Postcrossing Blog

You didn’t think we’d forget, did you? 😊 We’re getting closer to the remarkable milestone of 40 million postcards… so it’s time to launch our popular guessing game!

If you’ve joined the project recently, this might be the first time you enter one of these, so here is the gist:

Every member has a chance to submit a bet for the day and time on which they think the postcard number 40 million will be registered. The bets need to be submitted on the contest page.

Naturally, there are prizes for those who guess the correct time, or get really close!

The postcrosser whose bet is the closest to the exact minute when postcard number 40 million is registered wins a neat set of 40 Cardcetera postcards. The 4 next best guesses (before or after the registering time) will also receive a pack of 20 postcards from Cardcetera.

Some rules: each time slot can only be chosen by one person, so the first person 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 1000 postcards left to postcard 40,000,000. Check the contest page for more details.

Do some calculations on the back of an envelope or flip a coin… but be quick about it as the good slots run out fast! Good luck everyone!

… and we have a mission for you, if you wish to accept it! 😉 February 4th is Mail Carrier Appreciation Day and every year, we encourage you to make something nice for your mail carrier on this day. They’re the ones who walk, ride or drive miles and miles every single day, sometimes enduring harsh weather conditions in order to deliver all our mail… without them, this hobby would not be possible. So it’s time to say thank you, and make sure they know we appreciate their hard work.

This year though, we thought we’d give you an extra incentive… how does a $50 voucher from Pipsticks sound like?

All you need to do for a chance to win it is grab a postcard, write a nice message for your mail carrier or postwoman on the back and decorate it. Put your heart into your thank you message, and make use of that stash of crafty things you’ve been collecting for a while now: your rubber stamps, stickers and all those lovely washi tapes. Feel free to use old stamps as decoration too, if you’d like — these cards are meant to be delivered by hand or stuck on your mailbox for them to find on February 4th (or February 3rd, since this year the date falls on a Saturday). Make it sincere and make it stand out!

Once you’re happy with the result, take a photo or scan the postcard you’ve decorated and send the image to thank-a-mailman@postcrossing.com until the end of Feb 2nd (GMT). The best submission will win a $50 voucher from Pipsticks. We’ll announce the winner on Feb. 4th, and also show you the submissions we’ve received until then.

I’ve already started my postcard… but I really want to see yours! 😍 Come on, show us what you’ve got — and let’s make our mail carriers extra happy on their special day!

Alan (aka MindYerCar) from the UK sent us a tip to a radio series from BBC4 that aired some years ago. The People’s Post is a 15 part series of programs on everything Royal Mail: from the early history of the postal service, to reforms and modern day challenges. Most of the episodes are still available on BBC4's website for everyone to hear though, so we thought it was worth sharing with you.

If you have a bit of time, give it a listen! And as always, we appreciate your tips on all-things related to mail — if you know of interesting stuff we should check out, leave a comment or shoot us an email. 📬

Early last year we mentioned a project called Dear Data, in which two ladies across the Atlantic exchanged drawn infographic postcards every week, detailing one specific aspect of their lives. Things such as complaints they uttered or compliments they’ve received, or even very specific things like animals they saw or doors they went through were all counted and sketched into white postcards, and then posted to each other. They kept it up for a whole year, collecting data and turning the experiment into a weekly ritual of discovery.

The project was so popular that it didn’t surprise me to discover it was edited in a book format recently, and I think it’s even better to browse the postcards this way, in an analogue format equivalent to that in which they came to life.

The postcard images remain intriguing and unreadable at first glance, inviting further investigation in order to decode them. The legends on the back though are super detailed and often contain several layers of information to add to their complexity… it’s astonishing to realize how much data they must have collected over the year!

The pages in-between postcards are also funny and often provide insights or little anecdotes into Stefanie and Georgia’s lives… like how they both discovered their love for Haribo gummy bears on week 17!

Slowly, throughout the book, you also realise how a conversation is happening between the designers through their correspondence, how they’re getting to know each other and thinking a bit more about their lives through the analysis that is taking place in real time.

All in all, Dear Data is a remarkable book, inspiring us to slow down and really observe what is happening all around… and then grab our pens to put all these interesting details into our postcards!

PS – Sadly, it’s also very noticeable on the book how badly US machines treat their outbound mail… Why, USPS, why?! 😠

Happy New Year, everyone!

We’re starting the year with excellent news: Belpochta (the Postal Operator of Belarus) has launched a second Postcrossing-themed stamp on January 3rd — almost exactly three years after their previous stamp launched. Here’s what it looks like:

The design, by Marina Vitkovskaya, mixes traditional Belarusian elements (like the folk embroidery and the blue cornflower) with a Happy Postcrossing message.

Victor (aka victorzenin), Evgenij (aka the_52cond), Maria (aka Ukurka) and Marina (aka Nelie) sent us some photos of the meetup that took place yesterday, to commemorate the stamp launch in Minsk:

Looks like everyone was busy writing dozens of postcards and maxicards… hopefully they’ll soon brighten many mailboxes around the world! 😊