The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!
How much do you know about the history of your own country? There are things that every schoolchild seems to be taught, for every country: in the UK, I think everyone is taught that 1066 was the year of the Battle of Hastings, for instance. But we don’t always learn the little things, the quirky facts, the odd corners of a country’s history. So this month’s writing prompt is a chance to share what you know!
In Wales, between 1839 and 1843, there was a series of protests collectively referred to as the “Rebecca Riots”, which resonated throughout Britain (the illustration I found and included here is apparently from the Illustrated London News, as late as 1855!). The protests were directed at toll-gates, during a time of low prices for farming products coming right after a famine. To pass the toll-gates to take goods to market to sell, the farmers had to pay high fees, which weren’t adjusted according to the hardship people were experiencing.
In response, farmers dressed as women, calling themselves “Rebecca’s daughters”, and marched to the toll-gates. At the gate, one of the group would act as “Rebecca” and lead a sort of mini-play ending with the “daughters” forcing the gate open to let Rebecca pass (and usually trying to destroy it so it couldn’t be immediately closed again).
The Rebecca riots occurred in a really serious context, of course… but it’s still rather cool to picture these burly farmers dressing up in women’s clothing as a way to protest and destroy the toll-gates. In writing this post, I learned that it was likely linked to methods of community justice called Ceffyl Pren; apparently getting dressed up in women’s clothing in order to hide their identities was a key part of how communities regulated themselves and called out bad behaviour. I don’t know how much it would’ve really helped to hide people though. I feel like I’d still know my neighbour even if he wore a dress!
Is there anything quirky you know about your own history? Some little-known fact, or something everyone in your country learns about in school? Let us know! You can write about it in the comments here, as always, or use it as a prompt for something to write on your postcards this month!
30 comments so far
Where I grew up (Wisconsin, USA), yellow margarine was illegal until 1967. People, including my grandmother, would drive to neighboring states and smuggle back margarine.
My mother told me that one of her kitchen tasks, as a little girl (dob 1923) in Mass. was to mix a colorant tab into a pound of bright white oleomargerine; apparently the Dairy Lobby didn't have enough clout to prevent the sale of the stuff, but did have enough to keep oleo manufacture from looking like real butter./// to refine that into posthaste-card verbiage: Early margarine production was barred from looking like butter.
In Rio Claro, in the interior of São Paulo (Brazil), watermelon was once banned due to a superstition that linked it to the transmission of yellow fever. Although never actually practiced, the ban was officially lifted only last year.
For those curious about this: https://g1.globo.com/sp/sao-carlos-regiao/noticia/2025/12/30/venda-de-melancia-e-liberada-apos-130-anos-de-proibicao-em-cidade-do-interior-de-sp-entenda.ghtml
The welsh author Dylan Thomas wrote in 1948 a book about Rebecca‘s Daughters. It is a little bit a love story and an adventure. The special thing is that the book is wrote like a film script, but you can read it as a novel.
And in 1992 the novel was made into a film, f.e. with Peter O‘Toole.
A village once had a tree as mayor.
In Brunsmark, a linden tree was symbolically elected as mayor. No political scandals. No campaign drama. Just a tree representing the community.
Sometimes Germany takes local governance… very literally.
I remember mixing the yellow/orange colouring tab into the white margarine in the early 1960s in Canada (Ontario). Can't recall when that was eliminated and we could finally buy "butter-coloured" margarine. Now I stick mostly to butter!
Something about Kansas City, Missouri
Inventive Roots: The city claims the invention of the Happy Meal, the ice cream bomb popsicle, the automatic fire alarm, the first helicopter pad on a skyscraper, and the first multiplex movie theater.
At World War II, The Queen came to Ottawa with her children to survive. As a thank you, she gave daffodil and tulip bulbs. That way you see those flowers every where in Canada!
The statue in front of the Law School Building in Largo São Francisco, São Paulo, Brazil, is a STOLEN item!
The statue depicts a couple kissing and it was inspired by a poem by Olavo Bilac, a former student of the university. It was considered immoral for showing a interracial kiss between a white man and a indigenous woman, and therefore recollected and stored in the basement of the city hall. Years later, the law students broke into the basement, stole the statue and put it back where it is until this day.
Many or most people know that "the Teddy Bear" was created when President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a captured bear during a hunting trip in 1902, leading to the stuffed toy being named after him. What many people might not know is that this event happened in Onward, Mississippi, near the Louisiana border.
I live in the one and only Wurtsboro in the world and have the BASHAKILL in my backyard. It is named after Basha a Leni lanape medicine woman, Basha. Basha and her village settled in this area due to its biodiversity. The Catskill Ridge consists of acidic soil, the Shawangunk Ridge is basic. This provides a plethora of plant life, including every medicinal plant (except salt water plants) needed by Basha. While we don't know exactly when Basha lived, there are maps dating back to the 1600's with her name on them. It is an area teeming with native and migrating wildlife. So lucky am I!
March is Women's History Month in some countries so this may be an opportunity to share relevant stories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_History_Month
In the 1940s, Bahrain witnessed one of the most strikingly unusual episodes in its modern history: the establishment of officially sanctioned brothels under the supervision of the British administration. To the conservative Bahraini Muslim society of that era, steeped in traditions of family, religion, and social propriety, such a development was nothing short of shocking—a phenomenon entirely alien to their way of life.
The roots of this anomaly trace back to 1905, when the British Political Resident in Bushire issued orders for the emancipation of slaves in Bahrain. For many women liberated from bondage, survival became a daily struggle. Coupled with the collapse of the pearl trade, which had long been the backbone of Bahrain’s economy, these hardships forced some into prostitution, not as a choice, but as a desperate response to poverty and social displacement.
During the tumult of World War II, certain areas were officially designated for this purpose, operating under the tacit oversight of the colonial administration. This arrangement was “illegal” in the local moral sense and “unprecedented” within Bahraini society; nothing like it had ever been seen before.
This episode stands as a singular, almost surreal moment in Bahrain’s history—a collision of economic despair, colonial influence, and societal disruption that produced a phenomenon entirely at odds with the prevailing moral and social norms. Unlike internal political conflicts, such as the “Waq’at al-Dhil’a” of 1286 AH, which, though violent, were understood within the framework of familial power struggles, the emergence of state-tolerated prostitution struck the Bahraini conscience as utterly foreign and deeply unsettling.
These are fun to read.
Turkey quirky fact: the origin of Santa Claus comes from here :)
In Indiana (US) An old (likely unenforceable) law states that mustaches are illegal if the bearer has a "troubling addiction to kissing people"
At the University of Wisconsin, a group running for student government in the 1970s promised to bring the statue of liberty to the campus if they won. After the successful election, a group of theater students started to build one, but it was of course much too big to finish. They managed to create the top of the head down to the eyes and the hand that holds to torch. These pieces were put out on the frozen lake, making it look like she had sunk into it. The original one was vandalized, but there was a photo taken and it's a great postcard! Today, the university has an inflatable version that is put out on the lake once a year.
In 1908, Melitta Bentz in Dresden was extremely frustrated by the coffee grounds in her cup of freshly brewed coffee and by the difficulty of cleaning the copper pot, to which the grounds clung. So one day, she tore a piece of paper from her son's notebook and placed it in a tin can into which she had drilled holes. She added ground coffee and poured hot water over it, the beverage dripping through the paper directly into her cup. That was the moment she invented the paper coffee filter brewing system we all know today. Shortly afterward, she founded her company, Melitta, which still exists today.
Commenting from Space City - "Houston we've had a problem". Even now if there's a problem we say it - even if we're not in outer space!🧑🚀🌕.
I just wrote a fun fact about my city to another postcrosser recently!
Portland, OR is known by a lot of different nicknames, one of the most popular of them being "Bridge City". This is due to the many bridges that cross the Willamette River, connecting the east and west sides of the city. I cross two of these bridges almost daily, the Steel Bridge (the oldest telescoping vertical lift bridge in the United States) and the Tilikum Crossing (named after the Chinook term for "people" to honor the tribes that lived in the areas many thousands of years ago).
Very interesting ❤️
Don't take out the garbage in the first day of new year (after Spring Festival, Chinese New Year's Day) or your fortune and luck will leave together.
Elderly still believe so...
After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign the Treaty of Maguan in April of the same year to cede Taiwan, Penghu and the surrounding islands to Japan. Therefore, some Taiwanese gentry incited Tang Jinglan, the former governor of Taiwan, to declare the founding of the country on May 25 of the same year, and Tang Jingkun served as the first president. However, because his strength and ability were not as good as Japan, Tang Jingkun actually ran back to China at that time!!!😀
A fun read.
The Great Emu War of 1932 (or wars, the army had 2 attempts)
Keep in mind that Emus are flightless birds and Soldiers are also flightless but have guns.
In 1932 farmers in Western Australia were annoyed by emus eating/destroying their crops so they called in the army.
At this point you are feeling really sorry for the poor birds.
However Emus are great tacticians when it comes to battle manoeuvres
Outcome of the wars: the emus won.
(they are now a protected species and one is on the Australian coat of arms. However, vegetarians please read no further, it is legal to have an emu farm because some people like to eat emu meat. Some people also eat Kangaroos, which also feature on our coat of arms. Thank goodness the Koala was left off)
Oh I love this topic! So many fun stories to read :-)
Germany definitely has it's share! One of my favourites is
The Captain of Koepenick - in 1904 in Prussia (an area famous for being very bureaucratic and militaristic), a man who had spent some time in prison was urgently in need of a work permit but was not allowed to work. But he needed money to live on! He bought a second-hand officers uniform, dressed up and "recruited" some passing soldiers. Then he had the major of Koepenick arrested and confiscated the treasury. He disappeared with it, was later found and put in prison again. People loved his trick and he is still considered a local hero.
There are even stamps portraying him. When I put them on a card I love to share the story :-)
He conocido postcrossing por un programa que veo en las tardes me emociona mucho porque me encanta las manualidades y las post que he mandado son puro arte aunque no he recibido aún la primera marzo era un mes muy lindo aparte estaré de cumpleaños 💋🥰
Feliz primavera a tod@s..!!!
I live in Guadalupe, California, "Gateway to the Dunes". Our shoreline & Dunes were the sight of Cecil B DeMilles filming of the desert scenes from the "Ten Commandments" (1956). They are excavating some sites for the movie sets left behind. We have a small natural history museum you can visit to see some amazing pieces from the movie.
Estonia never had a hereditary monarchy, but medieval chronicles do mention “kings.” During the St. George’s Night Uprising in 1343, four Estonian leaders were referred to as kings, though they were likely elected war leaders rather than monarchs in the traditional sense. So, unlike many European countries, Estonia has never had its own hereditary king. For centuries, our land was ruled by foreign powers — Denmark, the Teutonic Order, Sweden, the Russian Empire, and later the Soviet Union. This long history of being governed by others has deeply shaped our national identity and our strong sense of independence :)
There is also a fascinating legend connecting Estonia to Denmark: in 1219, during the Battle of Lindanise (in present-day Tallinn), the Danish flag, the Dannebrog, is said to have fallen from the sky. According to the story, this miraculous event helped the Danes win the battle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dannebrog. As a result, one of the world’s oldest national flags is traditionally believed to have “been born” in Estonia.
Silly thing we used to make for lunch as kids growing up in Pennsylvania.
Fried cheerios with butter, in a frying pan...
Must be why I am now vegan.
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