Throughout the subcontinent, dhobies collected dirty clothes from their clients and took them away for washing. This was often done at a riverbank. In more modern times, dhobies also starched and ironed clothes. Dhobis are still popular with many Indian households. Today dhobies often come to their client's houses, where they clean garments using a washing machine and then iron them.
Like his counterpart, the bhistie (watercarrier) the dhobie was one of the most frequent figures on early Indian postcards. |
