India
Postcards actually developed in part from advertising cards.
Color
A Happy Christmas A Travelling Student and Singer
A regular Tuck's card turned into a Christmas with the embossed greeting on top.
[Original caption] A Travelling Student and Singer. The picture shows a Brahman from the Northern parts of India, a vaishnava by religion.
Bombay. A Street Scene Pydowni Junction
[Original caption] A Street Scene, Pydowni Junction. A typical street scene in Bombay. [end]
Where the Faithful of Islam Meet
[Original caption] Where the Faithful of Islam meet. There are more than 60 millions of Mohammedans in India subdivided into many classes, The verandah from which the muezzin calls to the faithful at the house of prayer is conspicuous in the picture.
Congress Hall, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908
Postmarked Oct. 7, 1908, Birmingham and sent to Miss Jeffreys, 1, Northfield End, Henley-on-Thames [UK]: "Monday. Dear Auntie, Have you been to the Exhibition yet we have and it is Grand.
Marwari
A moneylender strutting through the public square, carrying the ominous red books he uses to chase debtors through the courts, the vibrant city his backdrop.
A Fruit Stall, Northern India
[Original caption] Indian fruit is varied and luscious. Among the most popular are melons, guavas, bananas and mangoes. These, and others, are readily bought, and the fruit stall is a flourishing institution in every Indian bazaar. [end]
From a
Calcutta
Among the earliest known postcards of Kolkata, by a local and likely Austrian,photographer. Note the four tiny titles below each vignette for those eager to know.
The Moti Musjid Agra
[Original caption] The Moti Musjid. The Moti Musjid or Pearl Mosque, designed by the Moghal Emperor, Shah Jehan, 1625-58, glistens as the sun gleams on the dazzling white marble.
Calcutta, Performing Bears
[Original caption] Performing Bears, Calcutta. It is a common occurrence in Calcutta and other cities of India to meet the native from the hills leading a small bear that is found in the Himalayas and other mountain districts.
