1907 Taj Mahal Postcard With An Anecdote By Its Client

1907 Taj Mahal Postcard With An Anecdote By Its Client

This is an old 1907 postcard of the Taj Mahal with an anecdote presumably by a British Client. “The Taj Mahal Hotel & water front Bombay. The ink spot . on the side of the building shows location of my room. There is a courtyard of palms on opposite side of hotel from the sea view. Will.”  So reads the anecdote written by a client (Will) probably to his family back in England.

In its early years, the Hotel advertised with the caption “EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT. EUROPEAN STAFF.” The European crowd was centered around the Fort area in Bombay. They were more inclined to hotels with European management. The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel faces the Gateway of India at Apollo Bunder. Built in 1903, it was a cherished project of the legendary industrialist Jamshetji Tata. He was one of the best-known Parsis of Bombay (now Mumbai) if not India.

Did you know – the Taj was the first in India to have electricity, English butlers, the first licensed bar in Bombay, and the first ‘discotheque’ in India. 

Past posts – Vintage Oleograph Raja Ravi Varma “Laxmi”., View of Victoria Terminus, BMC & Horse Trams Bombay, 1895., Imperial Assemblage Or The Delhi Durbar Of 1877., Indian Railways One Hundred Years – Old Book 1953.