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Blog > 150 Years of Postcards - most creative postcards

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Can you imagine the avalanche of happy mail that landed on Postcrossing’s mailbox for the 150th anniversary of postcards? 😅 It was *a loooot* of postcards, each of them unique and special in their own way, and all filled with excitement for this historical milestone.

Admiring and reading through all this lovely mail was an overwhelming task which took way longer than we had anticipated, and picking just a few postcards to award in the categories of most creative postcards and best message was a really tough job. But we had a mission, so after many days rearranging postcards on our desks, here is our choice for the top three creative cards sent to the 150th anniversary contest (in no particular order).

Antonia's mailbox see-through postcard

The postcard above came to us from Antonia in the United Kingdom. She hand-painted and crafted this card showing an old British postbox with postcards inside. Photos don’t do justice to this card though, because you can’t tell that the mailbox is covered in transparent film, allowing you to peek at the postcards floating inside. One of them is even a mini-replica of the postcard itself!

Antonia's mailbox see-through postcard - back side

The backside is equally nice… despite Royal Mail’s mutilation of the stamps 🙄. Antonia writes that she learnt how to read and write late in her childhood, and that the prospect of writing used to fill her with dread, but that this changed through writing letters and postcards, and that she has finally found her voice. What a wonderful message, in a truly exquisite postcard.

Next, we have a postcard from Indonesia, sent by Cherlita who is a design student:

Cherlita's illustrated postcard

The illustration is simply gorgeous, and we love the stamp and postmark details that work together to resemble a maxicard. The actual stamps used to mail the postcard are on the reverse side, and they’re personalized stamps using the same image as the front of the card — neat!

Cherlita's illustrated postcard - back side

Cherlita has a charming handwriting, and she writes about how postcards can take us in a “small, physical form” to our loved ones, strengthening our bonds with them.

And last but not least, Franziska from Germany crafted the most unusual postcard.

Franziska, Tim and Tom's postcard

One side of the postcard looks like a normal postcard, with a beautiful message about how much her young sons Tim Mikesch and Tom Lukas enjoy sending and receiving postcards. When you turn the postcard around though… magic!

Franziska, Tim and Tom's postcard - back side

The reverse of the card resembles a German postbox, and what could be hiding inside? Postcards, of course! Lots of mini-postcards of the children’s favorites cards, as well as happy moments the family has shared featuring postcards. How sweet is that?! Each card is lovingly written and stamped, and a mini-treasure on its own.

Franziska, Tim and Tom's postcard - inside

So there you have it, these are the three winners in the most creative category for the 150th anniversary contest, each of which will receive a box of 100 postcards. Hurray!

As you can probably imagine, there are many, many more postcards that we want to show you because you guys truly outdid yourselves in this call for postcards. So we hope to feature more special postcards on our social media as well as here in the blog in the coming weeks.

Next task though should be picking the best messages… wish us luck! 😅

54 comments so far

cherlita, Indonesia

Thank you very much, I'm so honored 💕

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fitrap, Indonesia

Keren

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LuSays, United Kingdom

They are BRILLIANT!!!! A very well deserved win!!

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Juergen_from_Loy, Germany

Postcards exist much longer than the Internet and it's good for your handwriting. Back to the roots with postcrossing!!!
Thank you for all the friendly postcards!
Jurgen from Loy (PJP)

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BestWishesEric, United States of America

These are truly amazing--what great work!

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Kristi-D, United States of America

Fantastic cards--quite a bit of loving effort in each! Postcrossers who receive cards from these three are extra fortunate! (ALL cards from Postcrossing are wonderful.)

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Jacque53, United States of America

Wow......such creativity and love went into these wonderful postcards! Congratulations to the winners!

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Zulhma, Argentina

Beautiful postcards!!Thank you very much for share.Regards

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ejcain, United States of America

Congrats to the winners - well deserved! <3

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E_Safiri, United States of America

I have eye problems at the moment and cannot read very well, so I apologize if you already answered this questions: How many postcards total did you receive?

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carameljuniper, Brazil

All of them are amazing! They deserve winner since it were a great job congratulations guys <3

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Mosshumla, Sweden

These postcards are truly amazing!

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meiadeleite, Portugal

@E_Safari We haven't made the number public yet! We're considering doing a little lottery and let people guess the correct number. :)

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dollart, Finland

So cool cards and loved the messages😍

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hobbymail, United States of America

I like to make handmade postcards for postcrossers who will accept them. When I see "no handmade" I am perplexed. These lovely works are stellar. Thank you, fellow artists.

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Jazgale, United States of America

So beautiful 😍 I always love to receive the home made cards and original photos . I feel like the card was especially just for me ❤️

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Angeldreamer, United States of America

wonderful cards!! I love the UK shaker card! so well done!! we have many wonderful artists in our ranks and I love to get cards that have been made with love :)

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Sandristica, Spain

They are AMAZING!

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gingerfuzzball, United Kingdom

These are all so wonderful!
As a Postcrosser from the UK who spends a long time choosing beautiful stamps for people, can any postcrossers from other countries tell me if British stamps often arrive with marks like that? I am wondering why they would be drawn on, maybe it is a test to see if they are genuine stamps?

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EveH, Bulgaria

I teared up reading and looking at the care and creativity with which these cards were made!! I’m so happy to be part of the Postcrossing community! ❤️

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-MarianneSF-, Philippines

AdorBle!!!

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Gen24, United States of America

Fabulous display, guys! Thanks so much to the team for showing all of those amazing postcards. :) As a postcard painter, I love to see other artists out there.
Thanks for being apart of a huge part of my life, all you postcrossers. :) Peace!

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Geminiscp, Portugal

Congratulations, everyone!!!! :)

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CarrieJoJo, United States of America

Wow! What fabulous postcards, I just love to see all the creativity. I have received some very creative postcards myself & am so glad I found this wonderful postcard community!

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guyt, Canada

I am not a fan of handmade postcards, but these ones let me speechless !!! So much work and imagination.

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Cre8mail, United States of America

Wow! What artists! So creative and beautiful, congratulations to the winners. Happy Postcrossing!

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sacdalton, United States of America

Wow, so exceptionally creative and thoughtful. Although it was difficult work I'm sure to go through them, how touching and rewarding to see the connections around the world.

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Braam, Australia

Such beautiful, imaginative work - & I love all the messages. It's so nice to see the back of the card all filled up with greetings. Thank you all.

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ellenwuzhere, United States of America

Wow...you guys really did an impressive job! Congratulations!

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Antonella-, Italy

Standing ovation for the 3 winners! You did an amazing job! <3 I love every single detail of your postcards!

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lostresviajeros, Austria

Well chosen! Congratulations! 👏👏👏

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Franzi-ska, Germany

Thank you, we are among the three winners. I did not expect that at all, because so many beautiful postcards have been received by you! I'm speechless! Thank you! It makes me happy to be part of this beautiful community! I thank everyone who smiles at me and my sons with his postcard! Thanks to the many people who support postcrossing, write a postcard, receive and keep postcrossing going every day! Thank you! You are all wonderful!😘💌🥰

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Anactf, Portugal

Wonderful cards, indeed! Congratulations! :) :) :)

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giorgina80, Italy

the postcards are wonderful😍 congratulations

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Demmi, Romania

Wonderful cards!
Beautiful project, glad that I am part of it!
Happy Postcrossing!
:O:D

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fisherman, Ireland

Wow such creativity - Many congratulations !

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mapa, Belgium

Congratulations to all of you! Nice designs!

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saikat_das, India

Amazing! Congratulations to the winners.

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triplightly, United States of America

Wow! Just WOW!! We are so blessed to be part of the Human Family! I am constantly in awe at the variety and scope of talent that exists in the world and in each of us. Thank you for sharing these treasures.

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EngelDD, Germany

Great Postcards and Congratulations! ;o)

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Liudmyla_Kh, Ukraine

Congratulations to the winners!

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ManxWalker, Isle of Man

I’m so incredibly proud of my daughter. Well done Antonia and everyone who entered

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shui, Taiwan

Congratulations ! ! And WOW ! ! ! How adorable these postcards are ! ! They just touch people's heart like a gentle breeze in spring. : - )

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moinkent, United Kingdom

These cards are all so beautiful and such a lot of hard work has gone into them. I love handmade cards but I am not creative myself so I try to choose the card and stamps carefully. It saddens me to see that the UK Post Office has marked those beautiful stamps - like gingerfuzzball I wonder if that happens often to our stamps.

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Flippie, Canada

Well deserved wins! Congratulations!

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Knerq, United States of America

Amazing!!

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januari, Sweden

These cards are, indeed, fantastic! Small art pieces! Congratulations!

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alison41, South Africa

What fabulous cards - I loved reading all of them Well deserved winners.

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enkelinkosketus, Finland

Hienoja ja vaivalla tehtyjä kortteja. Todella upeita. Kolmas on suosikkini.

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Tsadida, United States of America

Congratulations to all the winners!

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Gurudath21, India

Beautiful card's
Congratulations to the winners

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freezeframe03, United States of America

Great postcards! Congratulations to the winners!

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elikoa, Singapore

These are amazing!!!

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AutismMom, United States of America

@gingerfuzzball No, the UK stamps aren't always marked up like that. Who knows what happens sometimes in the mail? I have received cards that look awful, and when I register, I see the original scanned photo from the sender and know something happened in transit. I have also heard tale of some of my sent cards arriving in strange condition. Most cards make it just fine, but I think with the volume of cards we send, sometimes things just happen.

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