Postcrossing Blog

Remember the World’s smallest postal service we wrote about two years ago? They make tiny customisable letters that you can send to your loved ones, and which look like this:

Cute, right? It’s impossible not to smile when you get one of these in the mail! :)

Lea Redmond, the Postmistress of the Word’s Smallest Post Service, has recently teamed up with Chronicle Books to make a do-it-yourself kit that allows anyone to do those amazing tiny letters and packages at home!

The World’s Smallest Post Service kit comes with paper, pen, minuscule stamps, stickers, packing material and even a little magnifying glass, so that you can write and send your own tiny letters and parcels.

The kit is available at Amazon.com.

On the recent post about airmail fashion, postcrosser Suzan (aka Silencio, from Denmark) wrote a comment to let us know about her airmail labels collection and blog.

Suzan has been collecting these often overlooked labels and stickers for over 2 years, assembling a very respectable and intriguing assortment! Here are some of our favorites:

Her impressive collection includes some vintage gems like these old Swiss labels and these Dutch ones, which are irresistible! Thank you for sharing your collection with us, Suzan!

Got an interesting mail-related collection? Tell us about it in the comments! :)

You know the expression “an image is worth a thousand words”? Postcards do tell a lot about themselves just from the pictures, but what if they could tell you more by listening to them? That’s right, what if you could listen to a postcard? Impossible? We thought so too… until now.

They are known as Polish sound postcards (or Polish Flexi-Disc Postcards) and they existed in the 1960's in Poland initially as a way to give access to western pop music.

But how’s that possible you may be thinking? The trick is that those were not regular postcards but slightly bigger and squared. On the front, there was a photo as any other postcard, but on the back, it had an engraved recording that you could play in a traditional record player. You could even record your own personal message at the beginning of it. Neat, uh?!

To lean more about them, check this video of Mat Schulz, an Australian currently living in Poland that collects these sound postcards.

Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be produced anymore (and almost no one has a record player these days) but it seems it’s still possible to find some in Poland in flea markets or in collectors shops.

Do you know any place that sells them? Then let us know in the comments!

Present&Correct is our kind of stationery shop: filled with tastefully handpicked goods from all over the world, ready to brighten up any desk. Updated weekly with sophisticated items & retro finds, you’ll find that every single notecard, rubber stamp or set of masking tapes is a temptation.

Going through a bit of nostalgia? They have original telegram envelopes, old-fashioned library stamps, or kitschy postcard sets in funky popcorn bags.

Or perhaps you’d fancy something a bit more modern? Try this Stamp Sheet Wall Planner, the Stencil greetings card or the unexpected Chalk Clipboard.

To write this review, I spent hours going through the selection and trying to narrow my wishlist to just a couple of items to order. The checkout was quick & efficient, and the goods arrived within the same week (they’re based in the UK, but ship worldwide).

First, let me show you the Giant Button card, which is a cute letterpress card on the shape of a button, in a white envelope. The reverse of the card simply says “You’re as cute as a button”. How cute is that? Perfect to cheer someone up – instant smile guaranteed!

Then, we have the Russian doll card. This is a very clever card, where the successively smaller matryoshkas are folded into the larger ones. Even the envelope is pretty neat! :)

Two weeks ago, Paulo & I took a little roadtrip to Amsterdam. After much vla, stroopwafles and hagelslag, we ventured into the obligatory visit to postcard shops to stock our collections. And what better place to do this in Amsterdam, than 'Friends of Art’, in Keizergracht 510?

'Friends of Art’ is a postcard & poster shop in Amsterdam that is well-known amongst local postcrossers – and for a good reason! Their collection is so vast that they have it neatly organized by themes and artists. No matter how peculiar your subject of interest is, you can find a postcard of it here! Sacha Siebels, who runs the 'Friends of Art’, tells us that postcrossers often come to the shop with lists of requests, trying to find that special postcard that will make the receiver happy :)

A big part of the postcards sold in 'Friends of Art’ are printed by Art Unlimited, a Dutch company founded in 1981 by Jos Smit, who we’ve met during this visit. Being in the business of printing postcards for almost 30 years, Mr. Smit has a lot of stories to tell – he can pick a postcard almost at random and tell us something interesting about the work of art or the artist who did it. He describes Art Unlimited's moto as “a passion for pictures”, shadowing away from touristic viewcards and prefering to focus on postcards with paintings, illustrations or artistic photography. His approach to which ones get printed is rather simple: “If I like it, there are bound to be others who like it as well!”, he explains. If the sales of over 300 million postcards in 35 countries are any indication, he seems to have excellent taste! :)

Last Saturday, a large group of Dutch postcrossers visited the Art Unlimited warehouse & shop in Alkmaar, and reported back with lots of photos – and postcards! Check out Jetske's lovely photos from the event.

Can’t visit Amsterdam? Don’t worry! Art Unlimited's postcards are available in museums and stationery shops all around the world, or through their online shop.