Postcrossing Blog

Over the forum, there’s a fun topic called “You know you’re a postcrosser when…”, started by Jenny (aka Axolotl_) back in 2021. We love seeing what people post there, so we thought we’d share some of the ones which jumped out at us (though it’s very hard to choose!).

One of the earliest posts by Jewell (aka jewelldelis) does seem like a bit of a giveaway, and other members have mentioned similar:

I don’t think I’m quite at that stage myself, but I do wonder sometimes if the person emptying the pillarboxes sees all my postcards pushed in at once and thinks “ah, it’s that one again”! Though it’s rare for me to send as much as Ksenia (aka Xute). She says:

She included a picture, too!

Sometimes it’s not just about us. It’s the way the whole family gets involved. For example, even Shannon (aka MystiqueDeep)'s kids are in on the Postcrossing fun:

It’s not just at home with the neighbours and the local postal workers, either. Kanerva has even been spotted as a postcrosser in a touristy spot:

I’ve been asked about all the postcards I was buying before, but they didn’t know about Postcrossing yet. Don’t worry, I told them all about it!

Quite recently, Sai (aka Boson) shared the fun facts about addresses that he’s learned because of Postcrossing. He says you know you’re a postcrosser when:

Check out his post to see the other things he’s learned!

On another note, Maggie (aka fire_maggie)'s suggestion got me thinking:

Clearly, I need to add this to my travel checklist… Do you know how to ask for stamps in many languages? I think I could manage French, and I always have my wife to ask in Dutch. After that I might be stuck. Better preparation next time!

For those who have a mailbox to open, Nadine (aka Amalaswintha)'s got a suggestion:

I’m kind of relieved I don’t have a mailbox, because I can definitely picture that happening to me. But Kasia (aka kasia_kiwi) has one I definitely relate to:

That was actually my only motivation to go for walks for a while. I used my Postcrossing cards to get me out of the house, because I wouldn’t want to disappoint anyone by not posting their postcards right away!

That was just a selection of all the fun ideas people have shared about what marks them out as postcrossers on the forum. It’s obvious how much time people take over Postcrossing and how much they love this hobby, and it gives us the warm fuzzies. (And as you can see from this post, I’m the same!)

What about you—do you think there’s something very specific that marks you out as a postcrosser?

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

Some time ago, Ana chose a number of the handmade cards from the forum to highlight on the blog. That forum topic is still going strong (do share your own handmade cards there too!) — and now it’s my turn to choose some of the gorgeous creations to share.

Let’s start off with a smile! These animals with googly eyes from Caro (aka Pigglet) really made me smile. Especially the sheep, with the mismatched eyes!

These lovely images introduced me to the concept of etegami, a Japanese art form which involves the combination of words and images to create a simple postcard. Etegami isn’t about creating the most beautiful or skilled picture, but about expressing yourself. These examples were made by Hikari (aka hikarin).

In the previous post, we’ve shown off some of the collage postcards people make. These ones made from a fashion catalogue by Nadja (aka Nadjafee) grabbed my eye — there’s a fairytale waiting to be told here, I think!

Öne (aka Radieschen)'s collages caught my attention right away as well: so much texture and colour!

We always really love to see unusual postcards decorated with different kinds of crafts, and here’s a lovely one decorated with batik fabric and crochet! It was made by Giffen (aka cutetaiki), from Indonesia. I do crochet myself, and can just imagine how interesting this is to the touch as well.

Since I just mentioned a card that should be interesting to the touch as well, this one’s something that engages other senses too: Tamara (aka tamara84) created a postcard by creating a sticker from a cross-stitched image, and then added a little lavender oil so that the card is scented as well!

Olga (aka OlgaMartik)'s beautiful embroidery sailboat had me wondering where exactly it’s going, and I really liked those wave effects!

Since we’re speaking of embroidery, here are some that really made the team smile. Ksenia (aka Xute) took up the needle… but found it less relaxing than hoped.

Inspired by Ksenia’s example, Ana (aka meiadeleite) has given it a try as well!

Turning to other crafts, Hanna (aka _Hawkwind_) invited everyone to guess about the owner of this striking silhouette… I think I know, do you?

Tatyana (aka Tatyana-Levina) has done some lovely (and personal) drawings for postcards, which I just couldn’t resist sharing as well.

I loved the idea of using maps to make postcards, so Christa (aka Chrizzie)'s globes are a favourite. It’s a really effective look!

And that’s a lovely note to end on… so let’s let all our adventures begin! And if you make your own postcards, we’d all love to see them.

Good news, everyone: Postcrossing has a shiny new forum! 🎉🎉🎉

Have you ever been to the forum? It’s a place for postcrossers to play games, arrange meetings, do swaps or just chat with each other, cementing the community bonds that tie us together. We love the idea of a forum… but for a long time now, we’d fallen out of love with the software we chose for it 15 years ago. It stopped being developed just a few years after we had installed it, and quickly started to show its age and limitations. The need for a separate login from Postcrossing itself was a hassle, and the lack of responsive design or support for languages that didn’t use Latin scripts were also issues that drove people away from it over the years… A technological upgrade that made the forum easier to use and in tune with the times was long overdue.

So over the past couple of years, we gave different softwares a go, finally settling on one that seemed to fit most of our requirements. We tested it first with a group of enthusiastic postcrossers, and then last month had a trial run with a larger group of active forum members, to understand how the forum would perform with more people on it. We were pleased with the results, and are therefore happy to announce that the new forum is finally live!

Some of the features of the new forum include the integrated login with your Postcrossing account, notifications when someone mentions you, group messages, aaaaall the emojis, easy upload of images, support for languages in different scripts, responsive design, wikis… 🥰 The list goes on and on!

Even if you’re not a “forum person”, we encourage you to login and take a look — maybe you’ll find a cozy place to chat with others in your language or geographical community, play a game of Tag with postcards of a certain topic, geek out about postcards or stamps (or maybe knitting or anime and manga!), talk about your favorite parts of Postcrossing or just generally hang out with other postcard lovers out there. Don’t be shy! It’s a fresh start, and everyone is welcome!

We hope you enjoy the new home for the Postcrossing community as much as we do — see you there! 👋

Many of you know that Postcrossing has its own forum, but perhaps the newest members haven’t noticed it was there… so we decided to properly introduce it to you on a blog post!

In the early days of Postcrossing, the community felt the need for a place to share ideas and contact with other members directly… and so the forum was added to the project, where it has been ever since. The forum is kept running by mundoo, soilian, geminiscp, jetske and swan, as well as many other volunteers who help guide the members in their own local communities.

In the forum, postcrossers share experiences, ask questions, organize meetings, play postcard games, look for special postcards, talk about their favourite artists and postcard series… among many other things!

To get the new members started, here are some of our favorite threads or sub-forums:

• This postcard made my day
• Bingo!
• Where to get postcards?
• Upcoming meetups
• How do you store your postcards?
• All about UNESCO sites and postcards
• Postcard and stamp art
• Lotteries
• Local community pages (where you can write in your own language)
• Amazing coincidence
• Postal Information and stamps

This is just a very small sample… the forum has over a million posts! So if you’re interested in exploring them, head over there! :)

Please note that you’ll have to open a new account to start using the forum, since it is a separate website – your regular Postcrossing login and password will not work there.

PS – Do you have any favorite threads? Share it in the comments!