Half Mandrill, Half Mandela

Back then, it was considered unseemly for Hindu and Muslim actresses to appear on celluloid, so they hired burly men with trademark Indian mustaches to play women by dressing in bedazzled saris and bangles and prancing around. It all ends up looking a lot like a Monty Python skit.

Then, one day, a theater producer thought of a solution: Why not cast female Jewish Indian dancers as Hindu heroines, since their families allowed them to perform onstage? In a largely untold and nearly forgotten story, Indian Jewish actresses rose to become some of the most famous starlets during the golden age of Bollywood.

I’m not a Bollywood fanatic exactly, but I am a fan and I know a bit. I’ve also learned a lot about Jews in India, over the years. But this — I had no idea.

‘Shalom Bollywood’ reveals Indian cinema’s surprising stars of its golden age

(Source: sefardialma)

Indian Cavalree

All of these old Military Uniform Caricatures are great, but this guy is by far the coldest.

Troops of the Eight Nations alliance, 1900

Left to right: Britain, United States, Russia, British India, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan.

Military uniforms were goofy at the turn of the twentieth century. Also great.