A Water Carrier, Madras
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.
Collotype
Greetings from Jamaica, West Indies
A postcard showing Indian workers ("east Indian coolies") brought to work in Jamaica (the "West Indies") to work, part of an enormous migration of Indian labor to British colonies around the world, many of whose descendants are still living in places
Souvenir of Darjeeling Himalaya
Thomas Paar was one of the earliest publishers of Darjeeling postcards, and a longtime photographer with a grand studio in the middle of the hillstation.
Kolar Gold Field - Champion Reef Mine
The world's second deepest gold mine near Bangalore. Gold had long been known in the area, but it was only after the application of new engineering methods that size-able finds in the 1880s justified larger investments.
A Bania Lady
A beautiful example of colorization, with the rich brown of wood and skin set off against the black and white original studio backdrop. On the back, one owner has pencilled in "Hindu Bourgeois."
The Coolest Place in the House.
A postcard that sums up the fantasy of colonial life for Europeans. The dog resting by the tub is to Indians most unhygienic, but to Europeans the ultimate Raj bathroom accessory.
Sudder Bazaar, Karachi
This most interesting thing in this composite street scene is the way it brings the many forces of colonialism into view. In the distant background is Karachi's mammoth St. Patrick's Cathedral.
A Parsee Lady
Parsi women were a popular subject—progressive women with traditional virtues, counterpoints to the nautch girl. This Parsi Lady is holding what could be a postcard.
Chunglagali (Murree Hills)
A richly mysterious image by the postcard poet of the Murree hills, Baljee. A whisper of a road peeks out from under the forest coverage on the right above his signature in the original albumen negative.
Head of Tamil Girl
The sitter's expression is among the more memorable antique postcard portraits.
