Postcrossing Blog

If you’re one of the only people who still hasn’t heard about PostSecret, here’s where you can (and should) check it out – www.postsecret.com. BUT WAIT! Before you click on the link, you might want to finish this article, because reading people’s secrets is as addictive as eating cookies or watching episodes of your favorite TV show…. once you start, you can’t stop! Which is precisely the reason that Frank Warren, creator of PostSecret, knew this concept would turn out to be a big hit.

PostSecret is an ongoing community mail art project, where people from all walks of life anonymously mail in a secret of theirs on a homemade postcard. There are no rules or restrictions made on the content of the secret, only that it be a real secret that has never been spoken before. Each week, a selection of received postcards are posted on the PostSecret website.

The anonymity of these secrets is what makes the concept so brilliant and compelling. Admissions range from one’s secret desires, embarrassing facts about themselves, to hopes, dreams or just silly quirks. The website is updated every Sunday, and there are always at least a few secrets that you can directly relate to. Knowing that someone else out there has the same secret as you is comforting and empowering and has a healing effect on both the writer and reader, according to Warren.

PostSecret was reported as the 10th most popular site amongst female students in USA, according to Youth Trends in 2008. Due to the success of the site, Warren came out with a book, PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives, in which he talks about his experiences with people all over the world who were inspired by PostSecret, allowing them to have dialogue on topics they felt they couldn’t before.

In addition to the initial book, there are now three other books that showcase PostSecret postcards, as well as some other Postsecret-themed events, which you can check out here.

What about you? Have you ever shared a secret on a postcard? :)

Have a look at the following postcards from the sixties:

Notice something… unusual? In some postcards it is quite obvious, in others not so much… but the red car is always there!

Andreas Möller loves the Ford Taunus. Throughout the years, he has collected lots of memorabilia related to the car of his dreams, enough to fill a room with brochures, operating manuals and even postcards! One day, he noticed something strange… in many of the postcards he had, the car was the same, a red Ford Taunus 12m with Hamburg license plate HH-KX 942!

The more he looked, the more glaring it became… there it was, in front of the church in the Dutch town of Zutphen, or stopped at the French-Belgian border crossing in Menen as well as in several other towns of the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. Sometimes it was featured prominently, others it was discretely parked in the background… How was that possible?!

Mr. Möller doesn’t know for sure, but he speculates that the car most likely belongs to the photographer. In one of the postcards, the trunk of the car is slightly open – indicating that perhaps the just got his equipment out of it before taking the photo.

Contacted by Mr. Möller, Hamburg town hall revealed that unfortunately the records about this car had already been destroyed, so there might be no way to find out more about the mysterious fan of the Taunus … but what a great story it is!

You can see the rest of the postcards on this gallery on the Spiegel website, where the story was first published (in German). And a big thank-you to Mr. Möller, who let us borrow his card photos and tell his story. If you have any information that might help him solve this automobile mystery, leave a comment below! :)

Although quite small, the space on the back of a postcard can often seem intimidating, and some postcrossers struggle with what to write there… To help with this, here are 20 different ideas to fill your postcards! :)

1. Express what daily life is like where you’re sending the card from by describing what you did today, your routine, etc.
2. Write 5 curious facts about the place where the card is from.
3. Give local travelling tips from your area! What are the must-sees around you?
4. Include your favourite quote, perhaps in its original language (with translation!)
5. What was the last thing you cooked or ate? Include a recipe!
6. What do you have in common with the recipient of your card?
7. Recount a childhood memory, or something you’ve learned from your grandparents.
8. What makes you happy? If it makes you smile, there’s a good chance others will like to hear about it.
9. Share a local idiom or saying, in its original language, with translation of course!
10. Did you ever travel to the place where your card is going? Recall your best memory of that place.
11. What’s the weather like as you are writing your postcard? Draw the weather forecast in detail!

12. Share an interesting fact that you’ve learned, and which most people are not aware of.
13. Got an unusual hobby or collection? Do tell!
14. Did anything important happen in your country lately? Share an interesting news bit!
15. Tell the recipient about your favourite book, movie or band!
16. Draw a picture of your surroundings, or your favourite object in that room!
17. Write your favorite poem or…
18. …make up your own poem – acrostic poems or haikus are short and enjoyable to write!
19. What are the local festivals or traditions from your area?
20. If you’re a student, what are you studying? What was the last thing you learned in school?

We hope that helps inspire some of you! Got some other tips? Please share them below!

Photo by Dancing Lemur, on Flickr.

Some months ago, Albrecht (aka hulottati, from Germany) found a great card on an auction, and brought to our attention. We’ve been itching to share it with you ever since… but we had to wait patiently for today. Why? Check it out!

It’s from 1912 – more precisely, 12th December 1912, and therefore is exactly 100 years old! It reads:

“If you want to write such a card again, you’ll have to wait 100 years!”

How cool is that? Intriguing and interesting! And who knew that people back then were as fascinated with special dates as we are now? Or that, 100 years on, it would be seen on a website about postcards?

Are you going to send a special card today to celebrate this unusual date? You should – who knows you might read it in 100 years! :)

You have probably come across some of the popular UNESCO World Heritage Sites postcards. The UNESCO Sites are some of the best places to travel to in the entire world and receiving a postcards from one of these sites is just as neat. But what is UNESCO, and how are the sites picked? We’ll try to answer some of those questions in this post.

UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The UNESCO World Heritage program was born in 1952. It sought to identify and designate sites around the world that were significant in one of three areas: education, science or culture.

The reason UNESCO was founded was because of a need to safeguard ancient temples in Egypt in 1952. Egypt had decided to build the Aswan High Dam, but this was going to flood the ancient temples of Abu Simbel and Philae. The United Nations wanted to protect these sites and so the UNESCO World Heritage Sites program was started.

Many countries from the UN came to help out and protect the sites in Egypt, which led to other protection campaigns for various other sites throughout the world. In 1965, the United States championed a draft convention to start a World Heritage Trust, which would protect these scenic, natural and historic sites. This was eventually adopted by the UN in 1972.

Sites are chosen to become World Heritage Sites by nomination from the group of 180 countries, which are called the States Parties. Countries in the group nominate sites within their territory that they want included and then they are voted on based on various criteria. After meeting these criteria for cultural and historical significance, a site becomes an UNESCO World Heritage Site and is given resources for protection and preservation from the World Heritage Trust.

Today, there are more than 800 of these sites in many different countries all over the world. You can learn more about them on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites website.

Have you visited many UNESCO sites? Which one is your favourite? :)