Horse-Drawn Tram In Bombay With Perfume Advertisement, 1900 Postcard
A 1900 postcard captures an interesting scene of a horse-drawn tram with an advertisement for an Italian perfume making its way through a busy street in Bombay (Mumbai). The postcard features the advertisement for A. Bertelli, an Italian company founded in Milan in 1888, which gained recognition for manufacturing pharmaceutical products before expanding into fine perfumes. The prominently advertised Venus Perfume was among the company’s early fragrance brands, making this postcard an interesting blend of Bombay’s urban history and international commercial advertising from the colonial era.
The street scene is believed to depict Bhendi Bazaar, one of old Bombay’s busiest commercial districts that continues to thrive today. Horse-drawn trams first began operating in Bombay in 1874 and soon became an essential part of the city’s public transport network before electric trams replaced them in 1907. After serving generations of commuters, Bombay’s beloved tram system finally ceased operations in 1964, marking the end of an important chapter in the city’s transport history. This rare postcard preserves both the vibrant atmosphere of colonial Bombay and the global trade connections that shaped the city at the turn of the twentieth century. Click image to enlarge.
Did you know – Bombay’s first horse-drawn trams began operating in 1874 and were pulled by teams of horses before electrification.
