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 ?
M - PUBLISHERS
W. G. MacFarlane Publishing Co. Ltd.) (1901-1914)
Toronto, ON Canada and Buffalo, NY
Published color and black & white view-cards of Canada, mostly of the Great Lakes Region, and of selective locations within the United States. They are also noted for their many cards depicting Native Americans and cowboys. Many of their early cards have very distinct graphic elements added to them.
De Macropolo & Co. Ltd. 1920-1979
Calcutta, India
A publisher of black & white and continuous toned hand colored postcards depicting local views and street life. Some of their cards were printed on glossy paper and they resemble hand colored photographs. They were printed in both Germany and England. By 1942 they became heavily involved in the profitable cigarette industry and were purchased by Philip Morris through Godfrey Philips in 1979.
R.H. Macy & Co. 1858-1994
New York, NY
In 1851 the Quaker Rowland Hussey Macy opened a dry goods store catering to the whalers of Haverhill, Massachusetts before moving to New York. As his new store grew into a major department store it passed through a number of owners. They were an early user of postcards to promote there business but many of these cards were not illustrated. By the 1920’s they began to open stores in other cities and took over the sponsorship of the Thanksgiving Parade in New York City. They now expanded their postcard publishing to create images of this parade for self promotion. In 1994 Macy’s merged with Federated Department Stores but the Macy name continues to be used as a brand. The R.H. Macy stores were also used as the subject of postcards created by other publishers.
Isaac L. Maduro, Jr. (1904-1920’s)
34-46 Cathedral Square, Panama City, Panama
An important photographer of Panamanian views. Many of his images were turned into continuous toned and halftone lithographic postcards and booklets that were sold from his souvenir store. These cards were first printed in Germany, and then later in the United States. Maduro is known for his large set of cards depicting the construction of the Panama Canal.
Maether & Co. (M. & Co.) (1898-1919)
Nachf, Berlin, Germany and New York, NY
Publisher of International halftone lithographic view-cards. Their postcards of New York City tend to have a distinct pallet with bold red titles. They were printed in Berlin, Germany.
Alfred Mainzer 1938-
Long Island City, NY
A publisher of linen and photochrome view-cards. Well known since the 1940’s for their Dressed Cat Series drawn by Eugen Hurtong, which are sometimes refered to as Mainzer Cats. The cards of this series were first printed in a continuous tone by Max Kunzli of Switzerland, while their later cards were printed in halftone lithography in a variety of countries.
Majestic Publishing Co. 1905-1950
Indianapolis, IN
A publisher of a variety of postcard genres including holiday, Indians, and trains in halftone lithography.
Julian Mandel (1920-1930’s)
Paris, France
An important photographer of the female nude. His models are often found in highly arranged classical poses. Mandel was highly influenced by the volkisch naturalist movements of Germany, that harkened back to an earlier romanticism in the face of an environment degraded by industrialization and urban sprawl. He placed many of his models in outdoor settings to tie the natural state of the nude to the purity of the land. Much of his work was turned into real photo postcards, both black & white and tinted. Though published through the studios of Alfred Noyer, Les Studios, P-C Paris, and the Neue Photographische Gesellschaft, his full name usually appears on the front of these cards.
Manhattan Post Card Publishing Co. (1928-1965)
114 Park Row, New York, NY
A publisher of continuous tone and halftone lithographic postcards from white border to photochromes. Their cards captured a variety of mid-Atlantic scenes, but most cards depict scenes of New York City.
A. Vivian Mansell & Co., Ltd. (1910-)
Silk Street, London, England
A publisher of fine art lithographic products. They produced many advertising cards plus artist signed postcards. They are best known for their glamour cards and hunting scenes but many view-cards were produced as well. These halftone cards were manufactured in England.
Marco Marcovici (1912-1930)
Brussels, Belgium
A publisher of collotype view-cards, many of which were hand colored. During the First World War they produced many military related cards and views in sepia.
Marken & Bielfeld, Inc. (1930’s-1949)
Frederick, MD
A publisher of mid-Atlantic view-cards from white borders types to linens.
J.J. Marks (1908-1912)
New York, NY.
A publisher of chromolithographic postcards in a Comic Series and as holiday cards.
Hermann Martin (1899-1945)
Nuremberg, Bavaria
An early publisher of chromolithographic postcards, some of which were embossed. Later they began producing their cards in halftone lithography and as black & white collotypes which were often hand colored in a RGB pallet.
William H. Martin 1894-1912
Ottawa, KS
A photographer of Western motifs. Produced many photographs of Native Americans including mock battle scenes that were published as postcards. Martin is most noted for his photo montague exaggeration cards that he introduced in 1908. He stopped publishing postcards in 1912 to open the National Sign Company.
Martinson, Tiffany (1918-1919)
New York, NY
Photographers who published real photo postcards with military themes during the First World War. The scenes depicted range from the front lines in France to the victory celebrations back in New York.
Mason Brothers & Co. (1907-1917)
Boston, MA
A publisher of halftone lithographic view-cards depicting New England, especially of the Boston area. These cards were printed in Germany.
C. B. Mason (1907-1926)
New Orleans, LA
A publisher of halftone lithographic view-cards depicting scenes of New Orleans.
I.E. Marcus (1898-1905)
St. Petersburg, Russia
A printer and publisher of artist signed chromolithographic postcards. Their subjects included views of Russia and Palestine plus greetings and ethnic types. Many of their cards have outstanding graphic design work incorporated into the image. Some cards can be found with perforated edges. They were printed in Russia.
Mayrose Co. (1940-1950)
Linden, NJ
A publisher of view-cards that largely depicted scenes of New Jersey, many with themes of the modern highway and bridges. While most of these cards were in black & white, they produced many hand colored cards of Atlantic City.
J.G. McCrory & Co. 1882-1997
New York, NY
This chain of Five & Dimes opened in New York State and Pennsylvania with a handful of outlets but grew to have 1300 stores nationwide. They published a number of picture books and postcards that were sold from their counters. These cards were not of the highest quality. They were purchased by Rapid American Holding in 1963 and the last stores closed in 1997 after years in bankruptcy.
J.A. McCulloch & Co. (1903-)
Gorgie, Edinburg, Scotland
A publisher of sepia and colored view-cards of Scotland. Most of these cards were based on photographs taken by C. Reid of Wishaw, and were issued inder the Caledonia Series name. These cards were printed in gravure in Saxony.
McDougall & Keefe (1913-38)
Boothbay Harbor, ME
Photographers who published real photo postcards of their work depicting Maine’s mid-coast region. While their name usually appears on the back of these cards none are titled or numbered.
H. R. McGregor (1930-1935)
Boothbay Harbor, ME
A photographer who published real photo postcards of scenes arround Boothbay Harbor in Maine.
Edwin C. McIntire (1907-1937)
Gloucester, MA
Published view-cards of Cape Ann, Massachusetts in open halftone lithography with very crude hand coloring. The poor printing quality give some cards an almost stylish modern look.
McGown-Silsbee Litho Co. (1913-1918)
New York, NY
Publishers of halftone lithographic view-cards of New York City. They are noted for their many uptown scenes.
McKay Art Co. (1922-1957)
Missoula, MT
Barber and photographer Rollin H. Mckay produced many real photo postcards including panoramic images.
C.W. McLauthlin (1908-1935)
Green Harbor, MA
A publisher of local view-cards that were printed in black & white, monochrome, and color lithography. While some cards are in continuous tones, others were printed with halftones. Many of these cards were sold out of McLauthlin’s general store.
Medici Society Ltd. 1908-
Islington, England
An important art publisher who made a discerning effort to produce products at lowest possible price to make them affordable to the widest possible audience. They began by printing sets of art cards but after the First World War they began producing greeting cards and artist signed cards by contemporary painters and illustrators. Many of their cards dealt with natural history subjects and children’s stories. They now publish a wide variety of items including reprints of their old cards. Moved to North London in 1999.
Ezra Meeker 1906-1928
Seattle, WA
Meeker came out West on the Oregon Trail in 1852, and in his latter years he traveled across the country in a covered wagon in efforts to raise money for monuments honoring westward migration. He published and sold postcards depicting the Oregon Trail and documentations of his travels and publicity events around the country. While these cards were made in a wide variety of techniques almost all were still poorly printed. Many of Meeker’s cards were produced in series but individual cards can be found that do not fall into the following sets.
Series A - 16 cards of the Oregon Trail.
Series B - 16 cards mostly of Indian Chiefs.
Series C - 16 cards of Meeker’s travels with hand coloring.
C. W. Megathlin (1905-1915)
Hyannis, MA
A druggist and publisher of many view-cards depicting the Cape Cod region. These cards were manufactured by a variety of printers.
Meissner & Buch 1876-1914
Leipzig, Saxony and 121 Bunhill Row, London, England
Printers and publishers of a variety of fine lithographic products. They began by producing Christmas cards in Leipzig in 1884 and distributed them through an agent in England. They are well known for their high quality of postcards of women, children, greetings, and views. Many of their cards are accompanied by elaborate graphic designs. They later published artist prints under the name Anderson Nexo.
Meriden Gravure Co. (1925-1949)
Meriden, CT
A printer of many fine art books and black & white national view-cards in gravure.
A. E. Merrill (1912-23)
Damariscotta, ME
A photographer and publisher of real photo postcards depicting the Bristol Damariscotta region of mid-coast Maine.
Elbridge Warren Merrill (1906-1929)
Stika, AK
Merrill was a photographer from Massachusetts who moved to Alaska during the gold rush years. There he published real photo postcards of his work. Merrill became the first custodian of Stika National Historic Park, which he used as subject matter and also background for his portrait work. The name Merrill is embossed into his cards.
F. E. Merrill (1906-1913)
Freeport, ME
Published color and black & white lithographic view-cards of the Casco Bay region of Maine. He used a variety of printers to make his cards but most were manufactured by the Hugh C. Leighton Company.
Metrocraft (Metropolitan) 1940’s-1984
Everett, MA
A major printer of linen and photochrome postcards displaying a variety of subjects.
The Metropolitan News Co. (1905-1916)
Boston, MA
A major publisher and printer of lithographic view-cards in color, black & white, sepia, and with hand coloring. They captured views throughout the American Northeast but postcards of New England scenery were produced in greatest number. Many of their cards have a heavy look resembling early chromolithographs. They had a close relationship with Robbins Brothers for who they made many postcards. Their cards were printed in Germany.
Mezzogravure Co. Ltd. 1910-1916
Barnes, England
A subsidiary of the Anglo Engraving Company founded by Edward Hunter and J.A. Hughes. They developed and utilized the mezzogravure process in their printing. The business was sold to the Sun Engraving Company in 1916.
Mid-Continent News Co. (1920’s-1960)
Oklahoma City, OK
A publisher and distributor of postcards depicting regional views and cowboy song sets.
Midwest Map Co. (MWM) (1930-1980)
Aurora, MO
A printer and publisher of maps and postcards in photogravure and lithography. Noted for their many comic linen cards. They changed their name to MWM Color Press and later merged with Dexter Press in 1980 to become MWM Dexter.
Humphrey Milford (1917-1931)
London, England
A book publisher who also reproduced the paintings of many woman artists as postcards. Their subjects range from animals to children’s fantasy.
Millar & Lang Art Publishing Co. (M & L, Ltd.) 1903-1941
Glasgow, Scotland and London England
A publisher of postcards depicting a wide variety of subjects in a wide variety of techniques. Most of their cards were published under the National Series name. Some scenes that were printed as black & white real photo postcards were also used to create hand colored collotypes. By the 1930’s many of their photo cards also began to be hand colored. In addition they published a series of line drawings by the artist Andrew Allan in the New Colour-Crayon Process. In their later years the company moved to London, England.
Miller Art Co. (1922-1941)
Brooklyn. NY
Published view-cards of the Northeast in halftone lithography. Many of their cards suffer from very crude retouch work. They issued better quality holiday cards and a large set of New York World’s Fair cards in 1939, many with decorative borders.
Ruth Murray Miller (1929-1939)
Philadelphia, PA
Postcards were published under this name for the Art Advertising Service. These linen view-cards depicted scenes from the mid-Atlantic States up to New England. They were printed in black & white, monochrome, and in color, often with a soft focus.
The Minneapolis Tribune 1867-1982
Minneapolis, MN
The largest newspaper in Minnesota. They published halftone postcards on heavy paper stock in the first decade of the 20th century that were given away as free supplements. Merged with the Minnesota Star newspaper in 1982 to become the Minniapolis Star Tribune.
Minerva (1890-1921)
Prague, Bohemia
The Bohemian poet Eliska Krasnohorska founded Minerva in 1890 as the first private school in Central Europe to promote higher education for women. By 1912, if not earlier, they were publishing Art reproductions in halftone lithography as a fund raising method. When the school was founded, Bohemia was part of the Austrian Empire and it became part of the newly formed Czechoslovakia after World War One.
Minnesota News Co. (1905-)
St. Paul, MN
A publisher and distributor of local view-cards for the American News Company.
Minsky Brothers & Co. (1935-1948)
Pittsburg, PA
A publisher of many linen postcards and folders depicting scenes from western Pennsylvania.
Casa Miret (1908-1913)
San Francisco, Mexico
Photographer Felix Miret produced many real photo view-cards of his work. While much of Miret’s work captures ordinary city views he is best known for his cards showing scenes from the street fighting in Mexico City in 1913 during the Mexican Revolution.
H.A. Mirza & Sons (1907-1912)
Chandni Chowk, Delhi, India
Photographers who published both photographs and printed postcards. While they produced common view-cards, many depicted scenes from places throughout South Asia and the Middle East that held religious significance. Of particular importance were postcards depicting the pilgrimage to Mecca that were purchased by many who found it impossible to go on the hajj. Their cards were printed in Germany in fine continuous tone lithography. The titles on then may be in English or Urdi.
Misch & Co., Ltd. (1905-1913)
Golden Lane, London, England
A major publisher of a wide variety of finely printed postcards that utilized many different techniques. Their business originally began in the 1890’s by printing Christmas cards under the name Misch & Stock. They went on to produce many art reproductions, comics, religious and sports themes, artist signed cards, and a World Gallery series of worldwide views. Some of their card types were issued under the names Mezzo-graphs, Aerotints, and Camera Graphs.
The Edward H. Mitchell Co. 1898-1923
225 Post Street, San Francisco, CA
A major printer and publisher of view-cards depicting scenes throughout the American West. They also published a variety of other card types including large sets of flowers, exaggerations, and view-cards of Hawaii and the Philippines. They temporarily moved to Clay Street when their Post Street office was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, but they later went on to set up a factory on Army Street. Even though they developed their own Mitchell Photo-Chrome Process to print their cards, many were also contracted out to other printers. Likewise they printed postcards for a number of other publishers. Their cards were printed in both the United States and in Germany. Over the years Mitchell bought out numerous small western competitors. Mitchell closed the postcard company in 1923 to concentrate on his oil interests. The three and a half million cards left in his inventory were sold of in one lot for $500.
The locations printed on the titles of their cards are often incorrect and their numbering system does not follow a sequential order corresponding to date. Cross refferencing numbers with the changing graphics on their card backs can help to determain the approximate date of publication.
Their first sepia and black & white views were printed in halftone lithography and were numbered 1 to 4999. In addition there are sepia cards in an 8000 series, some with various letter prefixes. Many others were not numbered.
Private mail cards from their early years were printed in continuous tone color lithography and were un-numbered. These may have been contracted out to the Detroit Publishing Company.
Lithographic halftone cards with undivided backs were issued in numbers 1 to 999 but many others were not numbered.
Divided back cards were issued in numbers 1 to 3366. Many of these were printed for other publishers.
A good many divided back cards were printed without numbers.
There are many other additional types and sets of cards that do not fit into any of the categories above.
Mittet & Co. (1905-1925)
Oslo (Kristiania), Norway
A publisher of color and black & white view-cards of Norway in halftone lithography.
Gustavo Modiano & Co. (1902-1920)
Milan, Italy
A publisher of books, posters, and postcards. Noted for his propaganda images as that printed for the Institute Italo-Britannico during the First World War.
Montreal News Co. (1880-1919)
Montreal, QB. Canada
After their early interest in publishing song books this company became an important distributor of printed materials, including postcards, to newsstands and tourist related stores. Andrew S. Irving, the company’s founder also owned the Toronto News Company.
A. Moore (1906-1907)
Brooklyn, NY
Published view-cards of Brooklyn and Manhattan in both sepia and color on textured paper. Their cards have an obvious RGB pallet and a washed out look to them.
Moore & Gibson (1905-1918)
New York, NY
A publisher of postcards depicting views of the American East in monochrome coloypes, halftone lithography, and with hand coloring.
Charles E. Morris (1905-1925)
Chinook, MT
A photographer of Western views and themes depicting scenes from the states of Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. He published many of his images as lithographic postcards that were made in Germany. Many of his later cards were printed by Curt Teich.
G.W. Morris (1901-1922)
Portland, ME
Morris was an important publisher of pictorial books before they began producing view-cards. Most of their postcards captured scenes of the Northeast, especially of Maine and New Hampshire, but cards of other states as far away as Florida can be found. The nature of the drawn in skies found on many of their cards gives then a very distint look. Their early cards in continuous tone lithography were printed in Germany and Saxony. They contracted out their latter halftone cards to Curt Teich.
N. Moser (1915-1939)
New York, NY
A photographer who published many real photo postcards of his work. He is best known for his naval and aviation scenes.
A. Mosinger (1908-1909)
Zagreb, Croatia
A publisher of a variety of fine lithographic postcards in color and monotones. These include view-cards and greetings. Some of their cards were printed by Raphael Tuck. They are known to have depicted many South American landscapes.
Muir, Marshall & Co. (1897-1914)
56 Marine Square, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
A publisher of illustrated guide books and souvenirs. They also produced a number of lithographic postcards depicting local scenes and types.
Muir & Moodie 1898-1945
Dunedin, New Zealand
Bothers Walter John Burton and Alfred Henry Burton arrived in New Zealand in 1856 to become the best known photographers of that land during the 19th century. After a number of years in absence Alfred returned from England in 1876. Soon he bought out his brother’s share of the business and took on a new partner Thomas Mintaro Baily Muir. Walter opened is own studio but committed suicide in 1880. About that same time George Moodie came to work at Alfred’s studio with additional photographers joining in subsequent years. By 1898 Muir and Moodie were running the studio under their own names. With the growing popularity of postcards they began publishing their own view-cards and advertising cards in continuous tone lithography. Many of the early images captured by the Burton bothers and the other photographers who worked for them were now published under the Muir & Moodie name and precise accreditation is no longer possible on some images.
Enrique Muller 1898-1918
198 Broadway, New York, NY
An official photographer for the U.S. Navy. He produced many real photo postcards of naval ships, facilities, and of sailors in their daily routines. As our nation entered the First World War these cards grew in popularity. His photographs were also used by other postcard publishers to create printed postcards.
Enrique Muller’s son Robert, also became an official Navy photographer and took over the family business around 1905. Many real photo postcards were also published of his work. He often went under the name Enrique Muller Jr.
Muller & Trub (1892-1898)
Aarau, Switzerland
Art printers of books, maps, posters, and postcards in chromolithography. Produced a number of Gruss aus cards depicting scenes from central Europe.
Max Munk (1900-1917)
Vienna, Austria
An important publisher of artist signed cards that covered a whole range of topics and styles. Their holiday cards and images of women are the best known. Their cards, manufactured in Austria, were originally printed in chromolithography that was later replaced with a very fine lithographic halftone. These cards are usually just labeled M.M. Vienne. They also puplished a few stray postcards for the Detroit Publishing Company.
H.A. Myer & Co. (1910-1913)
Syracuse, NY
A photographer who produced many real photo postcards depicting local views. Around 1912 Myer moved to Jordan, New York, a little way to the west but continued to publish local cards from there as well.
