Postcrossing Blog

Today we’d like to present you a special kind of postcards… linen postcards! Have you ever heard of them, or received one?

By the name alone, one might imagine that linen postcards were made from… well… linen! However, while the surface pattern of the card resembled linen fabric, the cards were actually made from a very inexpensive paper stock with a high rag content and finished with a pattern that resembles the crosshatched surface of linen. The reverse side of these kinds of cards was smooth like other postcards.

Linen postcards were extremely popular from the early 1930’s to 1945, when they were ultimately replaced with photochrome postcards, boasting a glossy finish and realistic looking photos. Some manufacturers, mostly located in the south of the United States, still produced linen cards up until the 50’s and 60’s. During their heyday, the biggest publishing company of top-notch linen postcards was Teich. Founded in 1898, they didn’t receive any real recognition until they began to come out with imaginative scenes on their linen postcards. They were the ones responsible for the creation of the Large Letter postcards, remember?

It was owner Curt Teich who realized that by creating more of a surface area on the cards, you enabled the heatset inks to dry faster, allowing the dyes to remain stronger on the surface. This concept gave linen postcards their unique vivid color, which was a huge advance from the previously popular “white border” postcards that could only muster up a bland and blurry finish.

The subject matter of linens was extremely varied, ranging from town and scenic views, to interiors and comics. Roadside establishments such as diners, motels, bus and gas stations were also showcased, representing a significant era of American culture. Some companies also used these cards as a way to advertise their products. These cards alone document many important events in history, making them quite valuable as collectibles.

I must confess I quite like them because of their unusual texture! :) Have you ever received on of these? What do you think of them?

We can help! Postcrossing has a handy tool to find missing or incorrect Postcard IDs!

Many people don’t seem to realize this, and instead post their requests for help on their profiles or Facebook/Twitter, in hopes of reaching the sender… but it’s much quicker and efficient if you ask us! Vicki, our fantastic forum administrator, is an ace at tracking lost postcard IDs, and can usually fix you up in no time! :)

So, what do you need to do to get some help? Just fill up this handy form with as much information as you can and wait. That’s it! The form is linked on the page where you go to register a postcard, on the right side column.

Before you do that though, please note the following:

• Make sure that the postcard is an official Postcrossing postcard and not a thank you postcard or a direct swap.
• You can try to enter the correct Postcard ID many times without consequence. So, why not try a different combination? For instance, sometimes 1's can look like 7's, 3's and 5's can look like 8's, etc. Don’t worry, the Postcrossing system will not let you register a postcard that does not belong to you.
• Note that postcards with postcard IDs over one year old cannot be registered.

If that didn’t fix the problem, then feel free to submit a Unknown ID request. You only need to do this once for each postcard. If you make a mistake, just delete the request on your Received postcards’ page and enter a new one.

Additionally, if you find the Postcard ID and register the postcard before you receive a response, please delete the request. You can delete any request by clicking the delete button for the request on your received postcards list.

By following all the items above, most postcards with missing or unknown Postcard IDs can be registered. Oh, by the way, to reduce the chances that a postcard that you have sent has these problems, be sure to check out our recommendations on where to write the Postcard ID on postcards.

That’s it! Have fun, and pass the word! :)

We usually don’t write much here on the blog about what we do behind the scenes to keep Postcrossing running for you, but keeping your data secure is a priority and something we work hard for.

If you follow the news, you might have heard about a recent internet security problem known as Heartbleed (aka CVE-2014–0160). This bug has affected a significant part of the web by making it vulnerable to expose data that should otherwise be secure.

While we have no evidence that any accounts on Postcrossing have been harmed, within 24h we have patched all our servers and changed our SSL certificates, and so have the vendors of services that we use to bring this website to you.

Nonetheless, and to be extra careful, we recommend that as a precaution you take the time to change your password in Postcrossing and other websites that you use. This is an advice you will probably see in many other websites in the coming days and it is our recommendation as well.

We will continue to do our best to keep your data safe. If you have any questions, just get in touch.

Sometimes, mail has really good timing, don’t you think? It makes us smile at the end of a particularly bad day, or sometimes… it serendipitously put us in touch with the right people at the right time! I’ll let Loli-ts, the recipient of a very timely postcard tell this lovely friendship story:

"This is the story of a postcard and two people… I’m Loli-ts (aka Dolores), living next to Barcelona, in Spain. On February 5, 2014 I received a beautiful view of Prague from azuzanka (aka Zuzana), from Prague in the Czech Republic.

Postcards are magical windows. It’s always a pleasure to see a piece of the world, and to read the handwriting of someone that you have never met, saying warm words and inviting you to look through the window of her or his eyes. So, I was happy to read the message from Zuzana… yes, specially happy this time: she said she was coming to Barcelona just some days later!

When I registered the card, I also invited Zuzana to ask for advice about their visit to Barcelona and, of course, to meet each other when she were here. And yes, we did!

We made a nice walk from their hotel through the Old Town of my city, discovering the spirit of the district, some hidden spots and secrets of story… and specially, we discovered new friends. Postcards and Postcrossing where a main subject of our conversation. And of our photos too!

Thanks to Postcrossing, Ana, Paulo and all the people who work to make possible this great project and so many wonderful experiences as this one was!"

Text: Dolores T. (Loli-ts); Photos: Tomás H., sent by Zuzana A. (azuzanka)

Thank you Loli-ts and azuzanka for sharing your story with us! :)

What about you? Do you have your own Postcrossing story? Do share, we’d love to hear it!

Sometimes we think the Dutchies have all the luck! They have stroopwafles, vla, tulips, scrumptious cheese… and all the best postcard shops, it seems!

We already told you about a few of our favourites, and today we feature another fantastic one: Kaartfanaat!

Kaartfanaat stocks an impressive range of publishers: from Tushita to Aquarupella, from Inkognito to Kartoenfabriek… including all the variations of “Keep calm and…” you can think of! :)

They heard about Postcrossing from some of their customers, and since they know how we all love our postcards, they’ve decided to generously sponsor this weekend’s giveaway with 5 packs of 10 of their best-selling postcards!

To win one of these fantastic sets, visit Kaartfanaat's website and leave a comment below, telling us which postcard (or series) you liked the best! But be prepared… choosing from so much eye-candy will be a hard task! :)

Good luck! Do check back on this post around this time next week for the winners (randomly picked by Paulo’s number generator).

PS – For the duration of this giveaway, Kaartfanaat is also offering a 10% discount on all orders from €10 (excl. shipping). Use the code BLOG during checkout!