Bombay Mumbai

Progress of Fashion

A clever postcard by master artist M.V. Dhurandhar showing the modernization of fashion among women in his hometown of Bombay. This card was published by D.B.

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Parsi Ladies

One of the most popular early postcards of Parsees was this arresting composite portrait by Clifton & Co. The original albumen likely dates to the late 1890s.

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Royal Bombay Yacht Club

[Original caption] The Royal Bombay Yacht Club. One of the most exclusive clubs in the East, patronized only by the most prominent citizens. [end]

Founded in 1864, this still extremely exclusive club survives in a building next to this one,

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Hindu Temple (Monkey Temple) Kalbadevi Road

[Original caption] Hindu Temple (Monkey Temple). Kalbadevi Road, Bombay. The famous temple showing very fine architecture. [end]

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A portrait of the man who made the postcard revolution possible. While the original for this may have been a photograph of an actual postman, the broad strokes make it possible that a painted portrait was used as the source.

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Sir J. N. Tata

The "father of Indian industry." Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (1839-1904) was born in Gujarat and graduated from Elphinstone College in Mumbai in 1858. He founded and sold a successful trading firm, and then built a successful cotton mill that since

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Hornby Road & the Floral Fountain, Bombay [message]

While the original Tuck's caption can be found here, this one was sent scrawled in purple pencil as if a child's writing but may have been an adult, to Mrs. W.

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Hindu Beauty

A lithographic card, most likely done by an Indian artist and printed in Britain. Note how nicely the woman is foregrounded from a low angle, with a smaller temple in the background and a swirl of green that helps give life to the portrait.