Lynne Withey writes in Grand Tours and Cooks Tours (London, 1998), about the growth of the Western tourist trade in the 1890s, that "apart from a few first-class establishments in major cities, most hotels were barely acceptable by Western standards.
"Darjeeling is a hillstation and Sanatorium, situated on the lower slopes of the Himalayas.
This does not seem like a fancy Indus river steamer. It is after the heyday of the Indus steamer business that actually never really displaced the boatmen's traffic along the Indus and other river systems in Punjab, UP and Sindh.
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.
Plate & Co., like many Ceylon-based firms, published semi-nude postcards of women, more common here than even in South India, including this card with a nicely placed purple stamp.
[Original caption] The Jummas Masjid, Old Poor House Road. Jumma Masjid means "Friday Mosque" they say, and so it is not surprising that more than one Indian temple bears the name.
Every city had its female dancers, or "nautch women" and they were often showed with the musicians who played, assisted and sometimes protected and managed them as well.
The famous Indian singer Gohar Jan, queen of early LP recordings and the first Indian artist to be recorded on gramophone on November 2, 1902. Born in Azamgarh, north India as Angelina Yeoward in 1873 she became the most famous nautch girl and singer
Marwaris are from the Marwar region of Rajasthan in India. They speak Marwari. The word Marwar is said to be derived from the Sanskrit word Maruwat, or 'desert'. This striking image was a popular postcard.
Sent from Lucknow, Jan. 26, 1913 to Mr.
An advertising card for the Singer Manufacturing Company showing how universal the use of its sewing machines was, and perhaps how easily they could be used by women to create pillows and beautiful cloths.
