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Blog > Month of Letters + Mail Carrier Appreciation Day! (repost)

February is a busy month in the mail calendar, and we can’t wait for it to start! Are you ready?

Letter Month

I love a good mail challenge, 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, 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 flurry of correspondence.

Mail Carrier Appreciation Day

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 Tuesday this year, so make sure to prepare something nice for your mail carrier and give them a smile, 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! 😊

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37 comments so far

greenskull, Russia
I ❤❤❤ Postcrossing!
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Mr_Rotterdam, Netherlands
If I see the mail carrier that week I always have a little chat with her/him and thank her/him for the postcards he carried and delivered to me.
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ned44440, Ireland
Our Postmen and Postwomen here in Ireland (or Postal Operatives as they are now known) will be extra busy during the first half of the month of February. Not alone will they be dealing with all the mail for Valentine's Day they will also have to contend with a lot of Election Literature as we are having a General Election on 15th February. Plus they have just finished a very busy Christmas Season with a lot of extra parcels delivered more so than cards or letters. They deserve all the thanks they get.
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Kewl, Philippines
Definitely will do this!
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Miguel-Isaias, Portugal
Challenge accepted.
Let's do it!
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PaintWriter, United States of America
I love this!
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Roha, United States of America
I have participated in this for past few years. Last year my international travel plans disrupted this but I am ready again this year.
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Gen24, United States of America
Really cool idea! I would love to actually complete this! :)
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MissSassiFras, United States of America
I thank my mail carrier every time I see him/her. My daddy was a mail carrier, and I've many friends who work for the postal service, so I am especially appreciative of their service. I like the idea of the challenge, and I will try to participate this year.
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BlueVWBeetle, United States of America
Last year I participated in INCOWRIMO, it was such a wonderful experience. If you're not familiar with it check it out:
https://incowrimo-2020.org
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irina_zakozhurnikova, Russia
Great idea. I will write a post and take a photo necessarily.
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ShariLoveFIN, Finland
Yay! Niiiiice! I'll surprise "my mailman" on Monday the 3rd, because our system here in Finland changed and letters are not delivered during Tuesdays.
So, I'm going to write some kind of Thanking note 😃👍💚
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SRSONDUR, India
Good idea . I will post
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plentynine, United States of America
Last year I gave my mail carrier an thank you card along with a cupcake. she was delighted.
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AOILIN95, China
Nice！
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gagema, Germany
I took part in InCoWriMo, too. It is exiting to wait for letters and challenging to write a letter every day, but I made it the last three years! I will participate again. My mail carrier told me that she still keeps her thank you card glued on her locker!
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antoinettelucas, United States of America
I love this idea. This is the first time I've been aware of it. I usually do something similar for my Lenten discipline so I'm onboard to try it this year. Stay tuned for results.
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doryfera, Canada
I am so grateful to my letter carrier. His name is Robert and he is French-Canadian so I always greet him in French. He's friendly and very hard-working. I'll definitely write him a nice thank-you card and maybe give him some cookies if I can catch him :)
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saikat_das, India
Nice!
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Unagna, Italy
I am at the office when the mailman delivers the mail at my home, but it would have been a great idea to offer her something :)
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BaileyQuinn, Canada
I won't be doing the Month of letters - writing a letter every day is too much for me – but if someone wants to send me a letter, then I'll be happy to send one in return! I'm still in touch with a lady from the USA who sent me a letter for the Month of letters two years ago, so this is definitely a fun initiative! Send me an email if you want my address! ;-)
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comette, United States of America
I plan to mail out at least 29 items over the 29 days of February. Trying to get something in the mail every single day is impossible but getting a few out every few days is easy for me. I think it still counts!
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tmoleski, United States of America
I just made a list of recipients to make certain that I follow through with this lovely idea! Count me in!
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meiadeleite, Portugal
If anyone here is also a fan of Habitica, I've made a challenge for those participating in the Month of Letters! :) You can find it on the Month of Letters Guild: https://habitica.com/groups/guild/d2a1881a-0078-47bd-9419-2103c62806da
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SeanPatrick, United States of America
I'm in !
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Flippie, Canada
This is my 3rd year that I do this and I love it. My postman get a flower again this year op Feb. 4th. Thank you to everyone how take the hallenge.
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ogait, Portugal
Challenge accepted. This is the second year that I participate in LetterMO. I'ts very interesting :)
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Yueya, Netherlands
I'm absolutely going to get my mail carrier a present again this year. I received so many cards for Lunar New Year and it was cold and rainy a lot lately.. Sometimes I even felt guilty they had to come to deliver cards here almost every day..
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oratoyk, Japan
Great idea. I will do this challenge.
This post also piques my curiocity. Because in Japanese traditional lunar calendar, JULY is regarded as month of letters, rather than February. July 23rd is known as a day of letter of month of letters.
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kathilo, United States of America
No promises, but I'm gonna take a stab at it. Simply because I love sending snail mail.
If you'd like to exchange a card or letter with me for this challenge, please send me a message!
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Eef_NL, Netherlands
I gave our postman and our postwoman (for packages) a gift for Christmas to show my appreciation. :)
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Casse77, Germany
It's great to have a month of letters and the idea of ​​writing to someone every day.

But who ??? Who should I write to? How does it all start?
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ALFAVIT, Russia
Mail Carrier Appreciation Day! Great, we will have to congratulate our regular postman on the holiday!
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Selina0629, Taiwan
Interesting! My boyfriend and I are going to write a new postcard anytime soon!
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Chris_Hunter, Germany
Thank you so much for making me aware of this special day today.
It is/was Mail Carrier Appreciation Day !!!
I hope you all said a big THANK YOU to your mail carrier.
I put a box of chocolates in my mailbox today with a note saying thank you, Mr Postman, as I wanted to thank him/her for all the steps he/she had to take when he/she delivers my mail.
When I got home after work, I found this slip of paper in my mailbox saying "Vielen lieben Dank :-)" which means "Thank you so much :-)".
Some of you may know this song by Jimmy Durante (and to those who don't know it, take a listen...)
"It's so important to make someone happy" ... "then you will be happy, too",
And to make my postman happy, made me happy, too :-)
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doryfera, Canada
I was away from home yesterday, so I had to observe Mail Carrier Appreciation Day today (because I live in an apartment building and it's not ideal to leave an unattended parcel in the lobby).
I left a note on my mailbox asking the carrier to buzz me when he arrived.
Then I took down a little bag with a nicely written thank-you card; a cardboard box with some baked treats, pats of butter and a biodegradable knife; and a little disposable plate and paper napkins so he could easily and neatly eat it in his mail van if he likes.
Our mail carrier seemed very touched and happy. (From my side, I was glad to confirm he isn't gluten-sensitive!)

I was thrilled to be able to give our Canada Post mailman a treat today, especially as it is pouring with rain and so miserable outside. What a wonderful idea this was. Thank you for promoting it :)
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SeanPatrick, United States of America
This has been a lot of fun, indeed.
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