Leisure
Home ● Sitemap ● Reference ● Last updated: 03-October-2009
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
A relatively
wealth city such as Calcutta always provided a great variety of possibilities
to relax at least to those who could afford it. Clubs, beauty parlours, hotels and restaurants all provide spots for those wanting to get
away from the stresses of life in the busy city.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leisure
_____Pictures of 1940s
Calcutta________________________
_____Contemporary
Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
_____Memories
of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clubs
_____Pictures of 1940s
Calcutta________________________
American Red Cross Burra Club
The American Red Cross Burra Club, leave center
for GI's and recreation spot for all enlisted men. The unpretentious facade
belies an interior complete with dormitory, snack bar, restaurant, music room
games room, lounge, barber and tailor shops, wrapping service department and
post exchange.
Clyde
Waddell, US military man, personal press photographer of Lord Louis
Mountbatten, and news photographer on Phoenix magazine. Calcutta, mid 1940s
(source:
webpage http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/calcutta1947/? Monday, 16-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of David N. Nelson,
South Asia Bibliographer, Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania)
_____Contemporary
Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
Bengal
Club
Adjoining is the Bengal Club, founded in 1827.
This magnificent structure, built in the Renaissance style of architecture, was
erected in 1908 at a cost of Rs. 9,00,000/- on the site of the Club's former
building, once the residence of Lord Macaulay. The Club offers its members all
facilities, social and residential, reciprocating with the Madras, Byculla,
Hongkong and Shanghai Clubs.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages 121 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
Tollygunge
Club
Farther up Russa Road we pass Golf Club Road,
where the Royal Calcutta Golf Club is located, and reach the Calcutta Tramways'
Tollygunge Tram Depot. On the opposite side of the thoroughfare is the
Tollygunge Race Course and the Tollygunge Club, established in 1895 and
incorporated in 1909 : membership, which is by ballot, is limited to 500
Resident Permanent Members, 50 Resident Gymkhana Members, 75 Resident Temporary
Members and 50 Service Members. The Committee also admit, as honorary members,
distinguished residents and visitors to Calcutta. The amenities of the Club
include racing, golf, swimming, tennis and dancing.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages 166 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
United
Service Club
Next to the School of Art is the United Service
Club Limited, a building of distinctive architecture, erected in 1905 by
Mackintosh Burn Ltd. The Club was founded in 1845 and is open to members of the
Services.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
page 32 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair
dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The
copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
Saturday
Club
at No. 7 [Wood Street], the Saturday Club,
founded in 1875 : it now has about 1,500 members. The Club is in the nature of
a social one, with amenities for swimming, dancing, tennis, squash-rackets,
etc.; at Nos. 13, 14 and 15 are the offices of the Survey-General of India;
facing Wood Street is Wellesley Street.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages 89-90 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
Calcutta Scottish Headquarters and Club
At No.
1 Gokhale Road, with the main entrance on Chowringhee, is the Calcutta Scottish
Headquarters and Club, a handsome building of modern architecture erected in
1924. The Unit was founded in 1914, but the Club in its present form came into
being only in 1937. The Club is a social one and has a good reputation in the
field of sport. It is open to members of the corps only.
John Barry,
journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source pages 124 of John Barry: “Calcutta
1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with
John Barry 1940)
THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
Head
Office :—25, Chowringhee
Road.
Trams
:—Kalighat, Ballygunge,
Tollygunge.
Buses :-2, 2A, 3, 4, 4A, 5, 5A.
Believing
in the principle that the best way to attack evil is to make the good
attractive, and that the best time to make the effort is before the trouble
occurs, the Young Men's Christian Association has been established to help boys
and young men to make a whole-hearted endeavour towards building character and
acquiring mental and physical alertness.
This is accomplished by bringing together a group or young men in happy
and congenial association, as well as by taking care of their spiritual needs.
The
movement was started in 1822, under the name of the Calcutta Christian Juvenile
Society, but as this nomenclature did not sufficiently express the Society's
activities, the name in 1850 was changed to "The Young Men's Christian
Association".
As early
as 1836, a building was purchased in Bowbazar Street, and in 1879, rooms in the
Bible House at Chowringhee were rented for the Association, which, on
reorganisation in 1894, removed its headquarters to No. 2 Chowringhee Road. A
year later this was removed to No.
16 Sudder Street, at which time, finding it necessary to extend the
Association's activities to other localities, the College Branch in College
Street and the Bhowanipore Branch were opened.
Increased
membership necessitated the expansion. of the College Branch in Overtoun Hall,
and in 1902 the Chowringhee Branch was opened at No. 25 Chowringhee Road. In
1903 a Boys' Branch in College Street was started and in 1905 a branch for
Anglo-Indians opened in "Wellington House" at No. 51 Dharamtala
Street. This, in 1915, was removed to No. 42 Corporation Street and called the
"Wellington Branch for Anglo-Indians.";
In the
same year the Students' Hostel and Playground at Mechuabazar Street was opened
while in 1917 the Ronaldshay Hut was built, and in 1921 Pathsala work for boys
started.
Welfare
Centres for bustee boys are conducted at Grey street, ParkCircus, Mechuabazar
street and Kidderpore, and recently a free Rest Room for the unemployed,
furnished with newspapers, magazines and writing materials, and open daily from
12 noon to 5p.m., has been started at No. 25 Chowringhee Road.
The
Governor of the Province is the Patron of the Association, which is governed by
a President, Vice-President and a Board of Directors. Each branch has its own Committee of Management and Secretary.
Membership
isnopen to men of all natyionalities, irrespective of cast and creed. Every branch
is provided with a library and equipped with a reading room, which is open to
members daily, except Sundays. The libraries together contain approximately a
total of 30,000 volumes.
Cricket,
hockey, football, volley-ball, tennis and billiards are playedin all branches:
boxing, rink-hockey and skating is also condcted and gymnasium classes are
held. There are five swimming baths, where aquatic sports take place annually.
Religious
lectures, study clases, devitional meetings and pryers are held in all branches,
attendance being voluntary.
The
Association controls six hostels located in different parts odf the city, two
of which are conducted in the European and four in the Indian style of living.
The
Central Branch is used for the meeting of several clubs and Associations,
including the Ex-Service Association, the Bengal Hockey Association, the Indian
Football Association, and the Bengal Olympic Association.
The
Rionaldshay Hut is sectional, being exclusively for British soldiers stationed
in Calcutta and Barrackpore.
Memebership is free and the ammeneties include the free use of a library
, a piano, a gramophone and indoor and outdoor games. Billiards is provided at a nominal fee of four annas per half
hour. Subscription for tennis is Rs. 2/- per month, inclusive of rackets, balls
an fielders. Dances are held every Tuesday, admission, including light
refreshments, being eight annas for members and four annas for ladies.
The
Association receives no financial assistance from outside Calcutta, with the exception
of the free services of a secretary from Canada. It contributes s. 3,600/-
annually to the National council, which runs four Rural Re-construction centres
and supervises and assists smaller associations in India.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages117-119 of John Barry: “Calcutta
1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
Young
Women's Christian Association (International)
adjoining it [the Madan Theatre in Surendra Nath
Banerjee Road] is the handsome building and spacious grounds of the Young
Women's Christian Association (International). This famous institution was
founded in 1860 with the same primary objects and motives as the Young Men's
Christian Association;
it conducts a wide variety of activities,
including Educational Classes, Commercial School for Girls, an Employment
Bureau, a Physical Training College, a Physical Education Department with
gymnasium and recreation classes, and Teachers' Training Classes. The
Association offers the following amenities :—Hockey, tennis, basketball, track
and field events and a camp for business girls :
it also runs clubs for ladies of all ages and
creeds and has a hostel for business girls, known as Gallway House, at No. 1,
Middleton Row.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
page 30 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair
dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The
copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
THE DALHOUSlE INSTITUTE
This Institute, situated on the south side of
Dalhousie Square, was originally constructed as a Monumental Hall to
accommodate busts and statues of great men associated with the history of
British India, as well as to provide a .resort for mental improvement and
social intercourse for all classes.
The building was designed by Walter Granville,
and the foundation stone laid with Masonic ceremony in 1865 by the Hon'ble
Cecil Beadon, Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, assisted by H. D. Sandeman,
Provincial Grand Master, in the presence of Sir John Lawrence, Governor-General
of India (1864-69). The cost of its construction was met partly by public
subscription and partly from funds raised to commemorate the heroic deeds of
those who distinguished themselves in the mutiny of 1857.
The Institute has a large hall measuring 90 ft.
by 45ft., with marble-faced walls and a lofty, richly-carved ceiling. A brass
plate affixed to the wall, commemorates John Renfrew, with whom the idea of
erecting this memorial hall originated and through whose efforts the Institute
was built. The hall for some years fulfilled its original purpose. of
commemoration; it is now the Headquarters of
the Dalhousie Club, often used for public functions. The Trades
Association is accommodated in the eastern wing of the building.
The only statue in the Institute is that erected
to the memory of the Hon'ble James Wilson, Finance Member 1859-60, who
introduced Income Tax and Government Paper Currency into the country.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages 70-71 of John
Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
ENTERTAINMENT
Hello Fun. You want to have fun?
You know the ways, but you don't know the places? Check. The places are listed
below, and the rest is up to you:
Clubs for E. M. There are no finer
places in this city to start, spend, and finish the day than in the clubs for
enlisted men. You are offered rest, recreation, and food; and if you care for
outside interests or pleasures, as much information as possible will be given
you, and every effort will be made to find for you entries into places that
might ordinarily be closed to you. See your current copy of Command Post for
the weekly schedules of these clubs. The best are:
ARC Burra
Club on Dalhousie Square.
ARC
Cosmos Club on Dalhousie Square.
Continental
Services Club, 12 Chowringhee Rd. Although not a club reserved exclusively
for service men, the Y.M.C.A. at 25
Chowringhee Rd., also offers to E.M. and to officers, rest, recreation, food,
snacks, and information.
The Y.W.C.A.
at 1 Russell St., opp. Imperial Bank, is not a service club either; but it does
offer a Saturday night Dance Social for E.M. Adequate number of
"Fems" on hand. Should go, guy. Cut that rug, scrape that varnish.
Clubs for Officers. A number of
private clubs in the Calcutta area have made available their facilities under
various temporary-membership arrangements. They are good clubs. Respect the
hospitality extended to you.
Bengal Club, Ltd., 33 Chowringhee Rd., reserved
for officers with a grade of Lt. Col. or higher, details at the club.
Calcutta
Club, 241 Lower Circular Rd., temporary memberships for officers with a
grade of Major or higher, when introduced by a permanent member. Dues Rs. 10/-
mo., deposit of Rs. 100 refundable upon termination. Bar, grill (dinner on 24
hr. notice to secretary), tennis, card rooms, library, Saturday Dinner Dance.
Calcutta
Swimming Club, 1 Strand Rd., temporary memberships for all officers. Rs.
10/- mo., limited quota, apply at 0900 hrs. daily for service memberships
forfeited by others at expiration of 30-day period. Two pools, indoor and
outdoor, bar, grills, badminton, deck tennis, exhibition polo. A must on your
list of clubs to join.
Swiss
Club, 42 Theatre Rd., temporary memberships at Rs. 10/mo., Rs. 5 extra for
tennis. Must be presented by old member. Deposit of Rs. 100 refundable on
termination. Can bring guests. Bar, grill (Swiss-style cooking), bowling,
tennis. The bowling is a game called Skittles.
British-American
Club, 12 Government Place East (near Great Eastern Hotel.) Rs. 10/-
entrance fee. Rs./5- quarterly. Join anytime. One member necessary as sponsor
(sponsor often can be found in club). Rs. 2/- charged for each male guest; no
charge for female guests. Each member asked to limit his party to six persons.
Meals served 1900-2330 hours; drinks 1930-2330 hours; dancing nightly 2000-2330
hours; floor show intermittently. A "must go" on an officer's
entertainment list. (A generous share of the Club's proceeds go toward war-time
services and toward free entertainment for enlisted personnel on Sunday
afternoon).
Tollygunge
Club, 22 Russa Road (South). Swimming, golf, tennis, drinks, meals. No
dancing. Cash coupons must be bought at No. 1 Club bar in main building. 24
hours notice should be given to use tennis or dining facilities.
Royal
Calcutta Golf Club, Tollygunge at Golf Club Road. Daily except Sundays,
from 0730 to 1640 hours. Greens fees Rs. 2/- club hire Rs. 1/-. Coupon books
for purchase of drinks and use of club's facilities should be bought at the
secretary's office. Persons desiring to use club's facilities without playing
golf must pay greens fee nevertheless.
Three
Hundred Club, 25 Theatre Road. Temporary membership Rs. 5/- month from 1st
day of the month to the last day. Must be vouched for by Red Cross or local Adjutant.
Dining, drinking, dancing, daily except Sundays, which day is reserved for
permanent members. Temporary members may bring women guests but not men guests.
Saturday
Club, 7 Wood Street, Dining, drinking, dancing, tennis, swimming. 10-day
membership Rs. 10/-. Interview secretary between 1000-1730 hours.
United
Service Club, 29 Chowringhee Rd. Temporary membership exclusive of
quarters, Rs. 20/-, plus Rs. 2/- per month additional for use of library.
Letter of introduction to secretary from your C.O. Use of library, card room,
billiard room, dining room, bar and public rooms generally. Women guests not
admitted to main building. The Lawn House, an annex, has public rooms for
ladies and men.
Misc.
Clubs and Lodges. The following clubs are open to both E.M. and to
officers:
East
& West Fraternity Club, Calcutta Club Annex, Gokhale Rd., promotes
cultural interests. Concerts, lectures, debates, discussion. Open to all. Rs.
1/mo.
Grail
Club, 15 Park St., Catholic Social Club, membership fee Rs. 5. Club dances
every Sat. night, social gatherings Every Sunday Eve from 1900-2100, consisting
of dancing in the hall and religious discussions in adjoining rooms. Pingpong,
billiards, badminton in Rec. Hall.
Judean
Club, 3 Madge Lane, for Jews only. 1900-2100 hours every evening.
Masonic
Lodge, 19 Park St., open 0900-1700 hours daily, half-day Saturday, closed
Sunday.
(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply
Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army
Forces in India - Burma, 1945: at:
http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
Addresses
of Clubs in 1940
Aheeritollah
Sporting Club—12 Ramchandra Maitra Lane. Phone, B.B.3279.
Armenian
Club—21 Galstaun Mansions. Phone, Cal. 2504.
Ballygunge
Cricket Club—Store Road, Ballygunge. Phe., P.K. 997.
Barrackpore
Club—8 Riverside. Barrackpore. Phe.,Barrackpore 10.
Barrackpore
Golf Club House—89 Station Road, Barrackpore. Phone, Barrackpore 78.
Bengal
Club. Ltd.—33 Chowringhee Road. Phone, Cal. 4406.
Bengal
Flying Club, Lid.—Dum Dum Cantonment. Phone, Regent 807.
Bhowanipore
Club—94 Bakul Bagan Road, Bhowanipore.
Blue
Birds Athletic Club—48 Chowringhee Road. Phe., P.K. 2374.
Bombay
Club—9 Clive Row. Phone, Cal. 2324.
British
India Engineers' Club —15A Kyd Street. Phone. CaL 207.
British
India Marine Service Officers' Club—4 Chowringhee Lane. Phone, Cal, 1256.
Calcutta
Club, Ltd.—241 Lower Circular Road. Phone, P.K. 533.
Calcutta
Cricket Club—Eden Gardens, Phone, Cal. 1575.
Calcutta
Football Club—Maidan. Phone, Cal. 962. Office—5 Fairlie Place.
Phone, Cal. 2796.
Calcutta
Ladies' Golf Club—Maidan. Phone, CaL 2404,
Calcutta
Light Horse Club—24 Park Street. Phone, P.K. 988.
Calcutta
Medical Club—91B Chittaranjan Avenue. Phe., B.B. 1313.
Calcutta
Police European Officers' Social Club—31 Bentinck Street. Phone, Regent
259.
Calcutta
Rangers Club— Maidan. Phone, Cal. 1467. Office—1 Draper Lane, Government
Place East. Phone, Cal. 2023.
Calcutta
Rowing Club—Lake Road. Phone. South 840. Strand Road. Phone, Cal. 5719.
Calcutta
Scottish Club—84 Chowringhee Road. Phone, P,K. 806.
Calcutta
South Club—9/1 Woodburn Road (Woodburn Park). Phone. P.K. 1242.
Calcutta
Swimming Club—1 Strand Road. Phone, CaL 2910.
Cossipore
Club (Gun and Shell Factory )—Seven Tanks, Dum Dum- Phone, B.B. 930.
Dalhousie
Athletic Club—Maidan. Phone, Cal. 1459.
East
Bengal Club—Maidan. Phone, Cal. 2864.
Grail
Club—15 Park Street. Phone, Cal. 6233.
Howrah
Bowling Club—12 Forest Road, Howrah.
Jodhpur
Club, Ltd.—Gariahat Road (Dhakuria P.O.). Phone, P.K.100.
Lady
Lytton Club for Hospital Nurses—6 Suburban Hospital Road. Phone, P.K. 1414.
Lake
Club—Lake Road. Phone, South 1685.
Marine
Club—2 Nimak Mahal Road, Kidderpore. Phe., South 1415.
Marwari
Rowing Club—Dhakuria Lake. Phone, South 742.
Mohamedan
Sporting Club—Maidan. Phone, Cal. 3904.
Mohun
Bagan Athletic Club—Maidan. Phone, Cal. 1547.
New
Club-38 Chowringhee Road. Phone, Cal. 61.
Nippon
Club—1 Harrington Street. Phone, P.K. 461.
Nippon
Yusen Kaisha Seaman's Club—28 Circular Garden Reach Road. Phone, South
1341.
Ordnance
Club —Clyde Row, Hastings. Phone, South 1699.
Outram
Club—3 Outram Street. Phone, P.K. 839.
Picardy
Club—42 Chowringhee Road. Phone, P.K. 2814.
Portuguese
Club—105/7 Surendra Nath Banerjee Road.
Punjab
Club, The—3 Woodburn Court, Woodburn Road. Phone, P. K. 2558.
Rotary
Club—Great Eastern Hotel. Phone, Cal. 4248 and Cal. 2962.
Royal
Calcutta Golf Club Home—Russa Road, Tollygunge. Phone, South 1287.
Royal
Calcutta Golf Club Pavilion—Maidan. Phone, Cal. 2788.
Royal
Calcutta Turf Club—11 Russell Street. Phone, P.K. 1653. Parade Road,
Barrackpore. Phone, Barrackpore 25.
Saturday
Club, Ltd.—7 Wood Street. Phone. P.K. 510.
Swiss
Club—22 Theatre Road. Phone, P.K. 1774.
Thirty-Three
Club—6 Chowringhee Road. Phone. Cal. 879.
Three
Hundred Club—38 Theatre Road. Phone, P.K. 170.
Tollygunge
Club, Ltd.—Club House, 22 Russa Rd- Phe., South 208. Secretary's
Office—Phone, South 380.
United
Service Club—29 Chowringhee Road. Phone, Regent 108. Hony. Secretary—Phone,
Cal. 4185.
Veteran's
Club—55 Park Street.
Victoria
Club—9 Dalhousie Square East. Phone, Cal. 3672.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages 241-242 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
Golf
at the Tollygunge
September 5, 1945
Dearest:
Well, for the first time in two years, I played
golf. My score was 6,6,6, 5,5,5,5,5,4 for 47 on the first nine. Since it was
getting dark, we just practiced on the tenth coming in to the club house. My
drives and second shots were as good as ever, but my approaches were weak.
The Tolleygongo Club is a beautiful oriental
group of buildings in a gorgeous setting of tropical gardens. The fairways are
luxuriant and the native caddies move your ball to an advantageous position, so
that in all justice, you had to kick it off the clump of grass. There are bars
not only at the club house but scattered out on the club.
Furthermore, the course is no pushover, though I
ought to play those nine in 42-44 after a little practice. There are several
wicked water holes. The traps are jokes after playing Ohio State.
Four of us made the trip out: Clare, Ellen,
Howard Gerber (Pilgrim's new assistant who replaces J.J. Weger), and myself. As
I recall, aside from a time or two with you and me on a par 3 with Jean
Lindsay, I never played golf with a girl. Of course, it was necessary this
time, for only Clare had any golf balls.
The clubs which we were provided with were
rather rickety, but I used only four and made out fairly well. I was the only
one who kept score as the others were pretty bad, including Howard, who
complained that I was never satisfied, no matter how close I came to the cup.
We got back about 8 p.m. Howard and I dropped the girls off and came on down to
our mess to eat.
I'm seated in my easy chair writing, and Gus
won't talk to me. I can't tell whether he's angry because he thinks I neglected
him or not -- but I asked him to go out to the golf course with us and he said
he hated golf. His jaw-isn't healing properly after his dental work " It
is quite swollen, so that might account for it. At any rate, I hate to see him
acting like that.
Latest rumor is that the whole theater will be
cleared by February '46 at the latest. I'm living in anticipation of seeing
you, precious girl, soon.
Ever in love,
Dick
Richard
Beard, US Army Lieutenant Psychologist with 142 US military hospital. Calcutta,
September 5, 1945.
(Source: pp.195 ff. of Elaine Pinkerton (ed.):
“From Calcutta With Love: The World War II Letters of Richard and Reva Beard”
Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2002 / Reproduced by courtesy of Texas
Tech University Press)
A
meeting of the Officers'Club
Gus and I went to a meeting of the Officers'
club at 4:45 at which Col. Pete presided. I guess we had no conferences this
afternoon, but plan to have one in the morning. The Officers' club meeting was
interesting, for one faction wanted the excess club fund thrown to the Officers'
mess, while the other group wanted it used to reduce the price of drinks. We
now have about 15,000 rupees profit. At any rate, I voted with those, of whom
Pilgram and the Col. were two, who wanted the fund retained at the discretion
of the club council. We won by a vote of 39-36. I bought Clare's jungle ration,
but gave the gin to Gus to give to his boys.
Richard
Beard, US Army Lieutenant Psychologist with 142 US military hospital. Calcutta,
September 21, 1945
(Source: page 209 of Elaine Pinkerton (ed.):
“From Calcutta With Love: The World War II Letters of Richard and Reva Beard”
Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2002 / Reproduced by courtesy of Texas
Tech University Press)
_____Memories
of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
The Three Hundred Club
An
important change in the exclusive social pattern was the formation of the Three
Hundred Club by Allan Lockhart—the 'Royalist' leader of 1931. The Committee of
the Saturday Club had reprimanded Allan for giving a party for the ladies of a
theatrical touring company. It was an unwise move. Allan's rejoinder—after
giving the committee a typically trenchant reply—was to start a social club
which set out to provide everything that the Saturday Club did not. In
particular it would admit Indians. Success was immediate. The three hundred
sponsors that gave the club its name were found at once from senior Indian and
European businessmen. The club became the haunt of the sprightlier members of
the princely families, the small but expanding number of Indian business
executives with European tastes in entertainment, Central Europeans, Americans,
and a slightly raffish band of bachelors, Indian and British, of which I was
one. Boris Lissanevich, a cabaret dancer and ex-Cadet of the Russian Imperial
Navy, was an inspired choice for Secretary. The chef, the pianist, the violin,
the cuisine too, were Russian. Boeuf Stroganof, Chicken Kiev, exotic forms of
vodka, cosmopolitan membership, small tables and shaded lights: the changes
from the Saturday Club, with its atmosphere of a well-lit gymnasium, could not
have been more complete. The Saturday Club hit back with a small dining room
with a dance floor. 'Improved premises', said a circular. 'Not a hope', said
Allan. ‘What they need are improved members'. The Three Hundred flourished.
During the war, it was a welcome oasis in a squalid city and for the Army a
rest from a world of damp uniforms and anti-malarial mepacrine ... The building
that housed it was an architectural extravagance called 'Phillips Folly'. It
abounded in alcoves and recesses, where there were tables where people could
dine quietly a deux, whether there was a crowd on the dance floor or whether—as
was more usual in the early part of the evening—it was simply empty. It was a
place where I spent many happy evenings and made many Indian friends.
Fortunately for my constitution, I could not afford to go there as often as I
would have liked.
Sir Owain Jenkins, businessman, director of
Balmer Lawrie. Calcutta, 1940s
(source: Sir Owain Jenkins: Merchant Prince.
BACSA 1987)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Sir Owain Jenkins)
Being
“vetted” for a club
In order to join any of these elite clubs, it
was 'necessary for the aspiring candidate to be proposed and seconded by two
existing members; and then, over a period of, I think, a month you had to be
taken by your proposer to each member of the
Committee in turn to be vetted. You stood a round of drinks for all and
then repeated the performance each evening until all the Committee had 'vetted'
you.
Micheal
Carritt, ICS officer. Calcutta, 1930s.
(source:
Micheal Carritt: A Mole in the Crown. New Delhi: Rupa 1986)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with
Micheal Carritt )
Racism
at the Saturday Club
“Yes they were [racist], they were rather stupid
in that sense. They segregated and created a lot of bad feelings. But they were
not so particular with the ruling class. For instance the Aga Khan, he went to
all the white man's clubs and all that. I remember when the British were
becoming more sensible [in the 1930's], they were not using all these things
although the laws existed. They were not applied. For instance I went to
Calcutta not knowing that there were clubs where black people like us were not
admitted.
I walked into the Saturday Club and said I want
to become a member. They were shocked. When the Club people told me that I
couldn't become a member because I was black, I was shocked. What nonsense. By
then these things were kept at a very low level and you only came across them
by accidents like this. Maybe if I had gone through the proper channels I would
never have discovered this law. Maybe they would have accepted me like they
accepted many others. They were sort of slowly getting more sensible.”
PrincessAbidaSultan,
Princess of Bhopal (& chair of Bhopal State Cabinet), early 1940s
(Source
Omar Khan’s interview in 1990-91 at
http://www.harappa.com/abida/abidatext.html#20)
Jumping
the queue at the Saturday Club
We drove to the city and explored every market,
bazaar, street and alley; joined the Saturday Club, and impossibly snobbish
club, one hot morning by saying that I was Baron Van den Bogaerde and that she
was the Comtesse de la Vache. Improbably, but with sickening ease, we jumped a
two-year waiting list and lunched in cool splendour. The Club became Our Place,
even though we detested most of the white clientele: Indians were not admitted.
Apart from my Literary Education, Nan was determined that I should try to
understand India and the Indian mind, and I was dragged from temple to temple,
shrine to shrine, and festival to festival, and in the evenings, when we rested
up from MacNiece, Spender and Wilde, we talked about Gandhi and Congress and
the Raj. It was a crammer's course. Her unashamed passion for this vast country
was infectious and I began to look about me now with clearer eyes and
compassion, trying to understand as much as I could, before they threw us out.
Dirk
Bogarde, Air photographic intelligence officer. Calcutta, ca. 1945
(source:
Dirk Bogarde: Snakes and Ladders London; Chatto & Windus, 1978.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Dirk
Bogarde)
Calcutta’s
bright lights
The rather exclusive Calcutta swimming Club
opened its doors to the pilots — Officers only — the Sergeant Pilots were not
included! Whilst not on readiness Calcutta’s bright lights offered many
temptations in the form of bars and nightclubs and The Saturday Club with its
indoor pool, library and bar allowed them to become members too. Even more fun
was had at The 300 Club where in the evenings the misguided Jazz band allowed
The Woodpecker Jazz fiends to play during their break! Winky Moorhouse played
beautiful Jazz piano, Connie played the drums and Kit Kitley the bass.
Gordon (Connie) Conway,
Royal Air Force Squadron Leader 136 Fighter Squadron
‘The Woodpeckers’, Calcutta,
1942
(source: A6784653
MORE TALES FROM THE WOODPECKERS - GORDON CONWAY and 136 Fighter Squadron
Calcutta 1942 at BBC WW2
People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
Learning
to swim at the Tolly
I visited Calcutta
again whilst I was in Ranchi. This time I went with two sergeants, Sergeant
Ross and another sergeant. Sergeant Ross was a glass blower at Pilkington's, in
Liverpool. He was a single chap, a proper tearaway. We were billeted at the
racecourse up near Howrah Bridge. If you got up early enough, you could queue
up and get tickets for different swimming clubs and have transport to them as
well. As I was pretty good at getting up in the mornings, I'd be down there
first thing to get these free tickets. There was the Calcutta Swimming Club,
the Saturday Club and the Tolegunge Club. Quite a select body of people went to
the Tolegunge Club, but we got in free of charge and even got free coffee. It
was in these swimming clubs that I learnt to swim. I had two weeks holiday in
Calcutta and it was a nice change.
Kenneth Shaw
Prout, Army, Calcutta, 1945
(source: A7534578 Memories of a Bombardier 1940
-1946 (Part 5) at BBC WW2
People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
A
quick letter from the Club
Bengal United Service Club, Calcutta
5 July 1937
I've just arrived in Calcutta, & will
scribble off a few lines to catch the mail which leaves tonight.
I was pretty busy clearing things up at
Madaripur last week. The opening of the Canal on the 1st went off very well
indeed as we were lucky to get an absolutely perfect day for it. Rain would
have spoilt everything. I handed over charge to my 2nd officer yesterday and
left Madaripur without a pang.
I've just written to Mr. Weller of the Cambridge
Mission to Delhi suggesting that I might stay there from the 14th till the
17th.
There's nothing of interest to say now, except
that I'm feeling distinctly light-hearted at getting away from my benighted
bog. I'll write a long letter next week.
W.H.Saumarez
Smith, Subdivisional Officer in Madaripur (Faridpur District). Calcutta, 5 July
1937
(source
pages 78-79, W.H.Saumarez Smith: “A Young Man’s Country” Salisbury: Michael
Russel, 1977)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with W.H.Saumarez Smith)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hairdressing & Beauty treatment
_____Pictures of 1940s
Calcutta________________________
Hair cutting barbers at work near west approach of Howrah Bridge on river front
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Barbers, Rf023, "Hair cutting barbers at work near west approach of Howrah Bridge on river front,." seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Taking a Shave
Seymour Balkin, USAAF 40th Bombergroup. Calcutta, 1944
(source: webpage http://40thbombgroup.org/indiapics2.html Monday,
03-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of
Seymour Balkin)
_____Contemporary
Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
Hair
Dressing (Barber Shops to You):
You'll find them everywhere. Within the
in-bounds area almost any of the hair dressing shops will give you reasonably
good service. Take a look inside and judge for yourself according to the
appearance of the place, but don't expect to see modern polished fixtures like
back home. Any enlisted or officers' club usually have as good or better
service.
(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply
Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army
Forces in India - Burma, 1945: at:
http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
Addresses
of Hairdressing & Beauty Parlours in 1940
Alford,
(Ladies')—10C Government Place. Phone, Cal. 1438.
Annahit,
(Ladies')—7 Chowringhee Place. Phone, Cal. 1210.
"Annette"—19
Royd Street. Phone, P.K. 419.
Au
Vogue, (Ladles')—2 Royal Court, 5/1 Russell St. Phe, P.K. 1087.
Bemta—
Great Eastern Hotel Arcade. Phone, Cal. 5477.
Beryl—31
Park Mansions. Phone, Cal. 2040.
Bright
& Mclvor, (Men's)—Grand Hotel Arcade, Chowringhee Road, Phone, Cal.
463S, also, 102 Clive Street. Phone, Cal.
2157.
Carlton—7
Park Street. Phone, Cal. 1023.
Chavan
(Monsieur and Madame)—18 Alexandra Court, 60/1 Chowringhee Road. Phone,
P.K, 1685.
Elaine's—Humayun
Place. Phone. Cal. 1660.
Globe
(Ladies' and Gent's)—26 Chowringhee Road.
Hobsley,
Rachel—4B Little Russell Street. Phone, P.K. 117.
Hollywood—4A/1
Chowringhee Place. Phone, CaL 7132.
Jane
Seymour—11 King Edward Court, 58 Chowringhee Road. Phone, P.K. 2029.
Janet—9
Royd Street. Phone, P.K. 2628.
Joyce—I2M
Galstaun Mansions, Park Street. Phone, Cal. 2904.
Marie
Janet—7/1D Lindsay Street. Phone, Cal. 949.
Marlyss—91
Park Street. Phone, P.K. 1901.
Moyna—l2H
Park Street. Phone, Cal. 2152.
Nadler,
Ethel,—20C Park Street. Phone, Cal. 1228.
New
Watson and Summers—45 Park Street. Phone, CaL 2971.
"Nicholas"—13E
Russell Street. Phone, Cal. 3802.
Parisettes
(Ladies')—30B Chowringhee. Phone. Cal. 4946.
Park—21
Park Street.
Pigeon—29
Chowringhee Road.
Renato,
G.—Grand Hotel Arcade.
Rosa—1/1
Park Street. Phone, Cal. 5391.
Rose—26
Central Avenue South. Phone, B.B. 4300.
Rose
Marie—12F Park Street. Phone, Cal. 858.
Royal
Exchange—12/1 Chowringhee Road. Phone, CaL 4707.
Showa
(Ladies' and Gents')—l/l Park Street.
Viola—5
Old Court House Street. Phone, Cal. 3052.
Walker,
Margaret—S Park Street. Phone, Cal. 2703.
Youd’s,
(Ladies')—26 Chowringhee Road. Phone,
Cal. 918.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages 240 of John Barry: “Calcutta
1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
_____Memories
of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hotel, Restaurants & Bars
_____Pictures of 1940s
Calcutta________________________
G.I.s on Calcutta street
After a couple of years in India, the bizarre
aspects of street life become commonplace to the average soldier, as evidenced
by the scant notice given the passing snake-wallah by the GI at right
bargaining for a shine from one of he city's hundreds of bootblacks. The New American Kitchen is a popular
Chinese restaurant, owned by a Portuguese, and serves up a steak of chop suey
before you can say "Teek hai".
Clyde
Waddell, US military man, personal press photographer of Lord Louis
Mountbatten, and news photographer on Phoenix magazine. Calcutta, mid 1940s
(source:
webpage http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/calcutta1947/? Monday, 16-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of David N. Nelson,
South Asia Bibliographer, Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania)
Colorful uniforms
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Colorful uniforms, I012, I only recall my interest in their colorful uniforms [sic]. I do not recall their employer. Calcutta seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Balkin at Grand Hotel
Seymour Balkin, USAAF 40th Bombergroup. Calcutta, 1944
(source: webpage http://40thbombgroup.org/indiapics2.html Monday,
03-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of
Seymour Balkin)
Food sellers near the Esplanade and tram terminus, Calcutta
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Food sellers, Mf009, "Food sellers near the Esplanade and tram terminus, Calcutta." seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Lt Beard by a foodstall
Richard Beard, US Army Lieutenant Psychologist with 142 US military hospital. Calcutta,
(Source: Elaine Pinkerton / Reproduced by courtesy of Elaine Pinkerton)
Parched corn seller
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Parched corn seller, Mf001, Parched corn seller in Maidan Park near Esplanade at trolley rendezvous point. seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Food sellers along Calcutta street
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Food sellers, B026, Food sellers along Calcutta street seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Fuel seller, Calcutta
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Fuel seller, I008, "Fuel seller, Calcutta" seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Bread sellers -- or deliverers – Calcutta street
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Bread sellers, I010, Bread sellers -- or deliverers – Calcutta street seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
_____Contemporary
Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
Grand
Hotel
Finding ourselves once more in Chowringhee Road,
we step into the Grand Hotel Arcade and passing Bata's and then Frank Ross
& Co. Ltd. (Chemists), reach the main entrance of the Grand Hotel Ltd.,
Calcutta's largest hotel, overlooking the Maidan. The hotel, luxuriously and
comfortably equipped, has 500 rooms, a magnificent ballroom to accommodate 2000
people, a handsome dining room, a palm court,
billiard rooms and Prince's and Casanova Restaurants. Cabarets, dances
and musical turns are constantly arranged.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
page 31 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair
dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The
copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
the
"In Bounds to Members of the Allied Forces" sign
6. Look for the "In Bounds to Members of
the Allied Forces" sign that has to be prominently displayed near the
entrance of all cafes, restaurants, milk bars, ice cream parlors, soft drink,
and liquor selling establishments.
(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply
Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army
Forces in India - Burma, 1945: at:
http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
FOOD
Let's Eat. Calcutta has some fairly
glamorous looking and tasting dishes, but, naturally, the present food is not up
to its pre-war standards. You will want to sample some Indian food and some
Chinese items - and then you will be quite ready to hurry back to that good old
American style of cooking. eat only at in-bounds restaurants. Even these you
will find none too clean.
Try. Christie's on Park St.
Firpo's on Chowringhee Rd., block above Grand
Hotel.
O. K. Restaurant, Moti Sil St. near Dharamtolla
St.
Great Eastern Hotel on Old Court House St.
American Kitchen, Humayan Pl. opp. New Empire.
Golden Dragon, Chowringhee Rd., near Park St.
E.M. Only.
American Red Cross Enlisted Men's Clubs.
Continental Services Club, Continental Hotel.
(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply
Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army
Forces in India - Burma, 1945: at:
http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
Drinking
Bad news. You won't be too happy about the
liquor situation in Calcutta; and yet the place hasn't reached the desert stage
as yet. Good whisky is available on the black market, but you'd be a fool to
pay the prices. Indian whisky, rum, and gin aren't too bad; but in the long run
you will probably do both your mind and stomach a large-sized favor if you
stick to that beer ration from the P.X. In the cabarets and restaurants you
won't find the brandy-and-soda too hard to take; and you might like the gimlets
(gin, lime juice & water) - or the John Collins. Some beer is available at
Firpo's Services Restaurant on Old Court House St., if you get there between
1900-1930. It's a here-it-is, there-it-was proposition. For bottled goods try
the Army & Navy Stores at 41 Chowringhee Rd., or Mookerjee, O. N. &
Sons, 3,4,5 Lindsay St.
E.M. can get their mixed drinks at the Casanova
Room, the Princes Room and bar, and the Winter Garden - all at the Grand Hotel.
Also, Firpo's on Chowringhee Rd., the Bristol Hotel, and the Great Eastern
Hotel lobby lounge.
Officers can drink at any private club in which
they have temporary membership; also Firpo's, the Great Eastern Hotel, the
Winter Garden, and the cocktail lounge at the Grand.
(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply
Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army
Forces in India - Burma, 1945: at:
http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
Drink
if you like
7. Drink if you like. You should have as good a
time here as is commensurate with your duties. Do, however, keep your Indian
liquor separated from its two quarrelsome partners, woman and song.
(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply
Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army
Forces in India - Burma, 1945: at:
http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
Addresses
of Hotels in 1940
Amjudia
Hotel—8 Zakaria Street. Phone, B.B. 3008.
Avenue
Hotel—35 Prinsep Street. Phone. Cal. 582.
Bristol
Hotel—2 Chowringhee Road. Phone, Cal. 15C9.
Broadway
Hotel—P34 Central Avenue. Phone, Cal. 4219.
Calcutta
Hotel and Restaurant—124/1 Bow Bazar Street. Phone, B.B. 4518.
Central
Hindu Hotel—90 Chittaranjan Avenue. Phone. B.B. 2360.
Central
Hotel—11 Waterloo Street. Phone. Cal. 356.
Continental
Hotel, Cafe Royal—12 Chowringhee Road. Phone, Cal. 430.
Grand
Hotel—15A Chowringhee Road. Phone, Cal. 4709.
With
extension to Casanova Restaurant, Chowringhee Place and Princes Restaurant,
Grand Hotel Arcade.
Great
Eastern Hotel, Ltd.—l, 2 & 3 Old Court House Street. Phone,
Cal. 252.
Hotel
Royal—47 Harrison Road. Phone, B.B. 3753.
Majestic
Hotel—4C Madan Street. Phone, Cal. 3137.
New
Tajmahal Hotel—8 Upper Circular Road. Phone, B.B, 2626.
Punjab
Hindu Hotel—144 Harrison Road. Phone, B.B. 2821.
Punjab
National Hotel and Restaurant—40 Harrison Road.Phone, B.B. 2646.
Ritz
Hotel—3 & 4 Harrington Street. Phone, P.K. 1373.
Sealdah
Hotel and Restaurant—128 Lower Circular Road. Phone, B.B. 5194.
Spence's
Hotel, Ltd.—4 Wellesley Place. Phone, Cal. 225.
Tower Hotel,
Ltd.—27 Upper Circular Road. Phone, B.B. 915.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages 247-248 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
Addresses
of Restaurants in 1940
Bengal
Restaurant—10 Chowringhee Road, Phone, Cal. 5388.
Bower
Restaurant—38 Bentinck Street. Phone, Cal. 794.
Cafe
de Monico—6 Chowringhee Road. Phone, Cal. 4428.
Cafe
Monte Carlo—3/1 Mangoe Lane. Phone, Cal. 4348.
Calcutta
Cafe—40 Chittaranjan Avenue. Phone, B.B. 2787.
Calcutta
Hotel and Restaurant—124/1 Bow Bazar Street. Phone, B.B. 4518.
Cecil
Restaurant—309 Bow Bazar Street. Phone. Cal. 1447.
Chung
Wah Restaurant -7/1 Central Avenue. Phone, Cal. 2021.
City
Restaurant—12/1C Lindsay Street. Phone, Cal. 4055.
Continental
Hotel, Cafe Royal—12 Chowringhee Road. Phone, Cal. 430.
Ephinstone
Restaurant—67/1 Bentinck Street. Phone, Cal. 2514.
Empire
Reitaurant—52 Dhatamtala Street. Phone, Cal. 1280.
Ferrazzini's,
Ltd.—Humayan Court. 21 Lindsay St. Phe., Cal. 1466.
Firpo,
A., Ltd.—18/2 Chowringhee Road. Phone, Cal. 740.
Branch (formerly
Peliti's), at 11 Government Place East. Phone, Cal. 590.
Flury & Trinca—18 Park; Street. Phone. Cal.
5693.
Fresco's
Restaurant—3 Chowringhee Road. Phone. Cal 538.
Grand
Hotel—15A Chowringhee Road. Phone, Cal. 4709.
With
extension to Casanova Restaurant, Chowringhee Place and Princes Restaurant,
Grand Hotel Arcade.
Grand
Restaurant—42 Free School Street.
Isala,
G. & Co. (Restaurant)—15
Free School St. Phe., Cal. 4637.
Leferer's
Bar & Restaurant—85 Elliott Road. Phone, P.K. 571.
Nanking
Restaurant—22 Blackburn Lane- Phone, B.B. 805.
Olympia
Cafe (Bar and Restaurant)—21 Park Street. Phe., Cal. 5486.
Park
Restaurant—55 Park Street. Phone, Cal. 5268.
Punjab
National Hotel and Restaurant—40 Harrison Road.Phone, B.B. 2646.
Ripon
Restaurant—21 Ripon Street.
Sealdah
Hotel and Restaurant—128 Lower Circular Road. Phone, B.B. 5194.
Windsor
Cafe—204 Lower Circular Road. Phone, P.K. 1090.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages 247-248 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
Cholera
in Calcutta
The food markets of "filthy Calcutta"
display their uncovered wares near drains and open latrines, sprinkle them with
unfiltered water. It is an open invitation to cholera, one of the dread
diseases of the East.
Last week, once again, a cholera epidemic raged
in Calcutta; there were 80 new cases daily. At the Grand Hotel, chief
rendezvous of Allied fighting men on leave in the CBI theater, 15 British
soldiers had fallen ill and a U.S. Negro orchestra leader had died.
The disease was spreading like fire through the
city, packed with thousands of U.S. and British soldiers. Although 29 British
soldiers had come down with it, not one U.S. serviceman had yet been
infected—thanks to the U.S. Army's compulsory vaccination rule.
(source:
TIME Magazine, New York, May. 21, 1945)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Time Magazine)
_____Memories
of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
Restaurant
bills
During this time we began to realise that our
surname was so like the City name that the bearers always had to check up on us
and we were kept waiting after ordering a meal. Meals were ordered by name and
the names put on the bill. These bills accumulated and were paid at the end of
the week.
Kitty Calcutt, Nurse, Kalimpong Calcutta, October 1945
(source: A1307026 Wartime Memories of a Nurse at
BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/
Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
South
Indian Restaurants
Talking about South Indian Restaurants, we were
frequent patrons of Vijays on Willesden Lane. It earned many awards over the
years. I believe it is still going strong and the food is still as good.
Molly
Hamilton, Calcutta. early 1950s
(Source:
Several E-mail interviews with Molly Hamilton in 2003. / Reproduced by courtesy
of Molly Hamilton)
The
Station Restaurat at Shealdah
It is
remarkable that the food in Calcutta was generally so good that even the
station restaurant at Sealdah (too good to call it a buffet) required a booking
for dinner because it was so well patronized. Can you imagine making a booking
for dinner at Kings Cross or Euston Station?
Mike
Devery, schoolboy. Calcutta, 1940s
(source:
Internet communications September 2004)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Mike Devery)
Flury's
& Trinca's
I also remember Mr Flury and Mr Trinca, the two
Swiss gentlemen who owned a tearoom called Flury's & Trinca's, located
where Flury's stands today. As children we were told that Mr Flury ran away
with Mrs Trinca - or was it the other way around - and the partnership split.
Mr Trinca moved his confectionery to where Ming Room now stands.
Nilima
Dutta, Calcutta. 1930-40s
(source: Barry O'Brien: Nostalgic - Park Street
by email from "Roger Storey" <yerots@sbcglobal.net Mon, 23 Jun
2003 17:12:02)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair
dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The
copyright remains with Barry O'Brien)
… tea and cakes with Jim Corbett
As regards meeting famous people during that
time ; while schooling at Darjeeling I met Tensing Norgay (of Everest fame) who
was, for a time, working at St. Paul’s School. I also met Jim Corbett – of
'Maneaters of Kumaon' fame; old Jim, for then he was into old age, very kindly
took me out, for tea and cakes, to Pleevas (spelling ! )in Darjeeling.
Kenneth
Miln, son of a ‘jute wallah’. Jagatdal/Calcutta, 1945-49
(source: Letter sent to us by Mr Kenneth Miln himself, July 2006/
Reproduced by courtesy of Kenneth Miln)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great Eastern Hotel
_____Pictures of 1940s
Calcutta________________________
_____Contemporary
Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
Great
Eastern Address in 1940
Great
Eastern Hotel, Ltd.—l, 2 & 3 Old Court House Street. Phone,
Cal. 252.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages 247 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
Dinner
at the Great Eastern Hotel
Dressed up for the first time since I've been
here this evening, and when I checked myself in the mirror, darned if I wasn't
almost handsome. The bush jacket fits as well as anything can fit (me), and is
itself resplendent with russet buttons, various gold insignia. I think you
would approve. Believe me, it would have been perfect if I could have set out
with you for the Great Eastern Hotel.
An open touring car taxi dropped me at the door
of the Hotel - just inside was a large room with tables scattered around for
the guests to deposit their unfinished drinks.
A step or two and I heard someone call my name.
Then the boys were around me:
Gebilaro, Clark,
Knagen, Kiell, Brown, Glassier, Grahm (I hadn't
expected to see knothead). That was all; there were 10 at the table, and two
new men whom I barely knew. We had a drink or two, a great deal of talk, then
we went upstairs to the big dining room. Uniformed waiters, polished floor,
balcony, two-storied banquet hall, golden-amber tints, huge chandeliers, and a
multitude of ceiling fans gave the impression of air-conditioning and luxury.
The meal, itself, was hardly worth shouting
Hosannas over, esp. when [Rs5 !] were considered. Soup, chicken, and dessert,
with the tiniest demitasse cups for coffee
that I have ever seen
Richard
Beard, US Army Lieutenant Psychologist with 142 US military hospital. Calcutta,
May 25, 1945.
(Source: p.164 of Elaine Pinkerton (ed.): “From
Calcutta With Love: The World War II Letters of Richard and Reva Beard”
Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2002 / Reproduced by courtesy of Texas
Tech University Press)
_____Memories
of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
To
go to the Great Eastern once every couple of months was a super treat
You asked what the Great Eastern Hotel was like.
Well, I have never spent a night there, but it was the ultimate place to eat
when I was in Calcutta.
The hotel dining room was sparkling with
glassware and china and the whole space was under the watchful eye of a red
turbaned, white cloaked maitre de'.
The menu contained all the things we certainly
could not get in a military mess hall, all well prepared and served with a
flourish of at least the three waiters involved. So, to go to the Great Eastern
once every couple of months was a super treat and we saved our rupees for weeks
on end just to enjoy one meal there. I don't remember the meal prices, but it
seems to me that the most expensive dish on the menu was somewhere around r.50.
That, to us, was a real bit of expensive living.
Our pay was about the same as $100 per month, or
at that time, about r 300. Of that, I put r 100 into what was called
"soldier's savings", That left about r200 for monthly expenses. That
went for items purchased to send home and non-military supplied items like food
in town, tram rides, all other incidental expenses.
So there are my memories of the Great Eastern
plus some added incidental information.
Glenn
Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with
Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August
2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of
Glenn Hensley)
Reserved for officers
The Great Eastern Hotel? Yes, it was reserved
for officers only, as far as rooms were concerned. We peon enlisted personnel
could eat in the dining room, but couldn't stay there overnight. We really
didn't care because we didn't have money enough to get a room even if we had
been allowed to. How much were room rates? I don't know, but whatever it was,
we couldn't afford them .
Glenn
Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with
Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August
2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of
Glenn Hensley)
A day out at the front
[Pilot
Officer Thirlwell was a photo-reconnaissance Hurricane pilot, who arrived at Magwe
just after the last of his squadron's aircraft crashed. As he had no job, he was sent] to Lashio to investigate the
possibility of flying out the squadron personnel by China Airways to India. I
went to the orderly room Flight Sergeant for transport, and he said 'you can
have this Wolseley Fourteen, but I want something in return'. So I swapped a
typewriter I found in the house in which I was billeted for this car, and drove
to Lashio. Having confirmed the availability of China Airways, I was flown to Calcutta,
only to be sent back to Burma, where I spent most of my time rescuing the
special cameras from crashed photo-recce aircraft. After getting out of Burma
for a second time, I had an extraordinary period based at the Great Eastern in
Calcutta, the most expensive hotel in town. I would get into my Hurricane at
Dum-Dum, fly to Chittagong where I refuelled from petrol drums using a hand
pump. Having spent the night with the British Consul, I would fly to photograph
Rangoon, before returning for more fuel at Chittagong, and on to Dum-Dum to get
the film processed as quickly as possible. After a shower in the Great Eastern
I would sit down to dinner being served by bearers in white coats and gloves.
Pilot Officer Thirlwell, pilot of an RAF photo-reconnaissance
Hurricane. Caclutta, mid 1940s .
(source: page 360, Julian Thompson: “The
Imperial War Museum Book of the The War in Burma 1942-1945. London: Sidgwick
& Jackson, 2002)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Julian Thompson)
It
was packed like sardines
But things were on the
move again in South East Asia also. Once again we were posted. This time it was
to Burma via Calcutta, still with our four pieces of luggage plus anything else
we had accumulated — like my wind-up gramophone with warped records and thorns
from the bushes as substitutes for needles.
Arriving in Calcutta
we stayed overnight at the Grand Hotel for commissioned service men and women,
of all three services, pending advancement. It was packed like sardines.
On board the hospital
ship were MOs, RAMC, QAs and VADs. Then quite suddenly and out of the blue
there was news of the Japanese surrender.
It was estimated there
were 100,000 RAPWI — Retained Allied Prisoners of War and Internees) but in
that vast jungle their whereabouts were unknown to Command HQ. We anchored
outside Chittagong waiting further instructions, but the order was to return to
Calcutta and transfer to a larger ship with more medical and nursing staff.
Because we hit a
cyclone in the Bay of Bengal (which was terrifying), we arrived in the evening,
and it was back to the Grand Hotel again for the night. I shared a bedroom with
a QA awaiting repatriation — Lt Col Birdseye. When I said I came from
Hertfordshire she asked “anywhere near Hitchin?”, and if I knew a Doctor James.
When I said I did, she said “I brought him into the world”. Many years later I
told him of that meeting.
Greta Underwood, V.A.D.,
Calcutta, 1944
(source: A4859814 A V.A.D. in India and Burma -
Part 4 at BBC WW2 People's War'
on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
A Night at the Great Eastern
Calcutta’s swarming crowds and endless streets frightened the life out of him. He could find his way about the jungle like a wild animal; but one minute on a a pavement, and he last lost for good. I had to bribe a hotel bearer to keep an eye on him for part of the time and take him about with me for the rest; which led us into some curious places and situations. I doubt whether the Ladies’ department at the Army and navy stores ever really recovered. Even the hotel itself bewildered him. He had never seen or heard of a three storey building before, and the ramifications of the Great eastern, inn which as he truthfully said, you could put some half a dozen Zemi villages and still have room for a morung in the dining room, had him baffled from the start.
The very first night there, when I had gone out to dinner and he was sleeping as a guard in the corridor outside my room, he had occasion to go down to the courtyard. He found his way down alright; but when the time came to return, he climbed up only one floor, instead of two and began to roam round and round in the half-dark, in a state of almost complete nudity, in a search for his own bedding. All round the first floor servant woke and saw this terrible figure stooping over them-hungry, it was to be supposed and in search of meat. The clapped their blankets over their had, fell on their faces, band began praying all they knew to their several gods; and poor Namkia more and more lost, more and more mazed and helpless, drifted on, convinced that he would be arrested as a suspected thief, clapped in ail , and never seen again.
At last some bolder spirit suggested he go upon one floor higher. Looking in the dimness like an anxious tiger, he padded away up the iron stair. Then on the second floor the harlequinade was repeated again, till he came round the last corner (it would be the final one), saw his own bedding, and sank on it with a groan of relief. He was still lying there in a state of collapse when I came home. From that moment on he insisted in sleeping in my room on the mat below the punkah. It was he said, cooler, and , more important, his elder sister the She-Sahib could keep an eye on him,.
Two years later in Shilong, and officer, seeing Namkia and Haichangnang waiting outside on the hotel drive, pointed them out to me as Nagas-he didn’t suppose, he said, I had seen any before-and told me a highly garbled version of this story.
Ursula Graham Bower Anthropologist, Calcutta, 1940
(source: pages 87-88, Ursula Graham Bower “Naga Path” Readers Union, John Murray. London 1952)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Firpo’s
_____Pictures of 1940s
Calcutta________________________
G.I. tourist on Chowringhee [Street]
The GI tourist here ponders the purchase of a
'rare gem'---a typical camera study of life on Chowringhee during the war. Firpo's famous restaurant is in the
background, and dhoti-clad Indians and a British officer in shorts lend a bit
of atmosphere.
Clyde
Waddell, US military man, personal press photographer of Lord Louis
Mountbatten, and news photographer on Phoenix magazine. Calcutta, mid 1940s
(source:
webpage http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/calcutta1947/? Monday, 16-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of David N. Nelson,
South Asia Bibliographer, Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania)
_____Contemporary
Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
Firpo’s
Address in 1940
Firpo,
A., Ltd.—18/2 Chowringhee Road. Phone, Cal. 740.
Branch (formerly
Peliti's), at 11 Government Place East. Phone, Cal. 590.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages 247 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
_____Memories
of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
Firpo's
ice-cream with hot chocolate
Firpo's ice-cream with hot chocolate sauce! It
seemed like paradise after months of wartime jungli living.
Joyce
Taylor, nurse with Air Force Nursing Service Reserve. Calcutta, 1944.
(source
Pat Barr: The Dust in the Balance. British Women n India 1905-1945. London:
Hamish Hamilton 1989)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non
commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Pat Barr)
Stepping
up to Firpo’s
We were
frequent patrons of the famous Firpos that burnt down a couple of years ago.
Walking up their steep flight of stairs in 4 in heels was quite an effort but
the cuisine certainly made up for it.
Molly
Hamilton, Calcutta. late 1940s
(Source:
Several E-mail interviews with Molly Hamilton in 2003. / Reproduced by courtesy
of Molly Hamilton)
Selling
Souvenirs
Chowringhee, the Piccadilly of Calcutta, was the
centre of the maelstrom; at times it was literally impossible to move along the
sidewalks. Firpo's, a popular bar and restaurant purely for the Feringhees
(officers only), and renowned
throughout India, was packed solid day and night; it was as much as you could do to get inside the door, let alone to
a table. But after a great deal
of pushing and shoving, I managed to get in. I carried with me the Japanese flag, the Rising Sun, which I'd
acquired whilst with the Gurkha regiment. The man who had formerly carried it
was no longer in a position to do so: a Gurkha had slit his throat. I found a
ready American customer for it -
they had voracious appetites for
these things, and were in the
mood to buy anything from the war in Burma.
Three days there were quite enough for me and my contingent; I was glad
to move on to Ranchi, in Bihar, where my regiment was. But before leaving, I
sold the Samurai sword formerly worn by the Japanese soldier who had almost
kilted me, but who was himself killed by the Gurkha who saved my life; that scar would remain with me always. The
sword also went quickly, also to an American, and I got an excellent price for
both it and the Japanese flag. Not so the rubies and other precious stones I'd
so carefully collected on my nine-hundred-mile journey, by foot and by Jeep, from the Indian border to Rangoon.
When I had them appraised, I was told
they were valueless.
William Pennington, Captain 134 Field Regiment Royal
Artillery, Calcutta, Summer 1945
(source: page378-79 of William Pennington: Pick up you Parrots and Monkeys and fall in
facing the boat. The life of a boy soldier in India. London: Cassell, 2003)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair
dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright
remains with William Pennington)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nizzam’s
_____Pictures of 1940s
Calcutta________________________
_____Contemporary
Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
_____Memories
of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese Restaurants
_____Pictures of 1940s
Calcutta________________________
_____Contemporary
Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
Addresses
of Chinese Restaurants in 1940
Chung
Wah Restaurant -7/1 Central Avenue. Phone, Cal. 2021.
Nanking
Restaurant—22 Blackburn Lane- Phone, B.B. 805.
John Barry, journalist, Calcutta, 1939/40
(source
pages 247 of John Barry: “Calcutta 1940” Calcutta: Central Press, 1940.)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The copyright remains with John Barry 1940)
_____Memories
of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
Never
before had I experienced fried prawns like they served there.
Chung Sun Chinese restaurant. This was on the
second floor of a building direcly across Chowringee from the Esplanade.
Entrance was via an iron stairway up the outside of the building on the side
toward the Calcutta Statesman office. It was clean, service was good from white
uniformed waiters. And best of all, the food was great. Never before had I
experienced fried prawns like they served there. I'll never forget them. It was
the only Chinese restaurant I had the privilege to visit in Calcutta. You see,
we didn't eat many meals anywhere except at our base or in the American Red
Cross food facility because of concern about dysentary. And besides, we didn't
have enough money to afford to eat in a "pay for" restaurant very
often.
Glenn
Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with
Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August
2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of
Glenn Hensley)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Home ● Sitemap ● Reference ● Last updated: 03-October-2009
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there
are any technical problems, factual inaccuracies or things you have to add,
then please contact the group under info@calcutta1940s.org