Postcrossing Blog

Minna (aka minnasusanne) lives in the Finnish countryside. She loves stones, the Rasmus, and Stephen King's books! Here is what she had to say to our interview questions:

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

I heard about Postcrossing for the first time when I picked up our mail in the end of year 2006. There were great cards from different countries around the world, sent to my oldest daughter who had joined Postcrossing. In a few weeks I joined too! First I liked the idea of getting cards from foreign countries, then the opportunity to improve my language skills. But the best thing I think are the wonderful friends I soon found here.

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

This is our mailbox, done by me and my husband. Finnish postal service delivers mail to 1 km from your home if you live in the countryside like we do. So our mailbox is in middle of the forest along our road to home. It is pretty obvious that I like stones!

Sometimes, I use the postcards I receive to decorate parts of my home:

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

I like to read and listen to music but I must confess that I’m a serious card addict. I don’t spend much time with anything else. This means that postcards have evolved from a hobby to a profession for me this autumn. Last two years I have been interested in taking photographs and after plenty of dreaming and planning I decided to publish some photos as postcards. That’s how my small-scale postcard web shop Minor Postcards was born.

Lately I enjoy planning different cards with my daughter and searching good motifs from other photographers works – I know I’m a beginner and can’t take photos of the Northern lights or polar bears, for example.

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

It is impossible to pick just one card. Here are some special cards:

A Sandman postcard and John Bauer's illustration because I like dreamlike drawings and the idea to have a matching stamp to a card is great. (But I don’t like the “Postmonster” which damages cards and hope to get my cards in envelopes so stamps don’t actually matter to me).

The paper doll Robin Hood cat card and Sheepworld card because I like “cut out do it yourself” cards.

The Rasmus is my favorite band and you can’t buy cards about them. This Touchnote card was an official RU-1122544 and I appreciate it very much, because the sender really made an effort.

I also love black & white cards and stones and got these from friends. The broken stone heart was my avatar for a while.

And the Help! card is there because I like funny ideas and would love to have that key in my laptop!!

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

I like the most about picking the right card for the receiver. I look at their wishlist and try to find something which might be something they would like. It is nice to read Hoorays afterwards and hear how well I managed.

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

This is not actually an answer to this question… but it was a fine surprise to receive the first page from my favorite author Stephen King's book Carrie as an official BR-153331. It arrived a long way from Brazil and got here in good shape, despite the long journey.

Have you met any other members in real life?

Yes, my daughter was the first! I have been to some meetings in Finland and met Finnish members there. I don’t usually go to big meet-ups, I prefer small meetings. I have met some foreign members too, two of them visited my home, and I have visited one Swiss member. And once I made a surprise visit to a German member for her birthday when I was in Germany for other reason. It was soooo fun!! I can say that with some members I don’t only share postcards, I share my life and we really are friends. And that’s amazing!

Some months ago, while touring an underground bunker in Berlin, I was treated to a rare sight: a mini-demonstration of Berlin’s old pneumatic dispatch system! And that got me thinking… were there other pneumatic mail delivery systems in the world? What could we find out about them? If you’re curious too, keep reading!

The story of pneumatic tubes starts with William Murdoch, a Scottish engineer, who invented them in the 19th century. Developed later by the London Pneumatic Despatch Company, these tubes used pressurised air to propel cylindrical containers throughout systems set up in certain buildings or sometimes, entire cities. During the second half of the 19th century, the pneumatic post system was implemented in post offices and telegraph offices of several large cities to quickly deliver letters and telegrams between themselves, banks, stock exchanges, and ministries. This method was found to be much more convenient and quicker than transporting letters in horse-drawn carriages or depending on human messengers.

Control Panel of Prague’s Pneumatic Post system

In 1853 the first system was built, linking the London Stock Exchange to the city’s main telegraph station; in 1861 it transported mail from the Euston railway station to the General Post Office and Holborn; in 1865 the Rohrpost was developed in Berlin, spanning 400km; in 1866 Paris created their system, a total length of 467km. Other cities like Vienna, Prague, New York City, Munich, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Hamburg, Naples, Rome, Milan, Melbourne, Marseilles, Philadelphia, Boston, St. Louis, and Chicago soon followed.

Some systems became rather complex and effective, but were eventually surpassed by more modern methods of communication and transport, and were mostly abandoned during the 20th century. The Paris network was in use until 1984, finally replaced by computers and fax machines. One lasting pneumatic post network still exists in the Czech Republic, known as the Old Lady of Czech telecommunications. Prague’s network of tubes extends 55km and was still used for delivering letters and parcels until 2002, when a flood rendered it inoperative. The current owner is gradually repairing and preserving the system, in hopes of using it as an educational experience and tourist attraction. Today, hospitals, banks, nuclear reactors, and some airports still have uses for these systems, and have updated and refined its technological ability.

Check out the blog pneumaticpost.blogspot.com to learn more interesting facts about these tubes and about the subculture of “steampunks” who cherish it so. The blog also features a many tube maps, like this one of Prague.

Although quite small, the space on the back of a postcard can often seem intimidating, and some postcrossers struggle with what to write there… To help with this, here are 20 different ideas to fill your postcards! :)

1. Express what daily life is like where you’re sending the card from by describing what you did today, your routine, etc.
2. Write 5 curious facts about the place where the card is from.
3. Give local travelling tips from your area! What are the must-sees around you?
4. Include your favourite quote, perhaps in its original language (with translation!)
5. What was the last thing you cooked or ate? Include a recipe!
6. What do you have in common with the recipient of your card?
7. Recount a childhood memory, or something you’ve learned from your grandparents.
8. What makes you happy? If it makes you smile, there’s a good chance others will like to hear about it.
9. Share a local idiom or saying, in its original language, with translation of course!
10. Did you ever travel to the place where your card is going? Recall your best memory of that place.
11. What’s the weather like as you are writing your postcard? Draw the weather forecast in detail!

12. Share an interesting fact that you’ve learned, and which most people are not aware of.
13. Got an unusual hobby or collection? Do tell!
14. Did anything important happen in your country lately? Share an interesting news bit!
15. Tell the recipient about your favourite book, movie or band!
16. Draw a picture of your surroundings, or your favourite object in that room!
17. Write your favorite poem or…
18. …make up your own poem – acrostic poems or haikus are short and enjoyable to write!
19. What are the local festivals or traditions from your area?
20. If you’re a student, what are you studying? What was the last thing you learned in school?

We hope that helps inspire some of you! Got some other tips? Please share them below!

Photo by Dancing Lemur, on Flickr.

“Hannah Brencher’s mother always wrote her letters. So when she felt herself bottom into depression after college, she did what felt natural—she wrote love letters and left them for strangers to find. The act has become a global initiative, The World Needs More Love Letters, which rushes handwritten letters to those in need of a boost.” (source)

I’m sure postcrossers understand better than anyone the difference it makes to get home after a long day and find something special on our mailbox, waiting to cheer us up.

Hannah extended this concept of cheering up strangers via real mail to love letters, which she collects every month, from all corners of the world. The letters are then repacked in bundles and forwarded to people in need of love and encouragement. She explained the inspiration behind The World Needs More Love Letters on this short & sweet TED Talk:

Doesn’t it make you want to write a letter today? Check out her website for more information on how to help!

By the way, if you’re feeling inspired to write more this month, the second edition of the Month of Letters project is just starting – grab your stationery supplies, address book and start penning those letters! :)

Nicole (aka Mondkind), from Hamburg, is a regular at the yearly Postcrossing meetings in Bielefeld. She has a fondness for small knitting and crochet projects… and big books! Here is what she had to say to our interview questions:

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

While reading another blog I was aware of Bookcrossing and after looking around for a while, I discovered the Postcrossing website. I was fascinated by the thought of getting mail from all corners of the world and to see places that I did not even know existed. I signed up immediately, and the next day I sent the first five postcards.

When I received my first postcard and read the very kind message, I instantly took a new address and from this moment I knew… I wanted to receive a lot more postcards. I was infected with the Postcrossing virus!

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

One of my favorite postcards is my first one, which came from Riga with kind words on it.

Here are some other postcards I like:

KG-564 is one of the postcards with the smallest postcard ID I have ever received.

RO-30290 shows the famous Dracula castle! I love many other postcards, like for instance JM-722 or ZA-13315.

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

Any postcard is a surprise for me. When I open my mailbox, I never know what is inside, how many cards are there, where are they from, who was picked to write me. But it is always a special surprise when a card comes from a far away country or a country from which I hadn’t received a card so far!

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

This is my mailbox.

This is an album I’ve made for very nice postcards and stamps.

And here’s my postbox, and a wine box where I store my postcards to send!

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

Yes, my son Loris joined Postcrossing, too. I think it’s a good way to improve his English and he likes to get nice postcards.

And perhaps the owner of a lovely small shop – he was surprised because I bought so much of his very nice postcards… I told him about Postcrossing and he was very excited and curious. And perhaps he is now already one of us… :)

Have you met any other members in real life?

Yes, of course. I’ve attended the international Postcrossing meeting in Bielefeld twice, and several other meetups in Germany. Some here in Hamburg, two times in Berlin… I’ve even organised a mini-meeting in my house!

I am happy because I’ve developed some really great friendships developed through Postcrossing.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

I love to read historical novels and detective stories. I have a weakness for thick books. Rebecca Gablé is one of my favourite authors. I enjoy knitting and to crocheting small things. I am too impatient for large projects!