Up until a couple of centuries ago, sending a letter was very different from today. For instance, postage was often paid by the recipient based on the distance traveled and the number of sheets it contained. Even after stamps were introduced, sending something to another country was an odyssey involving acquiring stamps from all the intermediary countries, and also engaging the services of private couriers, diplomatic channels, or securing transport along with the ship’s cargo… You can probably guess there weren’t that many international penpals back then. 😅
But this all changed in 1874! Heinrich von Stephan, the visionary postmaster-general of the German Reichspost (and the person who first floated the idea of a postcard!), suggested countries should meet and discuss the postal status quo in an international conference to see if they could work out a better way to do things. And they did! Representatives from 22 countries got together in Switzerland with the goal of reforming the postal sector and improving the efficiency and reliability of international mail. There were many technical issues to resolve… but after a few days of intense negotiations, they managed to put together a system that would be fair to all countries, regardless of their size or the volume of mail they handled. On 9 October of the same year, a date now celebrated worldwide as World Post Day, the Treaty of Bern, establishing the General Postal Union, was signed. The Union’s membership grew so quickly that it changed its name in 1878 to Universal Postal Union (aka, the UPU)!
The goal of the Treaty of Bern was to create a single postal territory for the exchange of international mail, simplifying and standardizing things. In practice, this meant that all members of the union allowed the free transit of international mail through their territories without additional charges, and also agreed to treat the delivery of incoming international mail the same way as domestic mail. The treaty also established uniform postal rates for international mail, making it easier and more affordable to send letters and postcards. It meant that items could be mailed from any one member country to another with just one stamp, no matter how far they needed to travel or how many countries they traveled through. This might seem like a small change, but it had a massive impact on how people communicated and did business across borders.
All of this happened 150 years ago, and since then, the UPU has expanded to foster collaboration between 192 member countries in the different areas that relate to mail. Whether it’s coming up with standards, supporting the development of e-commerce, improving quality of service and mail security, or helping to ensure that postal services are accessible to everyone, the UPU has been on top of it for decades. Every time you write an address, fill out a customs form or check a tracking code, you can thank the UPU for their work!
So this year, on October 9th, the UPU celebrates its 150th anniversary, and you can imagine this is a big deal. A few countries are planning to issue special stamps to honor the occasion, and Postcrossing has joined the celebrations too on the campaign “A maximum card for maximum worldwide fun!”
For this campaign, the UPU has designed a special commemorative postage stamp, cancellation mark and matching postcard, and invited postal operators to issue it in their country so that people worldwide can celebrate too. 😊 The postcard has a little blurb about Postcrossing on the writing side, encouraging the person to send out the postcard into the world and receive one back as a way to celebrate the work of the UPU. A few countries have confirmed their participation in this activity so far (Belarus, Nigeria, Oman, Russia, Lithuania, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates), but we hope more will join and that we’ll see many of these postcards traveling around the world on October 9th, which is World Post Day. Keep an eye out for them!
PS: If you’re curious to see what the UPU headquarters look like, check out this travel report from the Little Mail Carriers some years ago!
32 comments so far
150 Years... Time flies when you're having fun. 😀. Thanks Universal Postal Union for making it possible.
Glad there are innovative folks who dedicate their time to looking forward.
We have World Post Day Meetup.Happy postcrossing 😉
What a cool article. Thanks for sharing!
Danke für diesen Artikel👍🏻
Such an interesting and informative article! I hope the USPS will get on board with the postage stamp/postcard! 😊🇺🇸
Wonderful, thanks for sharing
Germany did issue a 150 year's of UPU too, but not this Design but a different one. I think this postcard won't be available either. Sad. But great 150 year's if joy and communication
WOW, a great anniversary! Thanks for the "backstage" work to help Postcrossing to be born!!! :D
Thank you for always offering some wonderful " Postal History" -- letters, postcards, stamps, museums and everything. These articles are great Postcrossing member bonuses.
What an wonderful and interesting article. Thanks for sharing! Love the stamp too.
The stamps are very beautiful and creative. I hope our country can issue them. But also hope to speed up to improve the efficiency of express transportation
Very interesting information, thank you. Let's see what our country will release by this date
thanks for sharing the history (Y)
I'm glad to tell you that Indonesia will release UPU 150 Year stamp, yeayy !! and i already print cards, hope i can make maxicards too :)
but i found that people are more interested in World Postcard Day, maybe because they're already prepare, swap many cards and arrange event to celebrate World Postcard Day
#Kudos UPU, Happy 150 Years!
Can't imagine what could we do without this super important organization :)
Thank you for sharing this!
As far as a maximum card is concerned, I don't really see any chance with our Deutsche Post. This year I received written notification from Deutsche Post that they are no longer producing maximum cards. But I have just sent an enquiry by e-mail and hope to receive an answer. The result remains to be seen.
Thanks for sharing this info. Australia Post will also be releasing on 1 October a Prestige Badge Cover. Same logo as UPU only limited number to 2,024, hoping I'll be lucky enough to get even one.
wow，this is a good piece of info
Great story thanks for sharing it. Happy 150 Years.
Thank you for the information.
Thank you for this informative article! I wish the USPS would get involved!
The UN has issued UPU 150 stamps: https://unstamps.org/shop/upu-150th-anniversary/
That is great.
Thanks for the article, I was unaware of the celebration. In Spain for now we do NOT have stamps of the 150 UPU.
Australia is issuing 2 stamps to celebrate one of which is an international postage stamp. I am looking forward to using them in October.
The UN will celebrate the 150 UPU anniversary with special stamps at the first UN Postcrossing meetup on World Post Day in New York, Oct. 9, 2024. More info here: https://community.postcrossing.com/t/wpd-meetup-united-nations-hq-new-york-october-9-2024/906025?u=aml
to the entry by Umsalie on 29 August 2024:
Hello, I received a reply from Deutsche Post today to my enquiry regarding the UPU maxi card. It reads:
As a matter of principle, we no longer offer maximum cards. Not even on the subject of ‘150 years of the Universal Postal Union’.
The following items are available from the Weiden service and dispatch centre *) for the requested topic:
1. special postage stamp 150 years of the Universal Postal Union (issue date 10 October 2024)
2. anniversary cover ‘150 years of the Universal Postal Union’
3. commemorative set ‘150 years of the Universal Postal Union’
*) www.deutschepost.de/shop
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
In France monthly magazine "L'Echo de la timbrologie" September issue (available only by year subscription) offers the UPU postcard in French language without a stamp nor cancels.
But pages 10-11, with the French philatelic representative to UPU, it explains readers how to create a maximum card with the gifted postcard for the "World Postal Day".
They admit a problem for a maximum card at short notice: readers has to find a stamp issued after the card and a corresponding cancel.
They present the North Italian Postcrossing event of 15 September by train.
Great idea. I just downloaded the sample card. Will surely send it to my next Postcrossing address. Thanks. 🙏
Wow... Thank you fr the information.
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