Indian Airmails

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      • 1933 Calcutta - Dacca
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    • 1931 - Karachi - Madras: Route Survey Flight
    • 1932 - Karachi - Madras >
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    • 1933 - Karachi - Madras via Poona
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      • 1935 Bombay-Hyderabad Errors on Stamp
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    • 1936 - Madras to Colombo via Trichinopoly
    • 1937 - First Flight to Bhuj
    • 1937 - Delhi - Bombay via Gwalior, Bhopal & Indore
    • 1938 - Karachi - Madras extension to Colombo via Trichnopoly
    • 1938 - Trichinopoly - Trivandrum extension
    • 1938 - Mansoon halt at Poona
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    • 1948 - 1953 Early Route Expansion
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    • B.O.A.C. >
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 1 Jetliner Service London to Colombo August 1952
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      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Sydney March 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Tokyo July 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Colombo August-September 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Tokyo April 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Singapore June 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Sydney November 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Manila November 1961
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Auckland April 1963
      • B.O.A.C. Boeing 707 London to Nandi November 1965
      • B.O.A.C. VC 10 40th Anniversary of Regular Airmail
  • Others
    • Zeppelin & Catapult >
      • LZ-10 Schwaben
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  • Home
  • Pre-1953 Airlines
    • Indian State Air Services >
      • 1929 Karachi - Delhi via Hyderabad & Jodhpur
    • Delhi Flying Club >
      • 1931 Emergency Flight by Delhi Flying Club
      • 1932 Karachi - Delhi
    • Indian Trans-Continental Airways >
      • 1933 Karachi - Calcutta >
        • 1933 Eastwards: Karachi - Calcutta
        • 1933 Westwards: Calcutta to Karachi
      • 1933 Calcutta - Rangoon via Akyab >
        • 1933 Eastwards: Calcutta - Rangoon via Akyab
        • 1933 Westwards: Rangoon - Calcutta via Akyab
      • 1933 Karachi - Singapore Extension
      • 1934 Karachi - Australia Extension
      • 1936 Rangoon - Hong Kong
    • Indian National Airways >
      • 1933 Calcutta - Dacca
      • 1933 Rangoon - Calcutta
      • 1934 Karachi - Lahore
      • 1940 Karachi - Calcutta via Lahore
      • 1939 Karachi - Delhi
      • 1947 Calcutta - Rangoon
    • Madras Air Taxi Service
    • Experimental & Survey Flights. >
      • 1931 England - Australia Flight >
        • 1st Experimental Flight
        • 2nd Experimental Flight
      • 1938 Flying Boat Coogee
    • Star Line
  • Tata Airlines
    • 1931 - Karachi - Madras: Route Survey Flight
    • 1932 - Karachi - Madras >
      • Official Southbound
      • Official Northbound
      • Other Southbound
      • Other Northbound
      • Other Material
    • 1933 - Karachi - Madras via Poona
    • 1935 Karachi - Madras via Hyderabad >
      • 1935 - Karachi - Madras via Hyderabad
      • 1935 Bombay-Hyderabad Errors on Stamp
    • 1935 - Bombay - Calcutta demonstration flight
    • 1935 - Bombay - Travancore via Goa & Cannanore
    • 1936 - Madras to Colombo via Trichinopoly
    • 1937 - First Flight to Bhuj
    • 1937 - Delhi - Bombay via Gwalior, Bhopal & Indore
    • 1938 - Karachi - Madras extension to Colombo via Trichnopoly
    • 1938 - Trichinopoly - Trivandrum extension
    • 1938 - Mansoon halt at Poona
    • 1946 - Bombay - Calcutta via Nagpur
  • Air-India
    • 1948 Air-India International Bombay - London Flight >
      • Postage Stamps - Constant Errors
      • The Postage Stamp
      • First Day Covers
      • DG's Circular & Postal Notices
      • Official Covers
      • Air-India Covers
      • Special Flight Cachet
      • Postage Rates gallery
      • Local Cancellations
      • Private Covers Gallery
      • Interesting Places of Origin & Destinations >
        • Interesting Destinations
        • Interesting Places of Origin
        • Interesting Places of Origin & Destinations
      • More interesting covers
      • Return Flight covers
      • Other Philatelic Curiosities
      • Award winning exhibit
    • 1948 - 1953 Early Route Expansion
    • 1954 - 1959 Early Route Expansion
    • 1960 - 1965 Air-India Boeing 707 Era.
    • 1966 - 1970 Air-India Boeing 707 Era.
    • 1971 - 1975 Boeing 747 & Other Aircraft Era
    • 1976 Onward Boeing 747 & Other Aircraft Era
    • Crash Mail Covers
    • Postal Meter panels
  • Indian Airlines
    • 1960 - 1964
    • 1965 - 1969
    • 1970 - 1974
    • 1975 - 1979
    • 1980 - Onward
    • Crash Mail Covers
    • Meter Panel & Stationery
  • Foreign Airlines
    • B.O.A.C. >
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 1 Jetliner Service London to Colombo August 1952
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 1 Jetliner Service London to Singapore October 1952
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 1 Jetliner Service London to Tokyo April 1953
      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Sydney March 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Tokyo July 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Colombo August-September 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Tokyo April 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Singapore June 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Sydney November 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Manila November 1961
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Auckland April 1963
      • B.O.A.C. Boeing 707 London to Nandi November 1965
      • B.O.A.C. VC 10 40th Anniversary of Regular Airmail
  • Others
    • Zeppelin & Catapult >
      • LZ-10 Schwaben
      • LZ-13 Hansa
      • LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin
      • LZ-129 Hindenberg
      • LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin II
      • Catapult Mail
      • Ephemera
    • Rocket Mail >
      • Indian Rocket Mail
      • Sikkim Rocket Mail
    • Pigeon Mail
    • Balloon Mail
    • Airship R 101
    • Indian Air Force
  • Resources
  • Useful Links
  • Contact us

On Board Reading

The early years of Air-India International were ones without much on-board entertainment. No movies and no video screens, no personal entertainment systems. To help passengers pass their time the airline published a series of on-board reading material, the most popular being Foolishly Yours. With a remarkable dose of self-deprecating humor, the books were a must read, and always succeeded in drawing a hearty laugh from the reader.

Fun while flying

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One of the very early Air-India International publications for passengers to pass time over the long journeys, this book as puzzles, crosswords, trivia and other interesting activities. Going by the route map published in this book, it was released sometime after May 1955 and before October 1956, after the Tokyo service was launched, and before the Sydney service.
202 x 140 mm, 24 pages. Litho printed in U.S.A..


What makes a Super Constellation

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A companion book to Fun while flying, this book speaks about the special features of the Super Constellation aircraft.
202 x 140 mm, 8 pages. Litho printed in U.S.A..

Better Acquainted - Air-India

Picture
The first in a series of popular and collectable books, this was perhaps first published in the 1950s.
32 pages, 152 x 113 mm. Written by (Kooka?), Designed by JWT (E) Ltd., Printed at the Wagle Press, Bombay 1.

Foolishly Yours (First design)

Picture
Picture
A rare first design publication of Foolishly Yours, said to be dated 1950s. The book is on left, and the envelope in which it was packed is on top.
36 pages, 152 x 113 mm. Written by S. K. Kooka, Illustrated by M. Umesh Rao, Published by J. Walter Thompson Company (Eastern) Ltd., Bombay, and Printed by S. Ramu at the Commercial Printing Press.

Foolishly Yours (Second design)

Picture
 The second design on Foolishly Yours appeared during the 1960s, and went through multiple re-prints.
It was a big hit, and a bestseller in it's own right. Four million copies were printed in all, perhaps of both designs combined.
36 pages, 152 x 113 mm. Written by S. K. Kooka, Illustrated by M/s. J. Walter Thompson Company, Bombay.,
Published by Air-India, Printed at Uniform Printing Press, 41, Tamrind Lane, Bombay - 1.

This makes no sense!

Picture
Picture
A worthy successor to Foolishly Yours, it is thought to be published in 1974. The book is on left, and the envelope in which it was packed is on top.

48 pages, 175 x 122 mm. Written by S. K. Kooka, Drawings by S. S. Sawant under the supervision of S.K.K., Cover design by B. Merwan, Published by Air-India, Printed by The Uniform Offset Pvt. Ltd., Bombay.

The making of This makes no sense!

Picture
Picture
Top left: A hand drawn and hand colored cover illustration used for the book mock-up.
Top right: A printed copy marked Proof copy, 2nd proof copy in Kooka's hand writing.
Below: Hong Kong's South China Morning Post did not have much to say about the book,
so they just copied large portions of it in their review on 11 March 1977.
(Apologies for the poor quality of the image, but this was actually found on poorly preserved Thermographic Paper)

Picture

Let's Have An Affair-India

Picture
26 pages, 154 x 146 mm. An Illustrated booklet with cartoon pictures on the right side, and catchy titles on the left hand side pages.
Illustrations & Captions: David Gentleman; Cover & Layout: Air-India Art studio. Printed in India 1971; Air-India Press, Bombay-29.

Back again! ME as me ...

Picture
ND, 12 pages, 120 x 170 mm. A thin booklet with Maharajah cartoons in colour on all pages with one liners below each cartoon.
Printed in India at the Commercial Printing Press Limited, 34-38 Bank Street, Fort, Bombay 1.

I see, I think, I sing

Picture
A colorfully illustrated rhyme book for children. Presented With my Salaams by Air-India
16 pages, 242 x 178 mm. The book was published in 1972, and is written my Deepak Mankar, Pictures by Sanat Surti, Printed at Thompson Press (India) Limited, Faridabad, Haryana.

Needs more study (work in progress)

Picture
Picture
I got hold of two very interesting artefacts from the Kooka collection. However, I still do not know much about these, and need to research a little more. Should be able to post more information on these over time.
Top left: Forbidden Reading. This appears to be an alternative to This makes no sense! It is 174 x 168 mm, and the few pages inside seem to have the same illustrations and content as the other book.
Top right: There is an Air about India. This is a thick drawing book, 210 x 138 mm. It consists of hand drawn sketches, on each of the right hand side page, and a catchy one liner on each of the left hand side pages. Seems to date to the mid -1970s, the book also contains illustrations used in This makes no sense!.
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