A Toddy Drawer, Madras
A popular figure specific to early South Indian postcards is the toddy drawer. Palm wine was made from sap collected from trees in little pouches.
Chennai
Home Rule League, Madras
The early 20th-century Home Rule League demanded self-government for the whole of India from British rule and was particularly active between 1916-18. Many Indian leaders supported this movement including the famous nationalist, Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
Master's Whisky
These kinds of offensive postcards seem to have been part of series by both Higginbotham's and their main competitor in South India, Spencer & Co.
When Master is at Office
Part of an offensive series by both Higginbotham's showing domestic staff in various acts of revolt, dereliction or other transgressions that would have made colonists laugh and feel slightly uncomfortable.
Master's Tooth-Brush
Part of an offensive series by both Higginbotham's showing domestic staff in various acts of revolt, dereliction or other transgressions that would have made colonists laugh and feel slightly uncomfortable.
Curious Craft. Catamaran, Madras
Catamarans are one of the first types of boats and the earliest users of catamarans were apparently fishermen living on the southern coast of Tamil Nadu; the word itself is of Tamil origin.
Madras Seven Pagodas
While we now believe that the temples date to the Pallava King Narasimharavan around 630 CE, much about their origins remains obscure. This is an embossed postcard, with the relief lines meant to simulate an old oil painting.
[Original caption] Seven
Toddy Drawers
Toddy or palm wine as made from sap collected by climbers like this one in little pouches; fermentation was so fast in the humid air that a mildly alcoholic drink could be had in a few hours.
Views of Madras
An early multi-view collotype of Madras, with five separate photographs, in a decorative flower frame.
A Wet Day, Madras
An evocative postcard that manages to communicate the experience of rain.
