Cotton Pickers
Many early Bombay postcards focused on the cotton trade, the source, with opium, of much of the city's early wealth.
Mumbai Bombay
Snake Charmers
Given how ubiquitous the trope of snake charmers and India was in popular Western culture in the early 20th century, it is refreshing to find that they are not as common in postcards as one might expect. True, major publishers like Clifton & Co.
View From Malabar Hill, Bombay
An early keyhole postcard view of Marine Drive, probably from a photograph made in the 1890s.
Fruit Sellers
A gorgeously coloured collotype with the anonymous note on the front: "They are nearly as nice as ruby lips. best."
Rabindranath Tagore
It is hard to over estimate the importance of Rabindranath Tagore at the beginning of the 20th century.
Benares from the River
The two boats in the foreground distinguish this view of Varanasi.
Elphinstone Bombay
Among the earliest postcards of Bombay from a photograph. One can see the title and photographer inscribed at the bottom of the original glass negative, and the hand-tinting is done in large blocks.
A Knife Grinder
Knife grinders are a vanishing craft. Doing this at home before electric knife sharpeners was difficult. Knife grinders would take their sharpening wheels from door to door and take care of the problem.
An earlier postcard view, before divided backs
Knife Grinder
One can see the rapid transformation of the postcard from a time when messages where only allowed on the front, as in this card.
General Post Office, Calcutta
This postcard was sent from Calcutta in April 1905 to Mr. H.G. Squier, "Actg. [Acting?] P. M. [Postmaster?], Manila, P.I. [Philippine Islands]": "4/28/05 Leave today overland by rail to Bombay. Lytton [sp?]."
