Our Dhoby, Madras
The dhobi was a favorite postcard subject, with the colors on this postcard - note the brilliant white - likely stenciled in by the publisher in India.
The dhobi was a favorite postcard subject, with the colors on this postcard - note the brilliant white - likely stenciled in by the publisher in India.
The Kolam tradition of creating complex geometric patterns, often passed down from mother to daughter, out of rice flour or chalk in front of the home is an ancient tradition in South India and elsewhere.
A popular image of Commercial Street in Bangalore by one of its most popular studios run by M. C. H. Doveton. Note that the poster on the left has the word "War" readable which suggests it is from around the first World War I period.
Early postcards from the Malabar coast seem to be relatively rare. In the message below, "Dusk" seems to be a dog.
[Verso] "6-5-20. Aren't they smartly pretty? I expect Dusk would like to bite this calf don't you?
A beautifully hand-tinted postcard of the Residency in what is now Bengaluru in the Indian state of Karnataka.
The fall Mysuru Dasara celebrates the victory of the Hindu goddess Chamundeshwari (Durga) over the demon Mahishasura, the event from which Mysuru's name [formerly Mysore] is derived.
Or is he trying to keep cool? This series of humourous postcards seems to feature the same protagonist.
A humourous postcard showing a sleeping father, who is supposed to be pulling the punkah [fan] string to cool the off-framed European, but instead has delegated the task to his son. The punkahwallah not doing his duty was a common postcard theme.
Hobson Jobson defines the "jutka" in this finely coloured postcard with condescending tone "s. From Dak. -- Hind. jhaṭkā, 'quick.' The native cab of Madras, and of Mofussil towns in that Presidency; a conveyance only to be characterised by the
Today goatskins, pigskins and earthen pitchers have given way to plastic jars and bottles and huge, lumbering dripping water tankers that supplement inadequate piped water supplies in towns and cities throughout South Asia.