India - Burma
An advertising card for the Singer Manufacturing Company showing how universal the use of its sewing machines was, and perhaps how easily they could be used by women to create pillows and beautiful cloths.
Women
[Karla Station]
![[Karla Station]](https://www.paperjewels.org/sites/default/files/styles/square_thumbnail/public/slides/karla-station_0.jpg?itok=ktTgi9Gt "[Karla Station]")
This postcard shows a scene at the platform of Karla railway station outside Mumbai where The Ravi Varma Press was headquartered. On the platform, a barefoot man is holding a stick, another is smoking a hookah.
A Tamil Girl, Ceylon
One of my favourite postcards by the great Colombo publisher Plate & Co., simply because the girl's stare or startled expression is so memorable. Although I used the color version in the book, this seems just as gripping. What is she looking at?
Ma-Hla-Byn (Miss Pretty and Fair)
Burmese women were a common postcard subject for firms like Tucks and D.A. Ahuja, the caption dripping stereotype and prejudice.
[Original caption] Ma-Hla-Byn (Miss Pretty and Fair). Although the Burmese women may not coincide with the Western idea
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).
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
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.
Moplah Women
Moplahs are the Muslim descendants of Arab traders who married local women and settled along the Malabar coast over the centuries.
