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Blog > Extra space for your messages!

April Fool!!!

April 2nd update: Sorry guys, just kidding! We’re not really changing from postcards to letters… we love postcards! But I’ve always wanted to do an April Fools’ prank and this year was the year I finally convinced Paulo to go along with it! 😜

Over the years, we’ve heard from many postcrossers on how they wished they could write a bit more on their postcards. Some people are able to use very thin pens and make their handwriting extra small… but often this is not enough for the more talkative members with plenty of stories to share. Communication should be encouraged as it is at the heart of Postcrossing, so in order to give these wordy members an outlet for their creativity, Postcrossing is henceforth changing its format from postcards to letters!.

Aren’t letters great? Plenty of space for the local news, the weather report, a lengthy update on affairs of the heart, or this month’s writing prompt on your favourite breakfast!

It feels good to expand beyond the constraints of the normal 10×15cm rectangle and just write to our heart’s content. Any message that fits on a postcard will also fit inside a letter anyway, so don’t let the extra space intimidate you — you can write as much or as little as you’d like, or even include a drawing to help you fill out the space.

Let’s put all that delightful writing paper to work — it’s time to write, write, write!

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111 comments so far

MiddLin, United States of America
If this were posted any other day I would rejoice. ;-)
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solohly, United States of America
Does that mean we can't send out postcards?
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AGayViking, Norway
Off to buy beautiful stationary and envelopes :-) A great song by Procol Harum: "Fool's Gold" :-)
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AndiP, United States of America
You got me.
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karryan, New Zealand
Oh wait. Is it April Fools Joke?
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angelarmynurse, Philippines
Is this for real, or is this meant as April fool's?
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fire_maggie, United States of America
I won't be amused if I get a non-postcard from someone who took this seriously...
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alison41, South Africa
Noooo - I enjoy Postcrossing BECAUSE I don't have to write a long letter! and I love the variety of pictures I receive on the cards.
Tell me this is an April Fool's day prank ?
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leelulumpkin, United Kingdom
You very nearly had me there! Good one!
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shc, Indonesia
It is April Fools right... I even zoomed the picture.
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berthakuiken, Germany
I am glad that everyone is so sharp today. I must admit I was startled.
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mounten, Italy
What a great April fool's!!!!! If it is one, I prefer postcards that what postcrossing is all about, isn't it.
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oldragbag, United Kingdom
If this is for real, now I'm retired I don't have time to write long letters! So I will stick to postcards.
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-swen-, Russia
Does this mean we will not send postcards any more? OH NOOOO!
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zwergi, Germany
I had been waiting for an April Fools joke all morning but didn't expect to find it here :).
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Tranchile, Guernsey
Not even my National paper had an April Fool in it.......well not one I noticed 😂👍
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-Bille-, Germany
I'm happy that this is an April fool hoax -hahaha 😃
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moonwalker, Germany
I hate to write letters, I hope this is an April joke, isn't it ?
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duck2006, Germany
You‘ve got me too... 😂👌🏻
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beauty_of_russia, Russia
Hahaha, good one!
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Mosshumla, Sweden
You almost gave me a heart attack, until I remembered this day's date! :D
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ydnic, United States of America
Are you kidding?? I really hope this is an April Fools post.
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Auscruiser, Australia
Well I think it must be an April Fool Joke. I love writing on a postcard, you dont get bored reading the little amount of news on a card, it does not take hours to write a card, and isn't Postcrossing about sending and receiving postcards? Please dont change it!
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emurray, Austria
I hope this is an April Fool's joke! I love the images on the post cards, and I'd be so sad if it changed.
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knuffi, Switzerland
please please let this be an April's Fool joke. What a TERRIBLE idea, I already feel the empty page anxiety
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mousytrap, United Kingdom
Thank heavens it's April 1 !!!
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tinaschk, Germany
Oh no! You've got me, too... :)
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ccatgo, United States of America
Hahahahaha, that’s a good one!
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NIDUSKA, Finland
really nice idea
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Tjulka, Czech Republic
Haha! Is April 1st. today... :-) :-D
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mikel101, United States of America
whew...got me there. almost ready to cancel my account :)
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Cellina, Germany
I really hope that is an Aprils fool .....
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BeckyS, United States of America
Am I ever glad that it is April the 1st . :D
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pravka, Canada
You got me! I was ready to quit, must have been a weak moment.
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selni, Germany
You got me!
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AndiP, United States of America
Haha! I am so glad to see I'm not the only one who got upset when first reading this post!
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Denton_Ady, United States of America
April Fools joke...
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rockypyrite4893, United States of America
PLEASE be an April Fools joke... I love sending and getting postcards!!!
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triplightly, United States of America
You almost got me there! I went from panic to laughter in a split second. Happy April Fools!
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dandilion, Netherlands
Haha as from today onwards I am a happy LetterCrosser! :-) thanks for letting me join in Ana! I written a letter last week as an offical as i had too much to tell this girl, and we had a few things in common. I guess i could see into the future....
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Tranchile, Guernsey
It is April Fools and what do we see
On the Postcrossing site a shock for thee
No more cards to send but letters to write
Oh my goodness me now what a great fright

It is favourite breakfast now to write all about
But I am in shock without a doubt
I cannot eat at the thought of no card
So I have decided I must become a great Bard
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merkje69, Netherlands
yeah...right (not). April fool's day. I enjoy decorating and writing cards and make use of as much space as i can....
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CasSaintDenys, United States of America
You almost convinced me. But then I remembered!
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SunshineCece, United States of America
WHAT?? so now like, postcrossing is letter crossing, NOOOOOO
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meiadeleite, Portugal
@Tranchile that is beautiful! 😍
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SunshineCece, United States of America
WAIT, this is totally an april fools prank

HA good one girl
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SunshineCece, United States of America
LOL, meideleite good job, I believed you until i looked at everyone else's comments HA
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kirk2001, Germany
The meaning of a postcard is to show s.o. a pic, quote, cartoon or anything else and not to tell my life. 1st is the frontside.
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kirk2001, Germany
F**k, an April fool?
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Bellatrix, Canada
Yay, looking forward to receive all the letters instead of cards from people who read this and take it serious... (*very very sarcastic voice*)
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Jacque53, United States of America
April fools, LOL!
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D1ana, United States of America
You got me too!
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shinjinee94, India
Nice try guys, I was thinking of what to write and nearly was through my first para !
Happy April Fools Day to you too ! :)
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Heepy, United States of America
I'm calling April Fool's on this one!
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BridgetLarsen, Australia
OMG I took this seriously and was so excited to be able to write letters now (sigh sad smiley)
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booboo_babies, United States of America
I sure hope that this is an April Fool's prank. I like Postcrosser the way that it is! Honestly, I had forgotten about today being April Fool's Day because it is Easter.
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Teacherette, Germany
I read about it in the German Postcrossing Group on Facebook. And yes, sometimes it would be great to have more space available, but in this cases, one can use an envelope and write on the complete postcard. But this April's Fools joke is quite boring, I've read better ones today. Happy Easter, btw.
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islander61, Bahamas
Hmmm. Brings me to the question, is every country here aware of April Fool's Day? Not much of a 'thing' here in the Bahamas. Happy Easter though.
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Mrbill, United States of America
My compromise is to type a brief note - usually 5 to 7 lines on a label of the size of a postcard's message side - in 8 point type and stick it where I would usually write a message. It is so much better for me because my handwriting is hard to read whereas computer printing makes things very legible, and, I can say more because the type is smaller and it "still" IS a postcard. Creative thinking is ok, isn't it?? :-)
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nisnoopy3, Malaysia
I thought Postcrossing is having another "sister", a Lettercrossing?!!
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quirkylady79, United States of America
I saw this and scanned it for a brief moment and thought...what?! So...I read it more carefully and realized this is definitely an April Fool's joke! ;)
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Nana805, France
Poisson d’avril !
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uncknitter, United States of America
Sure hope this is an April Fools joke! I LOVE seeing the pictures from other countries.
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thaens, Germany
I like postcards, therefore I joined postcrossing. It`s an April Fool, isn`t it!?
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Kasimir2007, Germany
I hope everyone took a look at the calendar. It is very good April fool, isn´t it???
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AWEF, United States of America
Excellent! You got me too! 😄 Oh no!, then Oh wait...
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Gaiasduhter, Germany
rofl, a very good April joke - April April, as we say in German :-)
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Flippie, Canada
Hi meiadeleite, I love your humor in post-crossing! Happy Easter.
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adriennefriend, United States of America
You got me!!
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AJ83, United States of America
Totally got me! Good thing I looked at the comments!
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miriginger, Finland
I once received a letter instead of postcard. That was really nice. :-)
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January_Wind, United States of America
As someone who has large handwriting and a hard time making it small, this made me excited for a moment until I caught on.
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elanj123, United States of America
Like any other day I would be really mad, except today. April Fools !!!
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cflathem, United States of America
Good one! But I will never give up my postcards!! This project has been one of the best things I have ever done! I have received a couple of letters since I joined, and have loved them. But postcards are the best!!
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ZenCat, United States of America
LOL! 😂 I enjoy writing and receiving both letters and postcards!
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meiadeleite, Portugal
Sorry to disappoint all the letter fans... I think we'll stick with postcards for now. Hope you all had a nice April 1st! 😊

And if you'd like to be randomly matched with a letter penpal, we recommend checking out the Letter Writers Alliance or (for the girls), the International Geek Girls Penpal Club. They're both excellent!
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Iside82, Italy
April fools' joke lol ^_^
But a suggestion to letter lovers : write about that in your profile. This was you may receive your postcard in envelope together with a nice letter :)
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Glorip, United Kingdom
Well done meiadeleite. It was so convincing! The only April Fool joke I saw this year and it was a really funny one. Thanks!
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GayeDoreen, United States of America
Funny! I find that sometimes I DO want to write more, so I send my postcard then follow up with a card or note - maybe with some photos. Two for one!!
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franciscojclima, Portugal
I would not prefer letters instead of postcards. Postcards are easy to be written and we don't have to write much. If we write letters I don't know what kind of space we should occupy.
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BridgetDG, Canada
What a great April Fool Joke! Thanks for the smile!!
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paradonym, Germany
I already sent written letters I used to wrap a postcard in - to send in Postcrossing...
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Cardexplorer, United States of America
Good one! But I like the current setup as it is. It is all about the postcard with opportunity for letters from time to time. Some folks request the postcard in an envelope. Then it's "letter time"!
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betslets, United States of America
Wow...am I glad I didn't check in on April Fool's Day (We celebrated Easter with family and took a day off from all else). I have been known to be gullible. Thank goodness Postcrossing remains postcard--crossing. (And space for letter-type responses when sending our Thank-You for the Card)
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Sfander, Canada
I was quite upset when I quickly popped in yesterday and saw the blog post...so much so, that I logged off instantly and didn't read any of the responses because if I had, it might have helped me remember April Fool's day...that was a good joke...on me!.
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Dragonflytatoo, United States of America
You got me! But I had decided I was gonna still send postcards. Ha!
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Kamna, Fiji
Great prank...you got me!!!
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Tynesha, United States of America
Ana, you wrote a great one 🤣

quick tip: just remember that if a statement seems sudden and/or exaggerating created on April 1st, it's likely not real guys 😒
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leaflets, China
Since China Post rose its postage this year, stamps will cover 1/3 part of my postcard. I really want to write more to you, sorry guys ~
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Amanda5417, Australia
So many April Fools! I didn't even turn my computer on that day, too busy getting my stuff organised for an Easter market on the 2nd so I guess I dodged this one.
However, if people want to write letters longer than what fits on a postcard I certainly would welcome it. One of my favourites was an envelope from a lovely young lady in Russia who not only sent me two postcards but a four-page letter too. And for those who actually ask (or have no preference) to receive their postcard in an envelope I quite often slip in something extra; stamps, maybe a letter or a used bus ticket or something. The beauty of letters is that they can be as long or as short as the writer wants.

...Technically what we write on postcards are letters afterall. Just...really short ones!
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LaGata, Sweden
I hate pranks!
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Nelio, Switzerland
I did not fall for it :-) But it was a real good one!
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Clairybelle, United Kingdom
You had me there - naughty!
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keldar5, Canada
LOL! I was thinking if I had to write a letter, I'd only be doing one every six months. I'm glad to know it was an April Fool's joke.
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teamug, Germany
For all those disappointed that they are not able to write long letters :-)... read postcrossers profile thoroughly. Some enjoy letters...especially if they fear for the safety of a postcard sent without an envelope.
I found 70 penpals on this site... no need to look elsewhere...

Have a great April.
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HM, Netherlands
Haha.

Compliment for Ana.
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Remigius, Austria
But i already started to copy out the Vienna Phone Directory of 1995 for mighty mouse of Trinidad !
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Yelhsa, United States of America
If this were to be legit, I’m sure it’ll be total chaos 😂 but some people here needs to really chill smh 😩
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stormofangels, United States of America
lol..
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Darcey1, South Africa
LOL!!
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Darcey1, South Africa
happy April's fools day
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Darcey1, South Africa
happy easter
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AkiSofya, Kazakhstan
Haha, that would be great but not for me, sorry! :)
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Artiom, Russia
Really nice joke!
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la_luna_pusa, Philippines
I initially thought, "Wait a minute...isn't the whole point of Postcrossing to write and send postcards, not letters?" Then I read others' comments, which verified that I was reading an April Fool's news update. I enjoyed reading it hahaha. Looking forward to next year's April Fools news update!
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Flippie, Canada
Thank god for April Fools Day! Let's move on..OK
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kathilo, United States of America
I wish there WAS a letter-writing parallel to Postcrossing... Postcards frustrate me - there's just not enuff room to write much...
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Ranjit1993, Nepal
April fool... Hehehe..
Wonderful...
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_samy_, India
U fooled me!
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miriginger, Finland
Yesterday I saw an A4 sized postcard - for those who really want to write much.
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an1234kit, India
Though it is an April fools idea. But we can have both postcard and a letter and tuck them inside an envelop. Should work well and will also save our postcards from getting spoiled in transit.
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