Returning home - a view in Bombay

Tue, 03/22/2022 - 17:23
Date picture taken
1957
Author(s)

Comments

I think this might be a street scene in Bombay. I did a quick search for ''Bombay buses in the 1950's''.  One colour photo taken in 1956/7 shows two buses with an identical livery to your photograph. It is interesting, as has been mentioned, that the Singapore buses of the same era shared a very similar livery. I have not yet been able to identify the rather grand building behind. Thanks for your nice photos.

If it is a colonial location, it is indeed a grand building. May be Bombay but not sure. There appears to be a hill in the background.

Not sure either if the photo is horizontally flipped as the car appears to be turning onto the 'wrong' side of the road. An interesting photo to figure out and place.
 

 

It is interesting - I don't know the answer yet but I'll up the ante. 

The red and white livery of the bus in the photo belongs to the Changi Motor Bus Service, one of 12 Chinese bus companies that fanned out to the rural areas in Singapore from the mid-1930s. The Changi Motor Bus service had 15 buses that covered the length of Changi Road from Geylang Road to Changi Village 15km away. 
 

So assuming this photo was taken in Singapore, that building should be near Changi Road. 
 

The other thing: the black and white kerb pattern is also seen in a number of roadside photos of old Singapore. 

The photo I found of the old Bombay (Mumbai) bus is online. It is from the ''Mike Morant Collection, Bombay single-decker bus photographed circa 1956/7''. This photo does not need flipping as the advertising hording on the left reads; ''Remedies, Equal to'' (etc). Interesting observation regarding the traffic movement. I can see what appears to be a double decker bus on the far left of the picture, just behind the man walking across the road. As for the building it appears to be in the Indo-Gothic style, (with more Gothic than Indo), as favoured by British architects in India in the 19th Century. I lived for three years in Singapore in the mid 1960's at a time before the vast changes that were to take place in later years. Apart from a few large old colonial style buildings near the southern waterfront and Singapore River there was nothing similar to this building particularly out near Changi which was in the 'countryside'. I await your response with baited breath!

I think I've found the exact place - it's Bombay.

It's a photo in an article under Times of India. I think the photo is copyrighted and can't provide a link unless you download an app and is a subscriber to the website.

Go to Google images and punch in 'Bombay 1950s'. It should be the eighth photo or thereabouts...the one with the tram and the advert has 'CIPLA REMEDIES' emblazoned across the top for the stand. In the background appears the top of the suspected building in question although most of it is obscured by the tram. 
 

Actually the building on the right of the photo is a better match so the place may have been a transport hub with tram and bus stops. 
 

Here's the photo

Armed with this info, it has to be a tram stop so the place could be at today's Dr Dadabhai Naoroji Road at Hutatma Chowk in south Bombay as per this photo (can just make out just the top of a similar styled building behind the tram)

A really superb piece of detective work David. My breath has been abated, spelt correctly this time!  What a great team and site this is, thank you to all involved with it.