View From Malabar Hill, Bombay
An early keyhole postcard view of Marine Drive, probably from a photograph made in the 1890s.
An early keyhole postcard view of Marine Drive, probably from a photograph made in the 1890s.
Printed on the side is the message, most likely from a firm:
Happy Holidays and a Fortunate New Year wish
from K. and A. Ringger, Bombay
A gorgeously coloured collotype with the anonymous note on the front: "They are nearly as nice as ruby lips. best."
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.
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
One can see the rapid transformation of the postcard from a time when messages where only allowed on the front, as in this card.
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?]."
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.
This tomb to one of the most revered of Muslim religious teachers in Gujarat was completed in the late 15th century.
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.