Postcrossing Blog

On this week’s Spotlight interview, we talked to Óskar, aka Fimafengur, from Iceland. He’s passionate about vintage posters – and postcards that depict them!

Here is what he had to say to our Spotlight questions:

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

I think I’ve always been interested in postcards; at least I started early on buying cards when traveling around Iceland with my family on holidays. Started collecting cards from each place, town, museum etc. we stopped at. I continued this habit when I went traveling around the world on my own. I’m not a very organized collector but I buy cards that interest me somehow.

But… if there are any cards that I’m really passionate about then, it’s the vintage posters (travel ads, trains, cruise liners) and movie posters, old and new. One of my favourite cards is from a small collection I have from Swiss-old-timers and shows an ad from the Oriental Express.

A few years ago I read an interview in a local newspaper with an Icelandic Postcrosser. I decided to find this site and simply got hooked. I soon realized how the Postcrossing project is a great way of traveling around the world and “meet” all these nice people. I’m still a bit amazed that some stranger on the other side of the world will make the effort of buying a card, a stamp and mailing it to another person.

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

There are two post-offices in my hometown Akureyri. The staff is very friendly and provides an excellent service. This is the office in the city centrum.

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

I find it very difficult sorting out a few favourites! … but I’ll try to show examples of what I like in postcards.

FR-117423: This one combines two things I’m a fan of: Paris and bridges. It’s also a beautiful one.

UZ-1566: Cards from distant, faraway places, which I probably will never be able to visit or experience otherwise, like this one from Samarkand.

US-1641649: A great b/w photo of a great performer… I went to a TT concert in Copenhagen in 2000 (she was about 60 at that time).

DE-1300838: Reprint of a vintage posters ( more bridges and transportations ). Visited Wuppertal over 20 years ago and went on this “Schwebebahn” and it made my day getting this card.

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

Sending a card… trying to pick a card according to the receiver’s request or what I think that would make the postcrosser happy to receive. Here in Iceland most of the postcards you can find are “touristic”, i.e. nature, landscape etc. Fortunately many Postcrossers seems to like these cards. I always try to buy cards I like myself and I also visit museums and such places to increase the diversity. Then I wait for the card to arrive and I’m always glad when it’s registered and I really appreciate a comment or just a “thank you” from the receiver.

Is there anything that you are passionate about?

I strongly believe in equal rights for all humans and democracy. One of the most important things is education, which sadly is very poor in too many countries, especially for girls and women. I try to support organisations like UNICEF and SOS Children’s Villages and also some smaller “private-projects” in Yemen, Ethiopia and South Africa. There are so many more things in common to people all over the world than those that divides us. I think the world would be a bit nicer place if we all made an effort to communicate and understand each other.

Many Postcrossers and postcard lovers from all over the world have been devout fans of Diddl the Mouse for quite some time now. You may be wondering who Diddl is and how he was created… well, fear not – we have all of the answers right here for you!

Diddl the Mouse was created by German artist Thomas Goletz in 1990. Goletz had always loved to draw and create new characters and after studying as a graphic artist, he was doodling one day when he came up with Diddl. Of course, the first Diddl was a little different than the mouse that we all know and love today. The very first Diddl was a larger kangaroo with no name. He had on Diddl the Mouse’s famous overalls, but other than that, he was pretty different.

After playing around with this eccentric kangaroo character, Goletz transformed him into a jumping mouse, who was smaller and could fit inside of coffee cups and pieces of cheese. Goletz gave him the name Diddl, because he wanted something cute and short, and he liked the goofy sound that Diddl makes as it rolls of your tongue. Diddl is defined by his kooky sense of humor, fun-loving nature and jumping behavior. He has very large ears and large pink-soled feat.

Goletz began working with stationery and toy manufacturer Depesche to mass produce cards, calendars and many other things, all featuring Diddl. Goletz also created friends and relatives for the mouse, including his girlfriend Diddlina. Today, Diddl and his friends are some of the most popular cartoon characters in Austria, Germany or Switzerland. In the Netherlands, Diddl’s many adventures are featured in a monthly publication called “Diddl’s Kaasblad”.

You can learn more about Diddl and the rest of his friends on the Diddlmania website.

Some time ago, Pebbles84 sent us this suggestion for a blog post:

“How about an overview of how country distribution has changed over the years? I’m a member for over 2 years, and it seems things have changed quite a lot. It would be nice to see in which countries Postcrossing has grown a lot, and how the amount of members has changed.”

If you’ve been a member for a long time, you probably have noticed that Postcrossing’s popularity in certain countries changes over time. Sometimes, a news report or a blurb on a popular website will catapult the project to stardom, raising the number of signups in that city or country.

Members that have been here since the beginning might remember a time when every other card seemed to be traveling to Portugal, Brazil or Finland, or how rare Asian countries once were. These days, there are definitely more users from Russia or Taiwan on the site – countries come and go in waves.

Being data geeks, we were curious to see what the member distribution looked like plotted in a graph, and so we crunched some numbers and did the math.

You can explore the results on the interactive chart below:

Isn’t it interesting? You can see when Postcrossing started to become popular in some countries, or how others have lost their prominent rank. Also, the “Other” category is growing, meaning that the pool of countries is becoming increasingly diverse.

Keep in mind however, that the countries that have the most users are not always the ones that send more postcards! If you’re curious, you can check out the current number of members per country and postcards sent per country on our Explore Countries page!

When I discovered Singaporean Art director Alynn Teo’s postcards, I was suddenly… hungry! Food-related postcards are my weakness – I can’t seem to resist them! (plus, she has a pack featuring just eggs…)

Everyday at 3pm, Alynn takes a little break from her freelancing projects to have a snack, which she photographs prior to eating. She has been doing this little ritual since 2009, and in November 2010, she decided to turn it into a business, by printing her own stationery line and selling it on her Etsy shop, one little journey. The result is a series of minimalist yet mouth-watering postcards.

Below are her answers to our interview about her stationery line.

How did you get started doing stationery design?

Artistry is the main motivating factor. I got hooked onto designing daily use items such as jewellery, toys and stationery since young. It is mostly a pastime kind of affair in between projects from my main line. While browsing Etsy mid last year, I started serious planning in turning my pastime hobby into real business.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Everywhere! Travel, day dreams, everyday objects, tea & coffee, my daily 3 p.m. breaks. I believe things that we see, love, experience are nested somewhere in our subconscious and they surface at the least expected moments to inspire us.

If you could define your style in 3 words, what would they be?

The Simple Things

Are you a letter (or postcard) writer yourself?

Yes, absolutely! And love designing them too. i think it is one of the most sincere way of showing your love for someone.

Can you show us a picture of your studio or workspace?

You can find Alynn’s postcards at etsy.com/shop/onelittlejourney.

Xiomara, aka Blackthornhiei, is one of Postcrossing’s few users in El Salvador, the smallest (and most densely populated) country in Central America. She says in her profile that when she has mail, her dog will “talk” until she sees that it gets picked up! How handy! :)

Here is what she had to say to our interview questions:

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

I’ve always liked postcards, I always buy from the places I go to and even mail some to myself. And one day, looking through my collection I wondered if there was site for postcard trade. A few minutes later I found Postcrossing.

It took me two weeks to actually join, though. I admit I kept wondering if it actually worked. I finally decided to give it a try and have been hooked since then.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

My hobbies aren’t all that special. Beside Postcrossing, I love to read and I make felt dolls. Recently, though, I found a local tourist company that makes groups tours to different corners of the country. I’ve visited places I wouldn’t have been able to visit alone. I even went to a baby sea turtle release. It was lovely!

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

This is the postoffice near my house. It’s inside a shopping mall. I come here often. The ladies there are great!

I keep all my Postcrossing cards in albums:

That way I can just pull out an album and look at them anytime, front and back. I don’t have them by country or theme, though. Just in the order they were received.

All other postcards go into this wooden crate, while I sort them in their own albums.

I even made instructions for the album in case anyone wants to try!

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

I love all the cards I have received so it’s hard to pick a favorite one. All of them have something I love.

But there’s one that hold a special place in my heart. It’s HU-37976.

I was feeling pretty down that day, and finding this hand drawn card in my mailbox really brightened it. I mean, the fact that a young girl decided to take one of those blank postcards and draw a rabbit for a complete stranger. It was amazing. Looking at this card always makes me smile and feel better.

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

Besides seeing what surprises might be in mailbox, I’d say it’s the whole process of getting an address, picking a card, writing on it, mailing it and waiting for it to arrive.

Most of the available cards are touristy. Non-tourist is hard to find, so sometimes I’m anxious on whether they will like my card or not. I’m looking into getting my own postcards professionally printed.

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

Nothing exotic, but for some reason, the postcards mailed from Siberia always surprise me.