Postcrossing Blog

It probably doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to learn that here at Postcrossing we’re really interested in all things postal. There’s a fascinating topic in the Postcrossing forum about how people’s post offices look, allowing glimpses of how different it can be in different communities and different countries. We’ve asked some of the posters for permission to use their photographs, but you can check out the whole thread on the forum to see lots more!

It was difficult to choose which photos to include here, but in the end I thought I’d highlight some of the photos which show how different post offices can be the world over, from a little desk tucked into the corner of a local shop to a custom-built building just for the mail.

For example, in Hanna, Alberta (Canada) the entire town get their mail by coming to this post office building full of personal boxes. Jill (aka Borborhick) explained that it’s open 24/7, with a desk that’s open during the week for picking up and sending parcels, buying postage, etc.

On the other hand, here’s a little post office that’s set up in someone’s house, in Wales, UK. I didn’t actually know there were still any post offices in the UK like this, run from someone’s home, so this was an intriguing find for me. Mary (aka maripost) explained a little about about what it’s like: there’s one counter position, which is busy most of the time, and she knows most of her customers since she grew up in the village. It looks lovely!

Another lovely thing about the thread is the number of nice (and often old) buildings that post offices live in. Brenda (aka BrendaVR) took some lovely ones of her local post office in Ontario (Canada), the Walter Street Post Office. Here’s the one that first struck me, showing the entrance and a sort of mini clocktower at one corner:

Speaking of older buildings, here’s a rather classic-looking doorway of a post office in Oxford, UK! This picture was taken by Christine (aka travellingsheep). The building is from 1879, and I’d love to get a closer look at all that detail above the door…

My attention was also caught by a post from Thisura (aka TazocinWilson) in Sri Lanka, about the post office in his community, Cinnamon Gardens (a former cinnamon plantation). Established in 1905, Thisura called it a living museum, saying that the mail is still collected in leather bags, sorted by hand, and stamped by hand with ink (rather than a franking machine). The red brickwork against the white columns is a really pleasing look!

Contrast that with this more plain building spotted by Justyn (aka vireolanius) in the US…

Though in fact inside Justyn spotted a lovely detail: a quilt hung on the wall that says “Thank you for using Priority Mail”. It’s an unusual decoration, giving a surprisingly homey look to the inside of the building, but it looks really nice!

To close, here’s something a little different! Kanerva talked about the fact that Finland has very few actual post offices, and lots of “postal partners” where postal services are offered by corner shops, etc. There’s just one post office in Northern Finland, and that of course is Santa’s main post office, at the Arctic Circle! Kanerva took a few photos to show what it’s like.

One neat detail is these postboxes. One takes normal mail that can be sent anytime, but the other takes mail that will actually be sent in December (regardless of when you put it in the box). A nice way to set up a surprise for someone…

These are just a few glimpses of different post offices, so don’t forget to check out the full topic… and maybe add some of your own photos? We’d love to see!

PS: Just as Nicky was finishing preparing this post some weeks ago, a fire devastated Manila’s Central Post Office in the Philippines, an historical building over nearly 100 years old. An irreparable and tragic loss of a national landmark, and a part of Manila’s cultural heritage and history. 💔 Please cherish and use your local post offices! -Ana

June is here, and you know what time it is… it’s time to open the submissions for the World Postcard Day design contest! October 1st is getting closer and closer, which means it’s time to ask all aspiring designers and illustrators to pick up their drawing tools and start designing the postcard that will represent this year’s World Postcard Day! 😊

The theme of 2023's postcard design contest is “Postal Hugs”, inspired by Annie in Wisconsin. Some years ago for the 150 Years of Postcards exhibition, she sent us a wonderful postcard that read “A postcard is a hug sent through the mail”. This simple mental picture is exactly how we think about postcards: like an extension of our arms, ready to hug a recipient far away!

Hopefully the Postcrossing community and beyond will be inspired to create something amazing for this year’s postcard, so that in October we will all be able to send a beautiful postcard all over the world!

Before you submit a design, please make sure to read the rules carefully. Designs can be submitted (in digital form only) until July 15 (UTC) on the contest page, and we’ll announce the winner until August 15.

And, as usual, there are some prizes! Besides the glow and recognition of having your design be the one that so many people will be sending all around the world on October first, we’re also giving away a fantastic Wacom One drawing tablet, as well as a Pantone postcard box. May the best design win!

Even if you’re not brilliant at drawing, we hope you’ll help us spread the word about the contest and poke your creative friends to participate… especially if they are aspiring artists and could use a little boost getting their career started and to put their art out there. We can’t wait to see how everyone will interpret this year’s theme!

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

We spotted a question on the Questions & Answers tag in the forum a while ago which made us curious, so now we’re opening it up as this month’s reading prompt! Ann-Kathrin (Annkaba) asked this: “What is your favourite word in your language?”

I know that I spend a lot of time reading, and thus everyone expects me to have a favourite word right on the tip of my tongue—after all, I must love so many words! But I don’t really seem to think about it that way, and I’m much more interested (usually) in the story being told…

All the same, I do have particular sounds in words that I love to say (and because I love to say them, I’ll confess I often whisper to myself as I’m reading—to the annoyance of my family!). They just make the most satisfying mouth-shapes somehow: stepped, swept, crept, leapt, crypt, tipped… All those “-pt” and “-pped” sounds are pretty delicious somehow.

There are lots of words that mean important things, of course, and that I’m a fan of for the meaning they hold. But I’d be lying if I said they were favourites: the humble “stepped” takes away the prize.

What about you? You can share your favourite word (or words!) in the comments, or use this as a prompt to inspire your Postcrossing messages this month.

Recently, Paulo and I spent some time in Taiwan, and like any postcrossers out there, our first order of business was to locate nice postcards and stamps. 😍 Who better to recommend these than the local postcrossers? So, I asked on the forum and received quite a few tips from the locals — more than I could visit! One of them came from Ying-Han (aka henna168) who recommended Chu Entry Time, a postcard café! I was intrigued by the idea, so of course we needed to go check it out!

The fun starts outside, even before you get in, because the menu is all displayed in illustrated postcards! One picks the cards featuring the food or drinks you’d like to have, and then take them to the staff inside. The postcards are for you to keep, which is a really nice touch.

One special thing about Chu Entry Time is that you can mail postcards to someone in the future: you write, address and stamp your postcards, pay the fee and then put them on the box of the week you want them to be mailed. And then the staff will mail these for you when the time comes! So in theory, you can pre-send all your friend’s birthday cards for the whole year, or even a few years in advance.

It’s not the first time we hear of something like this, but it was the first time we saw a “postcard café” in real life, which was pretty cool. While we were waiting for our drinks, Paulo was browsing some magazines from a shelf and randomly stumbled on one that mentioned Postcrossing. What are the odds, eh?! 😊

There was also a really nice selection of illustrated postcards and other handmade crafts that you could buy, a table with rubberstamps for anyone to just use, and a few friendly cats that came to you for cuddles. It was just lovely all around, and I wish there were more of these in the world!

For more pictures, you can check out their Instagram account.

Do you know of other postcard-themed cafés out there? Tell us all about them! 😍

Every year around this time, we write about the EUROPA stamps and the competition to pick the most beautiful one for that year. This year though, the traditional competition isn’t taking place because all stamps share a common design! This is not new, and has happened multiple times in the history of EUROPA stamps, including in the very first issue back in 1956.

Below is 2023's design as seen on the Finnish stamp. The theme of the year is “Peace — the highest value of humanity”:

Every country is using the same design this year, arranged in slightly different ways to match the shape or aesthetics of other stamps in the country. In order to arrive at this design, a contest was run by PostEurop in which the different postal services submitted their interpretations on the topic, and then one was chosen to represent it. The winning entry was created by Linda Bos and Runa Egilsdottir of “A Designer’s Collective”, for POST Luxembourg. About the design, they wrote:

“The world needs a new Peace symbol, uniting all nations. Cultural differences perchance a barrier for a state of Peace. If only mankind could respect each other’s differences by understanding their significance and responding to them with consideration, the world would be a better place. This design shows a visual metaphor for a peacefully integrated, cooperative society in which people embrace each other’s culture. It was inspired by the Celtic Love Knot symbol, with interlocking hearts. The colour palette illustrates all the nations in the world. By adding hands with intertwined fingers, it conveys the message of mutual respect.”

Many other postal services also decided to design a second stamp to pair with this one, and you can see some of those on this forum topic.

While on one hand we’re a little sad that we don’t get to see the usual diversity of designs and interpretations, on the other hand, it’s also heartwarming to see a joint issue. This is how EUROPA stamps started: with a shared design as a symbol of cooperation between European countries. The topic also hails back to the beginning of these stamps, as the designs for the second and third years of the EUROPA series featured peace symbols.

So… what do you think? Do you like the design that was chosen, or would you have preferred if every country had its own unique entry? Aaaaaand, on a different but somewhat related topic, which song do you think will win Eurovision tonight this weekend? 🤔