Madras Victoria Hall
[Original caption] Victoria Hall, built 1883-1888 in honor of the Empress of India, was designed by Chisholm in keeping with the style of the Central Railway Station, one of the finest in India.
Halftone
Shipping on the Hooghly
An example of how the earliest postcards of a place were often design masterpieces. Note how the palm tree merges with the ship masts, and nautical rope and elements carefully surround the whole frame.
Exit of Khyber Pass into Peshawar Plain
Most postcards of the Khyber Pass show the decline of the roadway towards the Afghan border at Torkham, where the Frontier of India [now Pakistan] sign stood.
Punkha Boy
A key figure in the Raj was the punkha boy or man, who pulled the string that moved a fan in a bar or in the sleeping quarters to keep their employers cool.
The Gorgeous East Mounting a Royal Tusker
An early painted postcard, part of a series commemorating the 1903 Delhi Durbar but abstracted to something broader as "The Gorgeous East" series; note the water in the background which likely would not have been part of the Delhi Durbar.
Pir Panjal Range (Kashmir)
Among the earliest British-published postcards of Kashmir, this example from a series by F. Hartmann probably preceded the first Tuck's coloured Kashmir postcards by Raphael Tuck & Sons in 1906. Interestingly, both firms used an unusual caption on a
Govid Sing, Rajpoot Shikaree (Hunter)
This artist-signed postcard includes a red French stamp, cancelled in 1930, in a slightly tilted position that might have meant, if the sender was adhering to The Language of Stamps, "Have you Forgotten Me?"
Bombay. Pydownie Street.
[Original caption] Pydownie Stree, Bombay (City). Pydownie Street, one of the principal highways of Bombay, is typical of the many animated thoroughfares of this busy city.
Madras Central Station
[Original caption] Madras, Central Station. This is one of the largest and finest stations in all India.
Calcutta Coolies
[Original caption] Calcutta Coolies. The Coolies of Calcutta, otherwise porters or carriers, are men of fine physique, and are able to carry exceptionally heavy weights supported on their heads.
