Postcards celebrated infrastructure that made a real difference to residents, in this case a water pipeline critical to the growth and population of the Punjabi hillstation of Murree in the early 20th century.
The pipeline track is also called the
One of the most common postcards from the Darjeeling area. The double loop offers a magnificent view of Darjeeling and Mount Everest. The toy train of Darjeeling is a major draw for tourists and connects Darjeeling to Siliguri in North Bengal.
"Kodaikanal (Kody), though not so quite fashionable as Ooty," wrote Eustace Reynolds Hall in The Tourist's India (1907) "is rapidly coming into favour.
Clifton's later postcards, especially his candid photographs in the bazaars of Mussoorie, are among his most interesting. There is a blur to man on the right, suggesting this came from a longer-exposure albumen photograph.
A geographically instructive postcard, which helps the traveler locate themselves on the way to Mussoorie, almost 40 kilometers from the railway station. The famous "Camels Back" hump is also pointed out. The steam on the railway engine looks real.
"Cattle borwsed homewards to small hidden hamlets in the valleys, all grew softer and greyer till it was quite dark and the lights came out where she had not thought there was any habitation at all – single lamps here and there in Kasauli, pinpricks
[Original caption] View from the Cart Road. Simla is in the mountainous region of the Punjab, on the southern slopes of the Himalayas. The town is beautifully laid out and the scenery is magnificent. [end]
Note the boy carrying wood in the foreground
Were Indians allowed on the Mall in Shimla?
Illustrated postcards often celebrated the post offices that made their rapid spread possible.
Almost invisible in this painted scene are the two men near the center, half-hidden markers of scale, secret rewards for the perceptive postcard viewer.
