This page quotes from an advertisement for soda water, which was introduced to British residents of Calcutta in 1812. It also mentions adverts for American salmon, pale ale, and medical remedies said to cure fevers and 'damps'.
About The Good Old Days of Honorable John Company
This book is a collection of over 250 years' worth of ephemera documenting British customs in India during the rule of the East India Company (1600 - 1858). It includes newspaper articles, advertisements, minutes from council meetings and government documents. The documents cover an array of subjects - from the Indian lottery and property sales to champagne prices and silk and sugar exports, from wars and revolutions to riots and divorces. They reveal a sense of the segregation and the division in wealth that existed between the British rulers and the Indians themselves.
Despite this, the author is insistent that the material is evidence of 'improvement and progress' in the living conditions of both the British and the Indians, and feels that the book will simply 'afford both amusement and instruction.'