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.
Higginbotham & Co.
Chalking the Doorstep, Madras
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.
The Pykara Falls, Nilgiris
Pykara is not far from Ooty, and was a popular South Indian postcard subject. Sacred to the Todas, the Pykara River is also where one of India's first hydroelectric power plants was commissioned in the 1930s.
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.
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.
In the Market, Bangalore.
Bangalore is well-known for sprawling shopping malls, although in British times it was largely a cantonment town and only recently has become an information technology hub and one of the cities most prominently linked to the outsourcing of Western
Views of Madras
An early multi-view collotype of Madras, with five separate photographs, in a decorative flower frame.
Tanjore Palace
Higginbotham's was the rare bookseller which also became a prominent postcard publisher, probably the leading one in South India.
