February is a busy month in the mail calendar, and so it’s time for your yearly heads-up to make sure you have time to prepare!
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, 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 other participants 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 Wednesday this year, so be 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! 😊
40 comments so far
It is great.But our mail box post officers only took it twice a month.It's hard to make them see it on time
seems i won't do it..
my official WPD cards (sent directly on Oct 1) didn't register yet,
but several cards i sent in November & December already registered.
so I can't appreciate post officer performance in my country this year
I had fun last year! At the end of February I decided to "March On" and continued to write letters and send postcards to my 8 friends. I'm ready for 2026 with new pens and notecards! Check it out - you'll be glad you did!
Wonderful! P.S. I just mailed a card to someone today, in fact! :)
I support our mail carriers!!
mail carriers in the US are stressed and overworked -- i'm definitely going to give mine a treat!!
This sounds great in concept, but the cost of postage (especially international) is so expensive now, I'm not sure I can participate for every single day
As a retired postal worker, I know how hard our carriers work, and appreciate everyday the service our post offices provide!
We usually give our mail carrier a box of cookies or a similar treat. They really appreciate it!
I am ready for my annual challenge to write one official Postcrossing card every day in February! 🤗📮🖊
I'm super excited to celebrate last year I sent 122 pieces of mail I'm February and hoping this year will be just as successful
I’m totally in! I love writing letters & cards and I absolutely adore my postal workers in our small little town. We’re really lucky!
February Fun! 💖❤️
I will give my mail carrier something for sure. Happy writing everyone.
Maybe we can write appreciation note/letters to postoffice near us. I’ll be sending atleast mininum of 5 cards to random postcrosser who has written down their address in their card to me. May this act of kindness will bring joy to everyones life.
I gave my postie a box of sweet treats for Christmas.
I recently sent a postcard to someone on January 28, 2026. I hope it arrives around that time.
Sounds great.
Happy writing, everyone!
#HappyMonthofLetters2026
xoxo
Thank you for highlighting this - what a fun project for Feb.
I give a tip almost every time the postman rings. If he has time, we also have a minute of small talk. I also have two pen pals, and I regularly write postcards from places I visit, such as museums, churches, etc. Plus, there's Postcrossing, so it all adds up.
Great, but from July still not received no one postcard… 😭😭😭😭
Our postal carriers do so much. And here in Wisconsin, it's been unbelievably bitterly cold for 2 weeks. And still they deliver mail and packages outdoors all day.
I need to treat the postman to something tasty. I'll definitely do it))
February is my favorite month to write cards and letters. I’ve participated in the Month of Letters since 2013. It gives me so much joy to drop items in the mailbox and on their way.
I work as a postman in the Czech Republic and believe me, I try to deliver all the parcels on time, sometimes it is really very difficult.
Please mark your houses with numbers and describe your mailboxes with names it will make our work much easier
Love to take part - quite a few of my penpals have started in the letter month of February years ago.
All fountain pens are refilled - so whoever wants to swap a letter, contact me with your address. All requests will be answered.
I might do something special for the ladies that run the Post Office in my town... the carry my mail from their bags to my postal box. But those belonging to the CUPW union... well after two strikes in the last two years... I'm still dealing with a little unappreciation... Even during both CUPW strikes, the post office staff was a pleasure to be around. They belong to a different union and weren't a part of the strike. So they get my appreciation for that. I'll pull my weekly Postcrossing address next Wednesday to celebrate.
I wish I could send a photo of the silly envelopes I have made out of old cat calendars!
Hilarious and funny they make every person smile, including my mail carrier!
I will definately share one with her and add some kitty treats for her kitty!
Good idea to take cookies to my local P.O.!
IF the snow ever stops, and I can get off the mountain, i will copy your generosity!
I love this idea, I'm in!
I love writing longs letters every day ❤️ . Silvia from Italy and new pen pals are welcome ❤️.
I like InCoWriMo (International Correspondence Writing Month) better. Less rules, less legalistic, fun to pick who to write to. Do it every February I can :)
I'm taking on this wonderful challenge.
I bought a gift card for my mail man presenting to him on February 4th
I actually have 6 pen pals I will write to
And postcards and 4 grandkids who will get a surprise in the mail
This is such a wonderful idea and I did this last February.
Happy postcrossing and letters being sent 💖
Namaste 🙏 Gail Bacon
This sounded like so much fun, I signed up to do it this year! Looking forward to it!
What a wonderful idea!!!
Of course I'll participate in this campaign, because I love Taiwan so much and have good friends there.
https://community.postcrossing.com/t/mail-carrier-appreciation-day/56667/21?u=yiqinglebells
I live in busy apartment buildings, not sure how many mail carriers are working for this area (I have seen 3 different faces at least) and not sure when they deliver mails daily, so here I wrote 3 cards and put in an envelope. Hopefully they will take it!
Wonderful campaign, I just leave him a small happy gift envelope
My lovely postlady often jumps up two flights of stairs to hand over some mail that doesn’t fit into letterbox and she knows it’s my ‚afternoon nap time“. She even once delivered a letter from US with just my Christian name in big letters ( below tiny surname ), Town. End.. she loves my colourful mail especially in the happy month of letter writing..apron a hundred arrived in best times.
So she always is gifted a happy envelope, handpainted card and a little extra. I am very grateful for her delivering my precious mail.
Great idea !
Gonna do that...
The US Postal System is under serious strain. Our little town went from 5000 people to recently over 27,000 in only 10 years! We just came off a government shutdown a few months back, and then the holidays with the chaos of packages and additional mail. I recently met my new mail carrier, she said that there is a hiring frenzy trying to get additional Carriers to help efficiency.
My Mail Carrier is amazing- just even the little smiles and waves when I'm outside- she is a delight. She routinely picks up other routes to help out.
I left some chocolate covered dried raspberries/strawberries and a Thank you card. I hope she doesn't share those goodies, and enjoys them for herself! lol
She knows I like postcards and will often leave one for me as a thank you. I treasure those.
Everyday I look forward to getting something in the mailbox. I know people who don't check their mailbox for several days.
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