European toys for M. Bulaqi Dass and Sons. of Chandni Chowk

 

This is a fantastic little piece of Delhi’s postal history which I found on a website. The obverse of the postal cover has the name of M. Bulaqi Dass and Sons. of Chandni Chowk on it. As you can see, it’s addressed to Muller and Froebel of Sonneberg in Germany. 

 

The fascinating thing is that this is a letter in English from an importer of toys in Delhi, specifically toy dolls in 1909. The letter asks Muller and Frobel to send samples of their goods along with pricelists for M. Bulaqi Dass so that they can order goods. It mentions that the company is well capitalised and a ‘large business in this line’.  

 

Now, what can we make of this? M.Bulaqi Dass and Sons are clearly successful importers and are reaching out to a German toy manufacturer to do business. Global connections fostered by Empire enable this. Interestingly, Muller and Froebel are a reputed toy manufacturer from Sonneberg, known at the time as the world’s toy production capital. Secondly, the name ‘Froebel’ comes from Fredrich Froebel, the pioneer of child-centered education in the late 19^th century. Froebel believed in childhood as a time of ‘spiritual purity’ instead of seeing is as a phase prior to (or in preparation for) adulthood. He also made highly prized toys or ‘Froebel’s gifts’ in the first ever kindergarten for children. M. Bulaqi Dass and Sons were aware of this and we know this because their letter refers to them having consulted the ‘Fleischmann Buyers Guide’ for information on Muller and Froebel. Indeed, one might argue that the world’s toy production capital could only emerge because of connections with imperial spaces like India and the demands they placed for goods. 

 

And what about Delhiwallas in particular? As mentioned, there is an interest in developmental toys for children and a potential market in 1909. German products and consumable are finding their way to Delhi, as are new ideas about childhood and human development. However, how did people in Delhi interpret (or re-interpret) such ideas in their own cultural context at the time? This is a much difficult but interesting line of enquiry. I’m going to have to do a bit more reading around this. 

In the meantime, here is the cover of the letter:

 

See you next Friday.