WHY COLLECT AIRMAILS ? Philately is just one of a wide range of indoor leisure activities from which to choose and airmail collecting is but one aspect thereof. But it has certain attractive attributes that have stood the test of time. It is both visually pleasing and mentally stimulating and embraces a variety of interests including social history, technical achievement, art and design, data collection and presentation, and research. It also lends itself well to recent developments in information technology, in particular the internet and email. There may indeed be hundreds of different things that people can collect but how many of these can be readily transposed into a form that allows their nature, content and condition to be accurately and speedily examined by someone living perhaps many thousands of miles away. And that done, how many can then be so easily, economically and safely transported to a fellow collector on the other side of the world. The indoor hobby of airmail collecting is an ideal balance for outdoor physical leisure activities such as gardening, golf or sailing. It is well recognised that a combination of mental stimulation and physical exercise is the best prescription for longevity. Have you not been struck by just how many philatelists are still actively pursuing their hobby well into their 70's or even 80's. Airmail collecting is a leisure pursuit which : *combines the pleasures of acquiring a collection with the mental stimulation, through enquiry and research, that is necessary for its arrangement and description. * provides an opportunity to form an attractive and interesting collection which creatively links flown covers, stamps, picture postcards, historical photographs and ephemera around a particular theme or event. Today's collectors are now helped considerably in this task by modern technology such as word processing, data imaging and desk top publication. *offers collectors an opportunity to establish social contacts through a long and well established network of national and international collector associations. Likely future developments in airmail collecting. In the United States and the United Kingdom the number of airmail collectors has remained fairly steady over the last ten or so years. For example, membership of the American Airmail Society has been around the 2000 mark for the last two decades. However we believe that, over the next decade, the hobby will experience substantial world wide growth for the following reasons . As populations age spending power, which was previously the province of the young, moves to those aged 50 years and over. For such people mortgages will have often been settled; children will have grown up and become independent; and most of the items needed for day to day living will have been acquired . Many are likely to be retired and in receipt of adequate pensions, often supplemented by "lump sum" payments and lifetime savings. And many, often for the first time in their lives, will be enjoying the luxury of considerable free leisure time. They will be healthier than any earlier generation of their age and will live not only longer but fuller lives. Leisure and social activities will play vital role in this process. They can be expected to seek stimulating indoor leisure interests to complement their often already well established outdoor and daylight leisure activities such as gardening, golf, travel and sailing. Though by no means exclusively an interest of the over 50's we believe that the above circumstances will stimulate a wave of new and renewed interest in philately in this age group. Particularly if ready access to relevant philatelic information, literature, and collector material is available. Modern information technology offers access which is both speedy and inexpensive - even for those living in far away countries or remote rural areas. A personal computer can be purchased for little more than the cost of an electric typewriter and the cost is falling all the time. Email permits cheap and rapid communication between individual collectors and dealers world wide. We believe that this too will effect a dramatic and rapid increase in the popularity, not just of airmail collecting, but of philately as a whole.