Postcrossing Blog

Nothing melts our hearts like the happy combination of children and postcards. They might be young, but they can already appreciate the magic and awe behind these little pieces of paper!

When Audrey was born, her dad opened her an account on Postcrossing, so that she could receive postcards from all around the world. This was two years ago, and though she is still too young to read her postcards, she’s been enjoying Postcrossing in other, simpler ways.

Alan Yung (Audrey’s dad) shared these lovely photos with us:

Doesn’t she look sweet? Alan says Audrey is excited to pick up her postcards from their post box and can even recognize the origin of a few of the cards she receives by the stamps she’s familiar with! Many nice people send her cards with all sorts of cute characters and animals, and often cover the back with stickers and drawings.

Audrey also helps with the sending part of the process sometimes, by helping her dad drop the postcards in mailboxes all around town, which she learned to recognize! :)

Although Audrey doesn’t always understand the messages, Alan says that sometimes during bed time, she’ll ask for her pile of cards to go through the pictures again. Awwww… I must confess, I quite like the idea that all these postcrossers are helping put Audrey to sleep every night! :)

What about you? Did you ever share your postcards with your children or grandchildren? Leave a comment below – we’d love to hear about it!

Over one hundred years ago, in February 1913, Maude Hart and her husband embarked on a journey across the world. Postcards were at the height of their popularity back then, and Maude wrote back to their family often during their 9 month trip, especially to her sister Myrtle (who she calls Toots) and her mother “Mussey”.

Family mementos like postcards and their stories have a way of getting lost when people move or families unite and separate… but somehow, Maude’s postcards survived 100 years until Patricia Eacobacci (Maude’s great grandniece) discovered them in her mother’s things and put the story together. She scanned, deciphered and uploaded every card with a lot of care, and set up a blog to share her Postcards from Maude.

The first time we laid eyes on this collection we were quite speechless. Postcards are often seen as a one-off thing, but Maude’s postcards (as well as her photos and letters) tell the tales of a epic adventure from another era, one that took place over the course of 9 months. The trip, organized by Thomas Cook & Son, started in San Francisco, and went on to Hawaii, Japan, Philippines, China, Singapore, India, Egypt, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Ireland and then back to the US. Here are some snippets:

Tokyo, Japan April 5
Hello Toots
We are doing Tokyo – a wonderful City. 3 millions natives living here. Only 50 Americans. Just think of it.
Maude

Port Said, Egypt. May 22.
My Dear Mama, We are now going through the Suez Canal in Egypt. Can only go 4 miles an hour. It is very narrow. Tomorrow we get off & go through Egypt for 14 days. This is a most interesting country. Will take 18 hours to pass through Canal.
Much Love,
Maude

Amsterdam, Holland – Sunday night Sept 7.
My Dear Mama.
Hello Mussey dear, how are you? Here is a view of a wooden wind mill. You see hundreds of them here & the people are dressed just like this. We leave here tomorrow. Hope I hear from home when I reach Brussels.
Tons of love,
Maude

Towards the end, you can feel Maude’s homesickness and her eagerness to return to her dear family. On October 22nd 1913, she boarded the SS Majestic bound to the United States on the final stretch of her trip, and wrote again on October 31st, delighted to see New York once more.

These postcards (and the story within them) are a real treat. Thank you Patricia, for all the work and research, and for sharing them with the world! You can see all of Maude’s postcards and follow her voyage in the Postcards from Maude blog.

Andrea (aka Sprinkledonut) is a world traveler and her beautifully decorated postcards caught the attention of some of you, who suggested we interviewed her for the Spotlight… here she is!

How did you come across Postcrossing? What got you hooked?

Hmm, you mean there was a time in my life before Postcrossing? Haha! I joined four years ago after learning about it on another website that I am passionate about: Couchsurfing.org. Someone posted about it in one of the group forums. I am very grateful to them wherever they are today!

I was hooked from the get-go! I loved seeing what types of interesting cards people would send me, what their handwriting looked like and all the little details.

Show us your mailbox, your mailman/mailwoman, your postoffice or the place where you post or keep your postcards!

Here’s our typical Canadian mailbox, covered in postal codes as an anti-graffiti measure. It seems to work! Whenever I drop in my postcards it sounds like they’re landing in a hollow cavern 10,000 miles below the surface of the earth. Where’s everybody else’s mail, I wonder??

Have you been surprised by any place that you have received a postcard from or sent a postcard to?

I received a random card from Fiji which was very special. I’m a big fan of direct swaps so some of my fun direct swaps have been with people in New Zealand, Estonia, Kenya and Bangladesh.

Sometimes I like to check out this site to see what new stamps are being issued around the world. With the direct swaps to New Zealand and Estonia, I asked the people if they could send me a particular wonderful stamp and they were happy to help! Thanks, guys!

Show and tell us about your favorite received postcard to date, and what makes it special.

Bicycle cards are my absolute favourite to receive. Here’s just part of my bike collection:

Airmail stickers from around the world and some favourite art-themed postcards:

Cards with quotes and positive messages. You can see two here from my friend Yvonne in the Netherlands who always sends me fantastic cards!

Have you inspired anyone else to join Postcrossing or start collections of their own?

When I was buying stamps in Portugal, all of the people in their post offices were really friendly. I told one of the postal workers about it and wrote down the website for him, which he immediate showed to his coworkers. I think he was excited to check it out! Some of my friends have signed up, too, when they saw what beautiful postcards I was receiving.

Maybe you have read this tip before but they say the best way to get mail is to send mail. I make a habit of sending postcards to my friends so now lots of my friends will send me postcards when they travel or just for no occasion but because they saw a card that they know I will like.

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

Definitely working on outgoing cards for people!

I try to choose a card that fits what they like to collect but the part I really love is decorating the back of the card. It’s a bit of an elaborate process…first choosing the stamps (always more than one!), then glitter around the border. Next the stickers. Then the rubber stamps! Finally if there is any room left, I can write a tiny message. Haha, if you have received one of my cards you will know what I’m talking about. My goal is always to give someone a happy surprise when they turn the card over to read it. Plus when I’m busy working on the cards, it is like a form of art therapy for me. It’s really fun and I get to be creative.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Well, traveling and couchsurfing are a big hobby of mine. I’ve been part of Couchsurfing for over ten years. It’s an online project that connects travelers with hosts in cities around the world. I recently couchsurfed my way around Portugal this past June. Couchsurfing.org has the same kind of open, caring, friendly and generous spirit that Postcrossing has! Making the world seem just a little bit smaller. And of course I tell my hosts all about Postcrossing when they see me writing loads of postcards.

Is there anything that you are passionate about?

I love to participate in Free Hugs events. So far I have given hugs in: Vancouver, Seattle, New York, Barcelona, Lisbon, Montreal and Austin. When we have a hugs event, people often ask why we are doing it. To share some love with the world. To make you feel good for a moment or maybe longer. To take away some stress, fear or loneliness. And hopefully because it feels nice and makes us both smile! Like sending a postcard.

Museums are great, but if you’re anything like us, halfway through an exhibition you’re already wondering what goodies they’ll have on the museum shop… right? :)

How many times have you been in a foreign city, walking around and being a tourist, secretly wishing you could just skip the monuments and go straight to the stationery shops instead… but had no idea where the good ones were?

Well, fret no more! Tessa Sowry from All Things Stationery is solving this problem by compiling a map of the best stationery shops around the world… and she wants your input too!

Head over to her site to get your stationery fix – and if you know of any really good stationery shops in your area, let her know. I’m sure we’ll all appreciate it when we visit that place!

And now, it’s time to plan the next stationery shop crawl… have a nice weekend! :)

You know how we all wonder whether our postmen and postwomen look at our postcards, and what they think of them? Well, Jessica (aka Jess18877) from the Netherlands did not wonder about this… she knew her postman enjoyed her cards as much as she did, because now and then he would leave her a note about them! :)

Postman Pieter has been working for the Dutch postal service for almost 30 years and is about to retire, so Jessica and her friend Marleen (aka Marleen1979) thought it would be a good idea to interview him for the blog. We agree… this blog needs more postal workers!

Hi Pieter! Tell us more about you!

My name is Pieter Pepping but people often call me “Pieter Post” like the bunny. I am originally from Abcoude, a small town near Amsterdam. I was born in 1952 and I’ve been working as a mailman since 1985. A secure job with a lot of freedom.

What do you think of your job, do you like it? Does it involve a lot of walking? Have you found many mean dogs or are they happy to see you?

I’ve always loved my job! Sporty, always outdoors… and it can be cold, rainy, windy or hot here in the Netherlands! But I love to be in the fresh air, and I see it as a kind of sport. I always whistle when I carry the mail around — people hear me coming from far away! And I’ve never ever called in sick, not for a single day.

I don’t have problems with dogs. I used to have a dog of my own, I think when you own a dog, then you know how to cope with them. I used to carry dog biscuits with me. Dogs were always waiting for me to come to get a cookie!

Do you chat with people on your rounds? Do people complain to you about problems with the mail service?

I like a nice chitchat once and a while (laughs). I used to work in a shop so I am used to talking to a lot of strangers. People do complain to me about the mail services… I always try to give it a positive twist, and never argue with people. I smile and continue on my rounds.

A little bird told us you sometimes leaves notes on Jessica’s cards – do you enjoy looking at the postcards that you deliver?

Unfortunately there is not enough time to look at all the nice cards… But when there is someone in your district who gets as many cards as Jessica, then you will notice it. That is why we all know her and I often tie her mail together with a string and put in a nice little note.

How has your job changed since you first started? Did it get easier, or just different, and in what ways?

When you walk in a city center district as I do, there are always people talking to you or ask you for directions. That is what makes it so much fun to be a mail carrier! But nowadays we need to do more work with less people. They are continuously watching us. This creates a lot of pressure and there is not so much time left for a chat in the street.

What do you think about Postcrossing?

I had never heard of Postcrossing before. But the large piles of postcards that Jessica received did draw my attention. At first I thought she was famous or had many birthdays!

I like it when someone pays a lot of attention to find a nice card, a beautiful stamp, etc.

Do you ever receive nice mail yourself?

While carrying the mail around, I often get nice things, as kind gestures from thankful costumers. Something like a card, a drawing, a box of chocolates… or like today, the book about Pieter Post from Marleen and Jessica — thank you girls!

That was really nice, thank you Marleen1979 and Jess18877 for interviewing Postman Pieter! We’re thinking we should actually invite more postal workers to the blog… what do you think? Do you know a special postal worker that we should feature? Let us know in the comments!