February is a busy month in the mail calendar, and we can’t wait for it to start! Are you ready?
We love a good mail challenge around here, and since February is the Month of Letters, it is time to dust off all that special stationery and put pen to paper! It’s the perfect opportunity for reconnecting with family and friends in these socially-distanced times, sending a Valentine card to your special someone, saying thank you to the helpful people in your life… or simply surprising strangers across the world with postcards! 😉
The rules of the Month of Letters challenge are simple:
- Mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture or a cutting from a newspaper… anything goes!
- Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.
That’s it! The challenge started back in 2012, after American writer Mary Robinette Kowal decided it was time for a break from the internet. She spent a month offline, and asked her friends to communicate with her through letters. The results were relaxing and intimate, so she decided to invite others to join, sparking a yearly flurry of correspondence.
If you’re planning to join this year, you’re welcome to share your progress with us on this forum topic.
Another happy mail-related event coming up is Mail Carrier Appreciation Day, which happens every year on February 4th. This is the day to celebrate our trusty mail carriers, who make it possible for this hobby to exist by delivering all our postcards!
The date falls on a Saturday this year, so if you don’t have mail delivery on the weekends, make sure to prepare something nice for your mail carrier the day before — for instance, pour your gratitude into a thank you note that you’ll deliver (or affix to your mailbox) for them to discover on their rounds. I’m sure it’ll be the highlight of their day week!
If you can, take a photo of what you did to celebrate this special day, and share a link to it in the comments! 😊
19 comments so far
I always give my postlady a box of chocolates for Christmas. She's such a lovely person and will come back to my house if I've popped out: above and beyond! I shall have to think about what to get her for the 4th.
I’m a retired postal worker so I know and really appreciate my mail carrier, especially living here in Vermont USA where the weather can be especially challenging!
I like the postmark very much, especially the address printed from the mailing place, which has local information on it. The mailman here is very responsible. marvelous
This will be the year 3 for me. Looking forward.
A postcard a day keeps the doctor away... :O))
Once upon a time, many years ago, a boy began to love to correspond with friends near and far: first by hand, then with a typewriter, then with a word processing program, finally with instant messaging services.
The time dedicated to the weighted choice of words and the drafting of the sentences to be addressed to the recipient has gradually reduced, up to being often replaced with an "emoticon", today.
It's nice to rediscover the beauty of relaxed writing together with the pleasant expectation of an answer, anxiously looking at the mailbox every day, thanking the postal courier for the countless kilometers travelled!
Thanks to Postcrossing for these pleasant moments of reflection that it gives us...
Greetings to all from Rome, Italy.
I'll request (at least) one address everyday in February and mail the card (even on days the post is not collected). I have done this two years in a row and it's fun! Something nice and small to look forward to every day and the excitement of new recipients and how the sending stats will look by the end of the month. :)
I'm looking forward - I'll definitely send postcards and stick nice stamps. I'm retired, but I worked as a mail carrier for 15 years - it's a demanding job in all weathers, but I loved it.
This will be my third Month of Letters year, and I'm all set. As others have mentioned: it's a great opportunity to pay particular attention to the act of writing, to reconnect with old friends, to make new connections, and to honour the work our postal carriers do to keep the mail going, no matter the weather or the circumstance of the times. Thank you Postcrossing for keeping this special month going here!
Waar kan je u hiervoor inschrijven, lijkt me heel leuk om te doen.
I really do not remember the last time I wrote a letter...maybe I have never written one! :(
I have several penpals. I am part of a group on Facebook called caring and sharing at your mailbox. That’s where my penpals are through. They have list for different holidays that you can send cards out. Also, of course, writing letters on a regular basis. Is there somewhere that you post when you send these out or is it just some things that you do.
If anyone is looking for people to send cards / letters / postcards to, there is a group on Facebook called "From The Heart" that focuses on brightening the days of elderly people. They look forward to receiving mail!
This is my second year participating and I am looking forward to it. Love sending mail, I am aiming to send a few more notecards/letters than I did last year and not focus solely on postcards. I will probably do two mail items at minimum a day. 1 postcard and 1 letter/notecard. I love writing so very much.
Anyone who wants to swap a letter (not just a card - I do that nearly daily anyway) send a message with your address, I'll send you mine.
I found many long penfriendships in past month of letters....
Love this idea.
I have a great mail lady. I leave her cookies at different times of the year. I will make sure I leave her something Saturday.
In 2019, at the post office of a Polish town, I bought a stamp “460 Years of the Polish Post”. This stamp is inscribed with the "postman's oath" or rules of ethics for postal workers. It was very interesting for me to get acquainted with these rules. After I became interested in Postcrossing, I made a postcard from this stamp and sent it to the same users of this site as me.
I give my mail carrier fruits, self-made jam or sweets here and then, and he is always delighted. Today, he will get a jar with sweets and a clementine, plus a hand-written note with a riddle and a big thank you. As the DHL here is working in yellow clothes and cars, the "riddle" says (in German): What is yellow, hard working, humming and absolutely indispensable? - Our favourite mail carrier in his electric car (#thus the humming sound).
Don't know how to share a picture here, but it looks nice. 😉
I've challenged myself this month to send 1 card every day. Challenging because I only have 16 slots. In my opinion, I've taken it pretty far already: today's slot has already been filled, and I now only have 1 left. In other words, unless Monday (and Tuesday) 2 cards are registered, I won't succeed this month. Nevertheless, I find this a fun way to send postcards and will try to do it again in April (30 days for 17 slots, if all my cards have arrived by then).