Madras Coconut Oil Mills
[Original caption] Madras, Cocoanut Oil Mills.
[Original caption] Madras, Cocoanut Oil Mills.
An advertising postcard from the Singer sewing machine company, aligning its brand with one of India's most iconic structures, likely soon after it was opened officially in 1924. Note the automobiles on the bottom right.
This real photo postcard has a "Copyright, Made in Germany" imprint on the back, which was likely printed in India on German postcard-size paper. The watercolor and glitter treatment could also have been done in-house.
Possibly a dancer in a nicely hand-tinted postcard; note the red tip of the plant pointing to the lady.
There are very few Dutch postcards, let alone early ones, of India, but this is a splendid exception.
The Times of India building is opposite Victoria Terminus in the heart of Mumbai. The Times of India (TOI), owned by the Indian firm Bennett, Coleman & Co.
A slightly mysterious postcard of a gymkhana, a facility invented by colonial residents as a place to play sports starting the 1860s, and slowly planted across cities and cantonments across the subcontinent.
[Original caption] Ceylon. Banyan Tree Arch, near Colombo.
Timber was mostly used as a building material and for making furniture. Power tools and machines are available to make life easier for carpenters today, but a century ago, specialized workmen plying their trade were a popular postcard theme.
A drawing by the painter M.V. Dhurandhar that animates the meaning of "syce" as having to do with "coaxing." It was defined by Hobson-Jobson (1906): "SYCE (p. 885) SYCE , s. Hind. from Ar. sāïs. A groom.