A ballot box used during India's first general elections

Under the Favourite Item category on day five, for instance, the Vikhroli-based archives shared a picture of one of the 12.83 lakh ballot boxes that the company manufactured for India's first general elections. "When we were putting together the archive in 2006, one of our visits took us to the Lalbaug factory from where it all began for the company in 1897. It was there that we found the ballot box," says Vrunda Pathare, chief archivist, GA. In the category for Something Big on day two, the team shared a photograph of a safe from the 1920s that almost weighed a ton. It came from Capitol Cinema opposite CSMT, which was built in 1879.

Poll

Who will win the Punjab Elections?

BJP 32.86%

AAP 41.43%

INC 25.71%

Submit

View All In Poll

What is also interesting is how the participating institutions are interpreting the themes. For the Animals theme, for instance, GA chose to post pictures of refrigerators from the '90s that carried pictures of dolphins and polar bears, while the British Museum shared photographs of three of the 100 cats it used to employ to keep the mouse population in check.

The safe from the 1920s, posted under Something Big. Pics courtesy/Godrej Archives

"We strongly believe that academic research can be fun, too. And dipping into our archives to find photographs, documents and objects relevant to the themes has been a great exercise," says Pathare, adding, "Such social media initiatives not only give us an opportunity to showcase our collection, but also feel a part of the global fraternity. Archives are always associated with the concept of guarding things. But opening up our collection on social media democratises the process."

Log on to Godrej Archives on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates