3 days ago
Godrej Archive Traces Modern India Through Everyday Objects
The Godrej Archives keeps objects and documents from the company’s history in India.
One famous story tells how a Godrej safe survived a large fire in Calcutta in 1925.
The fire destroyed many other goods, but the safe’s contents remained safe.
Godrej also made locks, steel cupboards, ballot boxes, soaps and typewriters.
Ardeshir Godrej created a lock designed for India’s humid and dusty conditions.
In 1951, the company made 12.83 lakh ballot boxes for India’s first general election.
In 1955, it introduced a typewriter made entirely in India.
The archive shows how these products were connected to changing life and technology.
It also preserves old advertisements, photographs, recordings and personal memories.
A 1925 Calcutta fire left a Godrej safe intact while surrounding goods and silent films were destroyed.
Godrej’s 1926 Calcutta branch promoted fire-resistant safes, steel furniture, strong rooms and locks.
The Godrej Archives, established in 2006, preserves documents, advertisements, products, photographs and oral histories.
Ardeshir Godrej’s springless detector lock won a gold medal at the 1900 Calcutta Industrial & Art Exhibition.
Godrej produced 12.83 lakh ballot boxes for India’s first general election and later manufactured the Prima typewriter.
- Who
- The Godrej Enterprises Group and its Godrej Archives, including archivist Vrunda Pathare and founder Ardeshir Godrej.
- What
- The Godrej Archives is displaying and documenting products, records and stories that reflect the company’s role in modern Indian history.
- Where
- The archive is in Vikhroli, Mumbai, while the featured exhibition was held at the company’s Salt Lake office in Calcutta.
- When
- The archive was established in 2006; the collection includes events and products dating from the late 19th century onward.
- Why
- It preserves corporate history as a way to understand India’s social, industrial and design evolution.
Key facts
- Archive founded
- 2006
- Godrej Calcutta branch
- Opened in July 1926
- Fire-surviving safe
- Survived the April 2, 1925, fire at a Madan Theatres godown in central Calcutta
- Detector lock
- Won a gold medal at the Calcutta Industrial & Art Exhibition in 1900
- Election production
- Godrej received an order for 12.83 lakh ballot boxes in 1951
- Indian typewriter
- Godrej launched a fully Indian-designed and manufactured typewriter in 1955
- Archive materials
- Physical objects, brochures, photographs, advertisements, audio and video clips
Quotes
Pirojsha Burorji Godrej
Co-founder of Godrej Industries, quoted in Godrej: A Hundred Years.
“The shop which contained lakhs of rupees worth of goods was reduced to ashes. But a Godrej safe was subjected to the severest test as it remained under flames from beginning to end. When it was opened on April 5, the safe was found perfectly intact with its costly contents of currency notes, cheque books, ornaments…”
telegraphindia.com
“Our archive is unique in the sense that it treats corporate history not as passive nostalgia but as an active tool for meaning-making. It maps India’s social, industrial and design evolution over 125 years through documents and everyday objects like locks, safes, steel cupboards, typewriters and refrigerators.”
telegraphindia.com
Sources
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