Elphinstone Bombay
Among the earliest postcards of Bombay from a photograph. One can see the title and photographer inscribed at the bottom of the original glass negative, and the hand-tinting is done in large blocks.
Clifton & Co.
A Knife Grinder
Knife grinders are a vanishing craft. Doing this at home before electric knife sharpeners was difficult. Knife grinders would take their sharpening wheels from door to door and take care of the problem.
An earlier postcard view, before divided backs
Knife Grinder
One can see the rapid transformation of the postcard from a time when messages where only allowed on the front, as in this card.
General Post Office, Calcutta
This postcard was sent from Calcutta in April 1905 to Mr. H.G. Squier, "Actg. [Acting?] P. M. [Postmaster?], Manila, P.I. [Philippine Islands]": "4/28/05 Leave today overland by rail to Bombay. Lytton [sp?]."
An Indian Rajah
This unnamed Rajah was a popular postcard subject, in color and black and white. Note how well the image was colorized during the half-tone printing process which had just started to become more widely used for postcards based on photographs.
Shah Alum's Tomb, Ahmedabad
This tomb to one of the most revered of Muslim religious teachers in Gujarat was completed in the late 15th century.
View From Malabar Hill, Bombay
Clifton & Co., the first big Bobby-based publisher had numerous versions of this card. This keyhole-style view – a briefly popular postcard type – works well with the curve of what is now Marine Drive opening out towards the waters of Back Bay.
An Indian Bungalow
Postmarked Seapost Office [Bombay] April 1906, received in Manchester April 28, and addressed to Miss. L. Swill [sp?] in Manchester, England with this note on the front: "What price this for a couple."
The Bund, Poona
An almost technicolor-blue tinted collotype. The bund or dam at Pune was one of the most postcarded views from the city. Built by Sir Jamsetjee Jeetbhoy, a Bombay philanthropist, cotton and opium merchant, it was completed in 1869.
Arhai-Din-Ka-Jhopra, Ajmere
A striking collotype published in many versions by Clifton & Co. The Arhai-Din-Ka-Jhopra was built in the 13th century by the first Muslim Sultan in India, Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, and before him by Abu Bar of Herat, Afghanistan.
