Postcrossing Blog

Yay! The eagerly anticipated postcard number 15 million has been registered, and another significant milestone has been reached! Did you notice how quickly this one came? Just earlier this year we were celebrating 10 million postcards, and then… it seems like we just blinked for a second and bam! 15 million! :)

If an image is worth a thousand words, allow us to illustrate the project’s unbelievable growth since its start:

I guess we all really like postcards, eh? :D

Well, enough of that – we know you’re all curious to find out which postcard got the honour, so here it is: postcard DE-1800737, sent by member schwarzer-mann in Germany, and registered at 13:46 (UTC) by limoda in Italy. This is a treat in itself, but just to make it sweeter, both the sender and the receiver will receive a surprise gift from MOO: a pack of 20 postcards and a stickerbook for each of them!

Member kefjo was the big winner of our 15 million contest, since she correctly guessed the exact time that postcard was registered – congratulations! You’ve won a pack of 80 postcards and 2 sticker books from MOO!

Another six lucky postcrossers had the next best guesses! tsaga and Sakura_Students, you’ll get a pack of postcards from Natuurlijkefoto.nl, partalciemre and mandy1804, yours will come from MinorPostcards.fi, and finally grie and erikdeg – your pack is from PostcardWorld.eu's collection. Congrats!

On top of that, as a special treat to all postcrossers for reaching this milestone (and for a limited time), MOO is offering free shipping to all their new customers – enjoy it while it lasts! :)

Once again, thank you all for each and every postcard that you send, and for your continuing support to this project. A big thank you also to our team of volunteers, who help us run the project everyday – and last but not least, to all our lovely sponsors: MOO, PostcardWorld.eu, MinorPostcards.fi and Natuurlijkefoto.nl

Since the new year is about to start, we’d like to grab this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year… with lots of postcards!

We’re fast approaching the moment that postcard number 15,000,000 will be registered – right now, there are less than 100,000 postcards to go! Many of you have already placed your bet on the contest, but for those who needed a little incentive… let us talk prizes! In fact, not just one or two prizes… we’ve got seven fantastic prizes for you!

Allow me to explain: whoever guesses the exact minute when postcard number 15 million is registered (or the closest) will win a pack of 80 postcards + 2 Stickerbooks from MOO. With MOO’s Printfinity technology, you can upload as many designs and photos as you like, and make each single postcard and sticker unique. In a word: awesome!

Then, each of the 6 next best guesses (before or after the registering time) will win a pack of 25 postcards offered by our sponsors: PostcardWorld.eu, MinorPostcards.fi and Natuurlijkefoto.nl! Each of these postcard shops contributed with 2 packs from their fantastic collections, and if you’re a winner, you’ll receive a pack from one of them.

So… what are you waiting for? Fire up your spreadsheet or ask your lucky stars… but don’t miss out on the biggest contest of the year!*

(*) Well, for us anyway! :)

Remember in January this year, when Postcrossing celebrated 10 million received postcards? It took us over 6 years to reach that achievement, but things are moving faster than ever, and in the last year alone another 5 million cards have been received! Which means that the 15 million received postcard milestone is already fast approaching, and it is time to launch the guessing contest once again!

For those who didn’t participate last time, it goes like this: every member has a chance to bet on the day and time on which the postcard number 15 million will be registered. Those who get the closest, get a prize!

All you have to do is go to the 15 million postcard page, and place your bet!

Some rules: each time slot can only be chosen by one person, so the first user to pick that slot gets to keep it. You can change it at a later stage, if you want, but only from the available time slots left. We will close the bets when there are 1,500 postcards left to postcard 15,000,000. There are some more rules, which you can see on the contest page.

We’ll announce the prizes soon – but until then, go pick a slot! It might be your lucky day! :)

Some months ago, Albrecht (aka hulottati, from Germany) found a great card on an auction, and brought to our attention. We’ve been itching to share it with you ever since… but we had to wait patiently for today. Why? Check it out!

It’s from 1912 – more precisely, 12th December 1912, and therefore is exactly 100 years old! It reads:

“If you want to write such a card again, you’ll have to wait 100 years!”

How cool is that? Intriguing and interesting! And who knew that people back then were as fascinated with special dates as we are now? Or that, 100 years on, it would be seen on a website about postcards?

Are you going to send a special card today to celebrate this unusual date? You should – who knows you might read it in 100 years! :)

Since picture postcards were first created, they have been instrumental in documenting a locality’s history. Dating from 1905–1950, exaggerated and tall-tale postcards originated from the pioneer bravado of the western expansion and were extremely popular in the Great Plains and rural communities hoping to form an identity for themselves as a place of agricultural wealth.

These postcards promoted agrarian and wildlife benefits to a public that was aware of the exaggerations, and were used to facetiously advertise the products and unique aspects of a region. The common theme among the postcards was immensity; fishing, hunting and riding oversized animals, harvesting gigantic fruits and vegetables, or wheeling in massive sheaves.

While exaggeration postcards illustrated an object of disproportionate size, the tall-tale postcard added a caption, bringing the whole scene to life with anecdotal referential humor. The most well-know creators of these cards were Alfred Stanley Johnson, Jr., and William H. Martin. They created their masterpieces using trick photography, usually taking two black and white pictures, one a wide shot and the other a close-up. The enlarged close-up image was then cut and glued over the wide shot to create the embellished result.

Titles such as “Great Sport Fishing Here” and “Harvesting a profitable crop of onions in Kansas” helped further the intent of the image. Other designers painted their unlikely scenes or used a combination of photography and painting (an early day exercise in Photoshopping!).

Larger than Life: The American Tall Tale Postcard, 1905–1915 by Morgan Williams is a great volume on the exaggeration postcard, capturing “many facets of life in turn-of-the-century, small-town America and vividly bears witness to a unique form of creativity.” To check out more of legend William H. Martin’s work, visit http://www.photographymuseum.com/talltale.html.

By the way, all the images illustrating this blog post come from Brenda’s wonderful collection – check out her website for many more!