Francisco, for example,
you would have got this old luggage tag
put on top of your bag, just like this.
This bag tag would've got stapled
to your United ticket jacket.
And you might remember this from the past,
this acted as the boarding pass for United Airlines.
- [Sam] Oh wow, the tulip, wow.
- Yeah the United tulip.
And check-in back then was done via a computer
that looked just like this.
In fact this is an original Apollo computer,
which was the United Airlines reservation system back then.
- Wow. I remember in the early nineties,
I used to fly my first United business class.
At that time was this tag.
It was called a connoisseur class.
- I loved how colourful boarding passes were.
So this happens to be vintage Continental Airlines
boarding passes,
and you can see the blue and the orange.
This was from their 747 Golden Jet services.
Recreated all those as well,
and old machines like this
where they used to stamp your credit card,
and charge slips, like literally everything
that might've been at a ticket counter for the 70s and 80s.
Outside of Pan-Am,
America's second greatest airline was TWA.
And I'm going to show you back how
they used to do seat assignments for a passenger
in the 1970s.
There was a sticker seat map, just like this.
This is the TWA Lockheed 1011,
and you would pull off the seat you desire just like this
and stick it on the boarding pass like this.
- But these days we use an app and choose ourselves.
- I don't like it because I like to save
every single boarding pass
from every flight I've ever been on.
And actually look at the seat map
and choose the seat with a sticker.
(upbeat music)
- [Sam] Anthony, it's really cool.
Where did you get all these vintage airline seats from?
- These are actually generic airline seats,
and I buy these in bulk,
but actually replace all the seat covers
and the way we do that
is the next area that I'm going to show you
is with a gentlemen named Armeck, who works here
and works in our upholstery shop
and recreates the airline seat fabric for me
of any airline that I could possibly dream up.
And so Continental was one that I actually loved
from my childhood.
And these are the finished product of what it looks like
when we complete the whole process.
(upbeat music)
Here's my favourite KLM seat.
Very traditional KLM blue with the business class head rest
and all the meal setup, blankets, pillows
and everything that went with it.
This is actually one of my favourite brands.
It's Northwest Orient, Regal Imperial Service.
It's a very 80s product.
They called these colours, burgundy and fawn.
And you could see, I had every little detail
that went with this product, the amenity kit, the menus,
the blanket, the pillow, the headset.
All the dishware from the meal setup.
I do this with each one of the replications
that I made the seat replica for.
This is our interior seat shop.
And so it's actually in this phase right here
where we remake aircraft interiors
from seat fabrics to wall coverings.
And how to bring an airline's brand to life,
one of the most important things you have to do
is actually replicate what the seat
and the wall coverings look like.
And so you'll see on this table,
I've actually got a lot of different designs
that we're actually working on right now.
And this is an Air New Zealand fabric
from the first class cabin - [Sam] Wow.
- from the 1980s.
You can see here, we're working on some KLM interiors.
Those are some headrest we're making
for vintage American Airline seats.
(sewing machine running)
This is my friend Armeck,
who is actually responsible for creating all of our seats
and headrest and interior designs.
And right now he's actually working
on recreating seat fabric for the first class cabin
from Air India.
And so we look at a guide that we provide him
for every airline that I'm trying to replicate.
And what Armeck does is he recreates specific detail
what that seat cover and seat looked like back in the day.
(upbeat music)
I wonder if you can guess what airline
this crazy green and orange fabric came from.
- This one here. Wow, it's so colourful.
It's one of the most colourful one I've seen.
My guess is very tropical country.
Like, very, very warm and lots of flowers.
but I think it's Biman Bangladesh.
Because I remember Biman has floral seats on the DC10.
- That's actually a really good guest.
It's not Biman,
but Biman does have a very distinctive pattern.
So this is actually Korean Airlines from the 1970s.
- [Sam] Korean Air.
- [Anthony] Yeah.
- [Sam] Unbelievable.
- [Anthony] Can you imagine an entire 747
with this green seat in it? It was crazy.
- [Sam] I like this one,
this one looks like a shower curtain
or something like that. Right?
It looks like a curtain. Which airline's that?
- So surprisingly, that design is Delta Airlines.
That was their first class seats on the Lockheed 1011.
Imagine this is the seat back
and these would be the head rest
that went with this Delta seat.
And so you can see how when you put those on there,
the seat starts to come alive.
- [Sam] Oh. - [Anthony] And this would
have been the Delta product.
They would have been side by side like this on the aeroplane.
- [Sam] Hey, stop playing in your own airport, man.
- Okay. But Sam, I have to point out these seats right here.
These are from TWA Ambassador class from the 1970s
and early 80s.
And my favourite part about this
is actually this tray set up,
look at the tray liner and the dishware.
This is actually really fine China.
And I want to take you back now
to the area behind the stage here,
where I keep literally thousands of sets
of vintage airline China from the past.
(upbeat music)
Sam, this is the area that I refer to as the dish area.
And it actually contains meal setups from many carriers,
from many eras, the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s,
even current day.
My favourite United Airlines meals setup ever
was the Royal Hawaiian service
look at this fantastic bowl, - [Sam] Oh my God.
- And the little drink straw
that went with all the Mai Tais.
- [Sam] What is this?
Like ordering a Mai Tai they would put this on.
- Yup.
- [Sam] Oh my God. I couldn't believe this one.
It looks like a canoe, right?
- [Anthony] Yeah
- [Sam] Like this is where they set up the food.
The appetiser?
- [Anthony] This would have been fruit
and like a salad and bread roll.
- [Sam] Hawaiian meal. Oh my gosh.
- And this is from the 1950s United Airlines.
It's with the original embossed, "The main liner" napkin,
even the--
- [Sam] Wow.
- [Anthony] Even the original sugar packet
and the salt pepper packet.
- So you're saying this salt and pepper and this sugar
is from 1950s.
- It is.
- You want to try it?
70 years old.
Look at this, you even have airline trolley, CA702.
What's that code means?
- That stands for Cart 702.
This was a 747200 wide-body cart on United Airlines
and inside look how many I actually have.
Every time I flew United Airlines to Hawaii,
I would take that straw stick.
- All right. So you-- - I get a virgin Mai Tai.
- You order, you order a virgin Mai Tai and you get these.
- Yeah and I make them give me the stick.
- Very cool.
- This is another unique one.
This was United Airlines bento box
for trans Pacific flights.
They called this Royal Pacific Service.
Had a place for the miso soup, chopsticks
and various side dishes.
(upbeat music)
Coming to the centre of my dishware cage,
where I keep all the dishware from many airlines.
- [Sam] This is crazy.
Look at this place.
- [Anthony] There's a lot here.
It's actually pretty well organised though.
And I know we're just about every single thing is
on all the shelves,
but this particular piece of furniture
is actually really rare.
This is the centre console table
from a United Airlines 747200.
It's an original.
I had it shipped here from Oklahoma city about 20 years ago.
And I just love it, reminds me of the past.
So depending on the stage of flight,
the centre console has multi-purposes.
When you board it's usually magazines and newspapers.
Then at the cocktail and beverage time,
it's glassware and alcohol.
And then for meal services, it's usually the tray sets.
(upbeat music)
This is old Olympic tray set up.
And the one thing I love about this, Sam,
is the tray liner.
Look how detailed--
- [Sam] What is exactly tray liner? Show us.
- So tray liner is the piece of paper
that sits on the actual top of the tray.
And the reason I love tray liner
is it brings the entire dishware set to life.
Like when I'm sitting here eating this,
I know I'm on Olympic Airways.
This area is a place where I'm actually collecting things
that I know that I'm missing.
This particular one, this is a BOAC tray.
And you can see that I have very few pieces.
The good news is I just found all these missing things
on eBay this week.
So I can't wait until they arrive.
- [Sam] Is that where you bought your collection?
A lot of collection were bought on eBay?
- Yeah,
eBay was actually probably one of the greatest inventions
for people who collect things
and aviation memorabilia, there's no shortage of it on eBay.
I shop every single day on eBay for aviation collectors.
One of the most colourful airlines setups around
is actually this one.
This is from Malaysian Airlines
and they used this set up for probably 30 years.
It's one of my favourite reasons
for flying Malaysian Airlines.
This here is a centre counsel from Lufthansa 747,
another fantastic piece
of aviation furniture. - [Sam] Wow.
Look at that.
I like this one,
because this one has like drink holders and like--.
- [Anthony] This is for the wine bottles.
- [Sam] Where'd this come from? This is also Lufthansa?
- [Anthony] No, this is actually the United Airlines counsel
that was in the 747400, right at the front of the bulkhead.
- [Sam] You're the only counsel collector I know.
- I'm probably the only counsel collector.
(upbeat music)
Welcome Sam to the airline uniform section now.
And so this area contains uniforms
from just about any airline you could name.
And it goes all the way down to the back hall there.
Uniforms are probably the most difficult part
for any serious aviation collector,
for two reasons.
One, because they're super expensive.
And two, because most stewardesses or flight attendants
who actually wore these at one point in time,
rarely ever want to part with it.
And so you either have to bid on eBay
and it usually costs a lot of money
and, or be lucky enough to know someone who will donate
or sell it to you.
- You just need to have a lot of flight attendant
girlfriends.
- That's very true. - And then then
you can get their uniform, easily without paying for it.
- That's a great idea.
This is actually one of my favourites.
This is Japan Airlines came out in 1977,
has a fantastic hat with it,
but this is a really difficult uniform to find.
A Singapore airlines sarong.
I have the red, the traditional blue,
and of course the green.
For the different positions on the aircraft.
You recognise this one.
- [Sam] Absolutely.
Look at this. The only way in the world,
a Thai dress, Thai Airways.
- Yeah. My favourite part is when you board Thai Airways,
they're all in this uniform through takeoff.
It's such a fantastic boarding moment.
30 years ago it's just continental orange one.
But I love it
because think about how the logo is represented
on all the pieces.
On the shirt and on the scarf,
just really brings the brand to life on board the aeroplane.
- [Sam] Yeah.
- And for those of you who might know this logo right here
is affectionately known as the meatball.
- [Sam] Meatball?
- One thing you might not know is
on almost every single flight to Hawaii,
airlines had a special uniform
specifically designed just for that flight.
They called it a mumu.
And so this is a reflection
of just about every airlines mumu that was worn.
This is American.
- [Sam] What exactly is a Mumu?
- A Mumu is like a Hawaiian long dress,
something like this.
- [Sam] And it looks floral pattern,
but it also looks like a pyjama kind of very relaxed,
a very lazy boy kind of thing.
- It was.
And I've collected it from so many different airlines.
That's American.
Here's Continental,
here's a lot of United.
- [Sam] Oh my gosh.
- And so even the males had a version of--
(indistinct crosstalk)
a Hawaiian shirt. - [Sam] Which airline this is?
- This is Continental Airlines.
- [Sam] Oh my gosh.
It would be pretty cool to wear Hawaiian shirt
to go to work.
- How comfortable would that be?
- [Sam] Yes.
- I think this is actually my oldest one.
This is a United Airlines mumu from the 60s.
- [Sam] You still have the flower from the 60s?
- [Anthony] Well I don't think someone--
- [Sam] Whoa, it's dried up.
Is it real flower? It could be pretty impressive.
- Sam, besides just the uniforms.
I have lots of things like the scarves
that went with the uniforms,
the ladies silk cravats.
Many different belts, including lots of different shoes.
And of course it wouldn't be complete
without a flight bag to carry.
(upbeat music)
Sam, I think you've flown this airline more than anybody.
- [Sam] Oh wow. You have Emirates uniform.
- Yeah.
- [Sam] That's amazing.
Wait, I see even here there's a bag.
And bag and shoes are Emirates.
Red bag and red shoes.
- Yeah.
Having all the pieces is actually a really important.
- Well, actually, I'm going to show you a picture.
I was in the Emirates steward uniform.
- Sam, probably the most important part
of any airline uniform is the hat.
And so this is my hat cabinet
and this is actually one of the craziest ones.
This is Braniff Airlines.
This is from the 60s.
And can you just imagine someone wearing this hat
on an aeroplane today?
I just got this one a couple of weeks ago.
This is British Airways.
- [Sam] Oh, very traditional.
Oh, I found this one.
This is my favourite, look, Emirates.
Actually I think this hat is mine.
I've done it many times. Do you like it?
(upbeat music)
- So behind all these uniforms, Sam.
- [Sam] You've got something behind as well.
- I do, I actually collect--
- [Sam] Oh my gosh. This is like Alibaba,
the door open.
- Yeah. Luggage tags from lots of different airlines.
And I have several of these
with different logos. - [Sam] Qantas.
Oh yeah.
- I love the era of timetables.
While technology is great,
this is how you used to actually get airline schedules.
- I remember these United timetable,
because when I was a kid in Hong Kong,
I used to go to the ticket office in Hong Kong
at landmark tower and get these timetable.
And I remember...
And all the 800 flight numbers going out to Asia,
and 900 flight numbers to Europe
and wow, I'm searching here. Look at this.
Look at this.
Lufthansa.
Oh my God.
I just found out from the Garuda 1995 time table here,
Garuda flies MD11 from Abu Dhabi.
Two stops to Denpasar, Bali.
Unbelievable, MD11 747200 in 1995.
Probably the thinnest timetable in those era, 1982 by PIA.
Pakistan Airline.
And what is so cool about it?
It's the last page where they show the fleet
of Pakistani Airlines.
At that time 707, A-300, DC10 and 747.
And here you can see in 1982,
it cost 9,406 Rupee, flying Karachi-London round trip.
- Sam, the next item to look at
is airline ticket jackets.
And let me just warn you.
I like these almost as much as I like tray liners.
- [Sam] Really?
- Yeah
- [Sam] Show me.
- [Anthony] Because all the branding that exists
on these ticket wallets brings the airlines to life.
And let's just look at some of my favourites here.
Look at this fantastic one from Philippine Airlines.
- [Sam] Wow.
- [Anthony] And Cathay Pacific.
Look how green. - [Sam] Green
Yes.
- [Anthony] Here's one from
Air India. - [Sam] Oh my God.
Gold. - [Anthony] The Maharaja.
- [Sam] Maharaja.
- [Anthony] Qantas Captain's Club.
How about this one for Iran Air.
- [Sam] Oh, wow.
- [Anthony] Great?
- Look at the old ticket jackets here.
Compared to these days we use iPhone,
Look at all these past here on the phone.
These were the days before the technology exists,
ticket jackets.
So guys out of all the airline collections I've shown you,
what's your favourite?
Is it all a uniform behind, like what I'm wearing
or it's the tray, the tray liner,
or is it the timetable
or is it a ticket jackets
or is it because all the aeroplane seats
or all of them?
Tell me in the comments.
He's got such a great collection.
I love this United tulip sign.
I'm actually going to take this away
while he's still busy sorting out his collection.
(suitcase rolling)
- Sam, Sam.
- Uh - Hold on for a second.
- Yes, sir. - Can I ask where you're going
with that United airlines tulip?
- Oh, I don't know. I hope you can give it to me.
- I actually think I need to inspect her suitcase.
- Oh no.