The Language of Stamps
A little known aspect of the postcard "revolution" was the secret language of conveying messages by positioning stamps in select ways; this postcard served as a Rosetta stone for sender and receiver alike.
A little known aspect of the postcard "revolution" was the secret language of conveying messages by positioning stamps in select ways; this postcard served as a Rosetta stone for sender and receiver alike.
A very early blue-toned postcard from booksellers Cobridge and Co. Sent from Bombay's Sea Post Office, date unclear, to Mr. J. Sherman, 12 Middleton Square, Clerkennell, E.C. London, England: "With fondest love to all from Arthur."
[Original caption] Grand Hotel Avenue – The town of Simla is beautifully laid out.
There are few postcards available of Indians who worked, often as indentured labor, in other British possessions before Independence.
Note the lone girl in the right corner as if balancing the weight of the school, founded in the late 19th century by the American missionary Emma Knowles.
This 17th century palace, now known as Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal, was built by King Tirumala Nayaka, of the Nayaka dynasty, and was once spread over a much larger area than what remains today.
One of the earliest postcards of India published by a British-based firm, F. Hartmann & Co.
Motor travel made accessing hill stations much easier; note the the 1920s eras car and smaller buses in this image on the road from Rawalpindi to Murree (the transportation company advertised on the sign is the "Simla Motor Service"). The trip into
Now the Amitabh Bachan Sports Complex, this resolute example of Raj architecture was constructed in 1879. The architect was Richard Bayne, and the designs came from Professor Gamble at the precursor to what is now the Victoria and Albert Museum.
This promotional postcard for the British Empire Exhibition in London in 1924 was signed by Ernest Maitland Coffin (1868-1944), apparently a successful commercial artist.