Ah, what a party! 🥳 We don’t even know where to start recapping how wonderful October 1st was… The sheer number of postcards, gatherings, forum posts, and social media shout-outs was overwhelming in the nicest way possible — like being swept up by a wave of enthusiasm, shared by people across the globe!
Some weeks ago, we encouraged you to contact your library and organize a little “basket of postcards” for visitors to enjoy on World Postcard Day, and many of you did just that. From the US to the Philippines, Singapore to Portugal, we loved seeing pictures of your library displays. One thing I did not anticipate was that some Free Little Libraries would also join the event, with their owners putting a box of postcards for the library visitors to pick up. Whoa!
Also, lots of schools took part in the festivities as well, which feels extra special. For instance, Kosovo Post visited the children at an SOS Kindergarten in Pristina to teach them about mail and postcards, and invite them to send some to their friends in other classrooms. Imagine their classmates’ delight when a real postman interrupted their class to deliver those cards — so sweet!
Speaking of sweets, so many stamp-shaped chocolate cookies were consumed around here that we were permanently giddy the whole day. In our sugar rush haze, we hypothesized how cool it would be if one of the big companies that makes these stamped shaped cookies (or the ravioli we also consumed!) would sponsor World Postcard Day… what do you think? Should we give them a call? 😋
Sooooo many meetups took place (both organized by postcrossers and geocachers), and we loved spotting your group pictures on Instagram and other social media. Some museums also took part in the day’s events, with guided tours, workshops or postcard coloring activities for children. We saw a few commemorative postmarks as well!
On Postcrossing servers’ side, things went remarkably smoothly, without any major hiccups. Pfeww! October 1st always puts a lot of pressure on the algorithm, which has to frantically scramble to select addresses to send postcards to. So you might receive a few more postcards than you were expecting in the coming weeks, but things will slowly go back to a more balanced state. Over 96,000 postcards were sent on World Postcard Day through Postcrossing on October 1st UTC (and almost 105,000 across all timezones), which was the day with the largest number of postcards sent on Postcrossing yet! It’s not the first time we break a record on World Postcard Day, but it still feels unreal to see those big numbers… Thank you everyone, for making this day so special!
And speaking of big parties — today, October 9, is World Post Day, and also UPU’s 150th anniversary! UN General Secretary António Guterres has recently said that “The UPU is one of the earliest examples of multilateralism in action”, and we believe this is what the world needs right now: countries working together to foster a more peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable future.
Many countries are issuing special philatelic products to mark this momentous milestone, and this might be the case with yours, so check them out! If not, you can always print the commemorative postcard (available in different languages) to send some special postcards in the coming weeks or months. Print the postcard at your local print shop or online printing service, affix a nice stamp (bonus points if it matches the theme!), and voilà — you have a special card that celebrates the 150th anniversary of the UPU.
Happy birthday UPU, and happy World Post Day! 🎂
25 comments so far
As a border resident, China Post issued commemorative stamps and Hongkong Post issued first day covers. I will use the first day covers to send postcard today!
WOW!!
So happy to be a tiny cog!
Congrats to all of you hard working folks - you keep it all going for us to enjoy! It is very appreciated.
Wow lovely
Yey! Thank you for helping us, postcrossers, keep this hobby alive!
Switzerland issued a stamp to celebrate, exactly with the postage needed to send postcards to Europe. Already used them on postcards!
https://www.post.ch/de/standorte/briefmarken-und-philatelie/welt-der-briefmarken/2024/150-jahre-weltpostverein
I love this action of hospitality and peace!
Happy birthday UPU!
Happy Birthday UPU!!!! :)
We had ravioli on WPD! 'We' is me and a good friend, who joined Postcrossing as well. I send her a WPD-card that day, without her knowing. So that was a surprise in her mailbox, a few days later.
WPD is now called Ravioli-day as well. And we'll celebrate it every year as from now on.
I have sent 10 official WPD and 17 WPD to girlfriends and Postcrossers I met through the Postcrossing Community.
The first postcards are arriving and I must say, the heart warming words of my girlfriends as a reaction to my surprise postcard are saying it all. I wrote basically about what our friendship meant for me and thank them for so many years of their company! 💝
"Happy World Post Day! 🎉 What a fantastic initiative to mark the 150th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). We love the idea of connecting people globally through postcards – such a timeless and meaningful way to share experiences. Kudos to POST Luxembourg for offering a free Smart PostCard with the code 'UPU150'! We can't wait to participate in 'A Maximum Card for Maximum Fun' with Postcrossing. Thank you for helping us keep the joy of postcards alive! 💌✉️📬"
I found this post from the Luxembourg Post on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/8qKyDuhsqyVQ8PPh/?mibextid=WC7FNe
Happy birthday UPU, and happy World Post Day! 🎂
In my Country Romania, I discovered this event:
"The future of the envelope in the digital age" ✉️📬 " The relevance of traditional communication in a technological world."
https://www.facebook.com/Antena3Oficial/videos/2901958839955068
"The event also marks the launch of the "Keep Me Posted EU" campaign, an initiative that aims to provide essential resources and tools for modernizing the Romanian Post and adapting postal services to current realities." 💌✉️📬"
The October issue of the American Philatelist magazine ran an article on Heinrich von Stephan, who is credited for his work to organize the International Postal Conference in Bern in 1874, which established the General Postal Union (now the UPU). The UPU is still in Bern. He also introduced what we call "postcards"!
Russia issued a special stamp on this day
https://rusmarka.ru/catalog/marki/position/43994.aspx
Hiep Hiep Hoera ! UPU! and Happy World Post Card Day! ...Everyone...
Would you believe 306 postcards were taken in my "Take and Mail" World Postcard Day display at the Bordentown Library, Bordentown New Jersey USA. Of the 330 postcards available (I had to refresh the display often), 306 were taken! Library Patrons loved the Bordentown postcards!
Wow!! What a month of celebration!! 🥳 I had so much fun mailing out cards on World Postcard Day! 💌 In Australia, our post office released special stamps and matching maxi cards to celebrate 150 years of the Universal Postal Union. I was very excited when I saw these and of course purchased some to use! 💕
The Manna Filatelica in Manila was really great as it pretty much united the philatelist and postcrossers.
Back in 1949 the Royal Mail released a special stamp for the UPU's 75th birthday. They also released special stamps for the 100th anniversary.
Then in 1984 the postal museum had postcards made with the 1949 design. GB-1802187 and GB-1802188 are now on their way, the 1984 cards with 75th birthday designs, and with 100th anniversary stamps, on the 150th birthday! You'll have to wait until they've been delivered to see them though :-)
On October 9, 2024, China Post issued commemorative stamps for the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union(https://www.chinapost.com.cn/html1/stamp/24091/3316-1.htm)
Glad I was able to take part and sent out two postcards on World Postcrossing day!
Shhh! Don't tell them! I've sent WPD postcards to get the USPS WPD cancellation and addressed 5 to the clerks at the counter at my local post office and 1 to the staff as a whole to thank them for their wonderful customer service. I used older, unusual stamps, since at least 2 of the clerks like unusual stamps. It's a surprise!
传邮万里，纪念万国邮政联盟成立150周年
Sending mail for thousands of miles, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union
Congratulations. How nice to read this news and how you celebrate it. Thank you for sharing it.
I had a very special WPD this year: I was lucky to be able to send postcards from two different countries; Spain from Barcelona, and Germany from Berlin.
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