Toddy Drawers
Toddy or palm wine as made from sap collected by climbers like this one in little pouches; fermentation was so fast in the humid air that a mildly alcoholic drink could be had in a few hours.
People
A Parsee Lady
Parsis in India originally came from Iran (Persia), and Parsi ladies were among the first Indian women to have had an active public life, no doubt helped by a high literacy rate in the community (there is a postcard or letter in the woman's hand).
Water Carrier
The bhistee or water carrier was a critical support to urban life before running water became widespread and reliable, and is one of the most frequent postcard subjects.
Maina Dancing Girls. Jaipur.
This was one of Gobindram Oodeyram's most popular postcards (also called Mohamedan Dancing Girl in other versions). The hand-applied coloring is exceptional – not only the pink, the signature color of Jaipur and the firm's postcards, but also the use
Municipal Buildings Bombay
When this postcard was published in 1899, the BMC building as it has come to be known across of Victoria Terminus railway station had been open barely six years.
Types: North-West Frontier of India
This unusual collage was put together from photographs taken over the years by William Dacia Holmes, who ran Holmes studio from 1889 until his death in 1923, and his son William Randolph Holmes who tool over until the studio closed in Peshawar in
The Bombay Policeman
At the turn of the century, the uniformed policeman was a novel sight. Note the umbrella instead of gun or baton stick carried by this early policeman, drawn by M.V. Dhurandhar.
Postmarked May 14, 1903, Spencer’s Buildings.
Mumtaz-i-Mahal "The Exalted one of the Palace." (from an ivory miniature) The Taj, Tomb of Mumtaz-i-Mahal. Built by the Emperor Shah Jehan.
India Tea Growers advertising postcard. [Verso] Postmarked St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 1, 1910 and sent to Mrs. W.M. Trane, Trowbridge, Ill. [Illinois, USA]
[Original caption, Verso] Mumtaz-I-Mahal-"the Exalted One of the Palace"-Empress of the Great
Water Maid. Jaipur.
A woman balancing water pots on her head is a common site across the Indian subcontinent.
Srimati Sarojini Naidu
Srimati Sarojini Naidu, also known as the Nightingale of India, for her poetry.
Sarojini Naidu (February 13, 1879 - March 2, 1949), known as Bharatiya Kokila (The Nightingale of India), was a child prodigy, freedom fighter, and poet.
