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

Magic Lantern
A light projector of a positive image from a glass plate (diapositive). The images used for lantern slides were traditionally drawn or stenciled, but by the 1850’s they were being replaced by photographic transparencies. By the 1870’s, lanternslides were being commercially produced. Many magic lanterns used filters to project color images years before the autochrome process was used. Lanternslide shows were very popular often filling entire theaters. Even after the advent of motion pictures these shows held their own for a good number of years, but as movies increased in quality they were not able to compete. Many companies that manufatured lanturn slides sold their transparencies to postcard publishers eager for new imagery.

Mail-Art
An art form in which the object mailed, and the act of mailing it combine to form its meaning. A conceptual form of mail art grew out of the Fluxus movement of the 1960’s into an international art movement by the 1970’s. Mail art also evolved independently in Eastern Europe as a political statement. Many works incorporated homemade postage stamps, rubber hand stamps, and the latest technology of copying machines. Pieces were often mailed, exhibited, then discarded, to make a statement on the over commercialization of art. There is much debate among mail artists as to its precise definition, but there is a fair amount of consensus to its democratic intent, where everyone can create art of equal value. Because of its relationship to networking, many artists now carry on this art form on the Internet.

Mail Card
A type of postcard that was privately printed prior to the effective date, July 1, 1898, of the Private Mailing Card Act of May 19, 1898. One of many terms used for privately printed cards of the pioneer era. Though not authorized to be used after 1898 many were cut down to the size of private mailing cards and mailed anyway. Other mail cards continued to be sold just as souvenirs.

Mailed Card
A term often used for a private card sent though the mail before 1861, when the U.S. Post Office Department did not have any regulations regarding cards. They were considered a variant of a letter and required letter rate postage. The oldest known mailed card used in the United States dates from 1848.

Mainzer Animals
Illustrated dressed animals created by Eugen Hartong and depicted in various human situations. Hundreds of postcards containing these pictures published in halftone by Alfred Mainzer in the United States and in continuous tone by the Kunzli Brothers in Switzerland. Cats were the predominant focus of these cards but images of dogs, mice, and hedgehogs were also produced as a series. These cards were most popular from the 1940’s to 1960’s though they continue to be made.

Marcolor
A trade name for photochome postcards printed in Mexico for the Fischgrund Publishing Company in the late 1950’s. They were reproduced from color print film rather than the traditional method of using Kodachrome transparencies.

Mask
A thin opaque board cut to a specific shape to prevent light from reaching the surface of photo paper. Masks were most often applied to real photo postcards during contact printing in order to create a white writing tab alongside the image. They could also be used to create regular white borders, fancy borders, or shapes, ovals, and fades. While masks were sold commercially most photographers made their own, which is often evidenced by uneven edges or poor placement. As enlarging became a more common practice, easels began replacing masks to create borders.

Maximum Card
A postcard whose image is maximized in concordance with the stamp and cancelation placed on its front side. Placing a stamp on the picture side of a card was a common practice for those who collected postcards and stamps. In this way both picture and stamp would be visible when mounted into an album. Sometimes collectors would continue to mail these cards multiple times to see how many different stamps from different countries could be affixed. The first known use of the term Maximum Card was in 1932 though the practice dates back to the 19th century. In 1945 the Association of Maximum Card Collectors (Les Maximaphiles Francais) was formed in France and the hobby has grown much since. In 1980 the realizing of maximum cards had become an independent branch of Philately. These types of cards seem to have been most popular in Europe. The act of collecting maximum cards is known as maximaphily. (See Timbre Cote Vue)

Mechanical Card
A postcard that has moving parts. These cards were manufactured with a great range of styles and inovative techniques from having simple die cut appendages, to added parts or wheels that altered the visual image. Mechanical postcards seem to have derived from 19th century advertising novelties.

Mechanical Paper
Paper made from wood that is ground down into a pulp. This type of fiber forms weak bonds and is used in paper made for temporary use such as newsprint. It is high in lignin, a substance within the cellulose, that attracts mold and insects, and raises the paper’s acid content.

Meisenbach Process
The first commercial lithographic process used to reproduce photographs by employing halftones. George Meisenbach of Munich and Karel Klietsch of Vienna copyrighted this method in 1883. The Autotype Printing & Publishing Co. purchased the rights to this process in 1886.

Mexichrome
A trade name for continental sized photochromes that were printed in France for the Mexican company Fischgrund Publishing in the early 1950’s.

Mezzochrome
A trade name for a type of postcard distributed by American News Company that was printed in a four-color printing process similar to that of a collotype. They have a very fine dot pattern, which gives them a more photographic than drawn look. These cards were printed in Germany.

Mezzograph
A trade name used by Valentine’s to describe their continuous toned lithographic postcards printed in RGB colors at the beginning of the 20th century. These cards tend to have a heavy look as in traditional chromolithography. They were printed in Great Britain.

Mezzogravure
An intaglio printing process designed for use with a rotary press that produces prints with a fine deep tonal range as in mezzotints. This process was developed in 1910 by the Mezzogravure Co. (Anglo Engraving Co.).

Mezzotint
An intaglio process in which a metal plate is covered with overlapping lines of small dot-like impressions that create rich blacks and subtle tonalities. A heavy curved blade with a serrated edge (rocker) is rocked back and forth across a plate’s surface to create lines of small incised dots on its surface. When the entire surface of the plate is covered with near parallel lines a new set of lines are rocked onto the surface in another direction. This step is repeated to create at least six different directional sets of lines so when completed no discernible lines can be seen. The rocker does not just create holes in the plate but it rips its surface creating accompanying minute metal burs. Because the burs also hold ink this effect creates a deep rich black when printed. To create an image the burs and holes must be polished out with a burnisher to bring back whites and gray tones. This surface is very delicate and it cannot be used for commercial printing. Its textural surface however is alluded to in other look a like printing methodologies.

Miniature Card
A postcard smaller than standard size. The Post Office Department sets a minimum size of 2 3/4 by 4 inches that could qualify for a postcard rate. Anything smaller is considered an irregular size and requires letter rate postage. Miniature cards were commonly but not exclusively printed as panoramas of 2 by 6 inches. Small holiday cards were known to be printed as small as 2 1/8 by 3 7/8 inches but they are often considered novelty cards.

Mirro-Krome
A trade name for early high gloss photochromes manufactured by the H.S. Crocker Co.

Moiré Pattern
An unintentional and unsightly pattern that may appear when two or more grid patterns overlap each other. This pattern can occur when overlapping halftones on a printing plate are aligned at less than 30 degree angles. They are also created when a halftone image or other patterned texture is reproduced in another media that also uses a screen. The combined sets of dots create an entirely new pattern breaking the illusion of optical tones. A scanned halftone image viewed on a computer screen will show a moiré pattern because the digital recording system remaps the image in a linear pattern, adding dots that were not in the original (Dithering).

Monochrome
An image displaying all the gradations between black and white but only in one color. Many postcards were printed in monochrome. This was a way of adding appeal to a card without incurring high costs. Sepia was the most common monochrome color followed by blue and green. Other colors were also used but they are rare.

Monochromatic
The property of film or photo papers to only be sensitive to the blue light wavelength of the visible spectrum. Only the green and red wavelengths are rendered as black. Typical of silver based emulsions.

Monotone
A trade name used by the American News company for their black & white postcards printed in halftone lithography. These cards were promoted as being the highest quality black & white cards printed in the United States, though this claim is somewhat dubious.

Montage
A style of postcard were more than one picture or subject is printed on a single card. Montage was a very common style feature in 19th century illustrations and the convention was naturally carried over to early postcards of the same period. Very elaborate borders often interconnected the differing images into one coherent design. The Gruss aus postcards of these early years are the best examples of this style. Montage continued to be used throughout the 20th century though less common and in simpler form, often refered to as multi-view cards. A common montage motif was the butterfly woman, a figure or portrait with large wings containing four inserted views. Montage was also used with real photo postcards that employed more collage techniques than drawn graphics, though there are beautiful exceptions.

Moxie
The first carbonated soft drink to be mass-produced in the United States. It was invented by Augustin Thompson in Lowell, Massachusetts, and patented in 1876 as a medicine. It was marketed as a nerve food that would bestow the user with spunk. The Gentian root extracts use in Moxie’s production gives the beverage a bittersweet flavor with strong aftertaste. While driven off the general market due to stiff competition with corporate giants, it is still distributed in the New England States. Advertisements for Moxie can often be found within early view-cards.

Multibabies
A type of illustrated postcard that populated a scene with numerous babies. Many of these cards show babies in fields of cabbage (cabbage babies), a visual play on folk stories of where children come from. But most cards of this genre present these young children in other types of real to fantastic settings and situations. They appear to be influenced by late Symbolist painting.

Multi-View Card
A postcard with the depiction of more than one view printed on it. Though early postcards with decoratively vignetted scenes are sometimes referred to as multi-view, the term is usually applied to cards in which its scenes are presented within clearly defined geometric boundaries and little or no added graphic elements. This stylistic form is found most often on generalized greetings from cards and for business advertising, such as hotels.

Museum Card
A postcard published by a museum depicting a piece of its collection or artwork from a visiting show. Most museum cards are of art pieces though they may depict the architecture of the museum itself. They have been a very popular type of card since the begining of postcard production. These cards are often produced in great quantity.