A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Halftone
The result of a process by which an image is reduced to a patterned series of small dots on a transparency or negative film. The varying dot size creates the illusion of full tonal range that was carried by the original image, while in actuality it is completely black & white. In 1885 Frederick Ives abandoned the elaborate Ives process when he developed a workable crossline screen, an optical device from which a halftone could be directly produced. The screen was made from two sheets of glass into which a fine series of lines had been etched then filled with an opaque material. The first sheet of glass was rotated ninety degrees to the second sheet and both were sealed face to face to form a crossline grid. The space between the intersecting lines on these combined grids created a field of tiny square apertures that would break up the tones of the original image when placed between the negative and the photosensitized plate. Apertures that received a lot of light cast a large dot, while apertures exposed to little light cast a small dot. As the number of lines increase on a screen, the halftone dots become smaller and more numerous creating more dots per inch. More dots increases sharpness, but it decreases the range of tones a plate can print. When halftones are overlapped they must be place at angles greater than 30 degrees to avoid the formation of moiré patterns. When four halftones are used as in process printing, the overlapping dots form a rosette pattern. Halftones were commercially used since 1887, making the reproduction process less expensive and much faster. Ives never patented this invention. George Meisenbach also developed a line screen in Germany in 1882, based on Ives’ early work. Louis Levy developed the Levy line screen in Philadelphia in 1887 and became a major manufacturer of screens.

Hand Press
Any non-mechanized press operated by hand. The term usually refers to screw presses where paper is pressed between the plate or form on the press bed and another heavy plate that applies pressure from above. Many small hand presses of varying types were also made for home use or to suit limited but specific business needs. Many small businesses used a hand press to print text on stock cards.

Hand Stamp
A designed marking of ink imprinted over the postage on a letter or card by hand to indicate its official arrival into a government postal system, and to cancel its value to keep it from further use. Prior to 1907 the United States Post Office Department not only canceled postage with a hand stamp on receipt of mail, but then again a second time with a receivers mark at the post office it was delivered to. Certain small Post Offices continued to put a receivers mark on mail for many years beyond its official cessation. The Post Office’s name, the date, and the time were required to be present on every hand stamp. To make this economically feasible the stamp mechanism was designed to hold interchangeable words and numbers. Unfortunately many employees were sloppy in their work either loosing numbers or not bothering to put them in, especially when it came to the year. While postal clerks may have thought everyone knew what year it was at the time of mailing, the lack of a proper hand stamp is now a great loss to the modern collector trying to date a card.

Heat Set Inks
Ink used for printing on high-speed web offset presses. Heat set inks are dried rapidly after printing by applying heat to them before they can be absorbed into the printing paper. This creates a sharper brighter image.

Heliodore
A trade name for a type of postcard distributed by the American News Company that was printed in continuous toned heliogravure. These cards are characterized by flat tones, stylized clouds, and a dull finish. They were manufactured in Germany.

Heliotype
A variant of the collotype process developed by the London photographer Ernest Edwards in 1869 (patented 1870). In this method a gelatin dichromate of potash is hardened with chrome alum on a waxed glass plate. After exposure under a negative, the gelatin was stripped off and briefly exposed on the reverse side to harden it. It was then attached to a pewter plate with a rubber solution and developed in a water and glycerin bath. This process required two printing plates, one for dark shadows and one for medium tones.

Heliograph (Heliogravure)
A process invented by Nicephore Niepce in which a metal plate is coated with photosensitive bitumen and exposed to light, either through a positive transparency, or directly by placing the plate in a camera. Light makes bitumen insoluble so the image areas can be washed out with solvent that exposes the plate. The plate can now be etched and printed in the intaglio method resulting in a gravure like continuous toned print. The process was mostly used for commercial printing between 1870 and 1914, though it is occasionally still used today. Heliographs were largely replaced by modern rotogravure, where mechanical inking sped up this slow printing method.

Heliography (Heliochrome)
An early term that was once used interchangeably with photography. It was also used to alternatively describe the photogravure process but this reference has long been obsolete.

Holiday Cards
Postcards containing the iconic imagery and symbolism of a collective commemorated holiday. Traditionally there were few celebrated days in the United States other than George Washington’s birthday and the 4th of July. Holidays (Holy days) were associated with the many religious festivities common to Europe that were seen as having no place in secular America. Even the Popish celebration of Christmas was for a time banned in Puritan New England. It wasn’t until the later half of the 19th century that holidays began to creep into American life, first as a trickle then as a flood. As postcards became popular they picked up on these holiday themes. Cards were commonly printed for New Years Day, Ground Hog Day, Valentines Day, Washington’s Birthday, Lincoln’s Birthday, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, April Fool’s Day, Remembrance Day, Decoration Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Hold-to-Light Card
A postcard that alters its appearance when held up to a source of light. When most cards of this type are held to a light they glow in areas where holes were die-cut into the front piece of card stock and a translucent colored paper, usually red and yellow, is inserted between it and a backing card. The most desired effect was to transform a daylight scene into a night view. On some hold-to-light cards a thin printed image is pasted over another on card stock and when backlit the two layered images combine into a new one often altering its narrative.

Hudson-Fulton Celebration
The commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the river that bares his name, and the 100th anniversary of the establishment of steamboat service on the Hudson by Robert Fulton. These anniversaries were celebrated throughout the entire Hudson Valley of New York between September 25th and October 11th, 1909, with parades, naval reviews, airplane flights, electric light displays, and fireworks. Replicas of Hudson’s ship the Half Moon, and Fulton’s first steamship the Claremont were built for this occasion. Many official and non-official postcards were made capturing various aspects ofthis event.

Hurricane of 1938
The worst recorded natural disaster to hit the Northeast United States, the brunt of which largely befell the states of New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island on September 21st, 1938. With winds peaking at about 150 mph, accompanied by record flooding, lighthouses and entire communities were removed from the map. This unpredicted Hurricane left over 600 dead and thousands injured. Many postcards document the damage from its inicial landfall and up into Canada.