Postcrossing Blog

Stories about the Postcrossing community and the postal world

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Sometimes, we still marvel at the power a tiny piece of paper has to connect people. From weddings to tales of adventure and unexpected friendships… the stories we hear are always awe-inspiring. Today, Maybrit from Spain tells the story of how she and Anna from Ireland connected over postcards!

On the 29th of June 2012 was the first time I sent annuc1s a private swap request.

At the time, I was on holiday in Germany, bored in the little hotel room I was sharing with my family. It was raining and there was nothing to do, so I thought… “Wouldn’t it be cool to receive a card from the places where your favorite artists come from?” Immediately I started looking for different users, and that’s when I came across Anna’s profile for the first time. We agreed on a private swap, me sending her a card from Germany and her sending me a card from Mullingar, where she lives.

The first exchanged postcards

Pretty soon, one card turned into two, which turned into four, eight… before long we were penpalling as well as chatting daily via Skype and Facebook. Our friendship had been formed… and it was only a matter of time until we decided we wanted to meet in real life. Our parents were very supportive of that idea and soon enough I found myself in Ireland for two weeks during my school holidays in August 2013.

Maybrit (left) and Anna (right) at the Giant's Causeway

During my stay at her house we had lots of fun and she also showed me many places all over Ireland. Everywhere we went we bought cards! On our first trip to Dublin we scattered our postcards around the little table in the train, receiving many weird looks from other passengers. The pile grew bigger after trips to the Cliffs of Moher, Aillwee Cave and Galway (where we went to a very fun funfair). Together with her family we also went to Northern Ireland, visiting the Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede Bridge and Belfast, where we decided to take a look at the Titanic Belfast Museum. Many stores, receipts and a lot of money spent later it was soon the end of my vacation and I had bought over 500 cards from more than 20 different places!

Postcards!

The stay was an amazing experience and I am so glad to have met her. I never thought a small postcard could form such a wonderful and strong friendship. It shows that Postcrossing is not just a hobby where you send random cards all over the world. It’s a place where new friendships can be formed just like ours. We are so glad that we get the chance to share this experience with all of you. Maybe you have had a similar one. All in all, Anna and I wanna say thank you to Postcrossing for letting us connect and find a friend in a different part of the world. :)

Anna (left) and Maybrit (right) at the Cliffs of Moher

Got a Postcrossing story? Do share in the comments, we’d love to hear it!

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While the Little Mail Carrier’s jet set around at undisclosed locations, their cousin has been busy attending meetups and getting to know postcrossers from all over the world! :) Here’s a brief recap of the last few months on his tour:

Hello everyone! This past August, I was in sunny Helsinki, meeting lots of nice European postcrossers! We did a fun scavenger hunt around the city, found lots of Moomins and Angry Birds, tried some Finnish delicacies and hopped on a ferry to beautiful Suommelinna island. I really wanted to see the inside of a Posti postbox, and managed to get myself stuck in the process… children, please don’t try this at home!

Helsinki meetup Helsinki meetup sign Group photo! So many Moomins! Yum! Is that deer meat? I'm not sure it's safe for me to stay here.... Errr... guys?! HELP!

I then jumped on a plane and landed in Baltimore, which was super exciting! We’re all big fans of The Wire and Hairspray at the Postcrossing HQ – so I felt right at home :) Cspt organised a wonderful meetup at Stone Mill Bakery Café. It was a lot of fun to meet new postcrossers from the other side of the pond… and the cookies were delicious! :D

Good mooooorning, Baaaaaaltimore! People are just so friendly here! Look at these smiles! I have this strange feeling I'm being observed...

After that, I took the boat back home, as it was time for another Bielefeld meetup! I knew a lot of the people there already, from past meetups, so it was nice to see them all again! As usual, I’ve dived into pools of candy, signed lots of postcards, and marvelled at the beauty of Autumn in North-Rhine Westphalia… but this year I also got to greet the postman, greeted the animals at the delightful Olderdissen Animal Park and visited Modern Times, a local postcard distributor who gave a special tour just for postcrossers!

Anja did a wonderful job with these tags! Wait wait... did I sign this pile? Good job Emilie! I think he likes you! Group photo time! Thanks Turtles for this photo! YAY! A real postman van! *sigh* I wish I could get one of these... Nom nom nom... Look at all those cards...

It’s been a blast! :)

Meetups are lots of fun, and completely organised by the members themselves! Curious to meet other postcrossers near you? Check out the list of upcoming events, or create your own! :)

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I’m sure many of you are familiar with the work of illustrator-turned-guerrila-artist Keri Smith, author of magical books like Wreck this journal or Mess: the manual of accidents and mistakes. They’re not so much “books” as exploratory manuals, encouraging you to embark on all kinds of messy creative missions.

So when I saw the trailer for Keri's newest project, I squealed in delight! A postcard book, filled with magic adventures? :D It seemed too good to be true!

Everything is connected is a bit in the spirit of her previous books, but in a smaller, niftier format. Each postcard book has 50 thick cards, each one inviting you to a miniature project. You can do them yourself, or mail them to friends in need of an adventure!

Keri Smith - Everything is connected

We’re giving two postcard books away, kindly donated by Keri herself: just leave a comment below, and tell us about something small that you’ve done to cheer someone or put a smile on their face. Like sending them a surprise postcard… or baking a batch of their favourite cookies! :) We want to have the comment box filled with inspiration!

Check back on this post around this time next week for the winners (randomly picked by Paulo's number generator)!

And the winners, as chosen by Paulo’s random number generator are… averiguar and mydreambook! Congratulations and thank you all for the inspiring comments! You’re ace! :)

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… aaaaand it’s done!

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m proud to announce that postcard number 20 million (US-2449004) was sent by yenting in the USA on October 7th and registered today at 05:49 (UTC) by funfunbot in Taiwan. Hurray! :D

Both the sender and the receiver will receive a surprise gift from MOO: a pack of 20 postcards for each of them!

Myrcella was the big winner of our guessing game contest, since she correctly guessed the correct minute in which that postcard was registered – bravo! You’ve won a pack of 40 postcards (20 classic, 20 luxe) from MOO + Keri Smith's new postcard book, Everything is connected.

The other four lucky postcrossers who came the closest to the right time were Alina92, Flusz, Eleleo and iphigenia – well done! You’ll all receive a pack of 20 postcards from MOO!

Once again, thank you for continuing to send lovely postcards to strangers across the globe, and for supporting Postcrossing throughout the years. A big thank you as well to our team of volunteers, who keep the project running everyday, and of course to MOO and Keri Smith, who kindly sponsored the contest!

And now… on with the postcard sending! There are plenty of mailboxes worldwide in need of happy days! :)

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You know how there’s a cycle to taste? Things that were once deemed trendy often illicit a “What was I thinking?!” reaction 20 years later…

It’s a bit like that with postcards too. There are the timeless ones of course, and then there are those which we look at now and think… interesting. The 50s, 60s and 70s seem to have been particularly fruitful in this kind of quirky specimens.

We call them “bad postcards” – but in a way, they’re also great postcards, unexplainably perfect. They’re funny, quirky and representative of something that someone once thought was beautiful – or at least important enough to be featured on a postcard.

Lon started the BAD POSTCARDS Tumblr to showcase the kitschiest postcards from his collection that he felt shouldn’t be kept in hiding. He’s been at it since April 2010, and his compendium of vintage gems is simply stunning. The themes and variations are seemingly endless, and it’s very hard to pick just a few… here are some of my favourites:

Bad postcards mix

Aren’t they fascinating?

I should warn you though… the site is extremely addictive. Once you start looking at strange food or wacky tourist attractions, you probably won’t be able to stop! :D

Long live bad postcards!

PS – The 20 millionth card’s guessing game is still ongoing! Place your bet! :)

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