Postcrossing Blog

Raymond “Skip” Empey or Papa Skip is 69 y.o. and lives in Massachusetts, U.S.A.. His passion for lighthouse postcards led him to Google “postcards”. Check what happened next…

How did you come across Postcrossing? What got you hooked?

I have collected lighthouse postcards for years, I actually have thousands of them from 1900 through today. Always looking for a new source I Googled “postcards”. Needless to say Postcrossing was one of the items that came up. “Well this looks interesting”, I think that’s what a mouse says before he sticks his head in the trap. I remember starting with 5 cards and I very quickly got addicted. I have met many wonderful people. Some like a card and say thank you others write a comment or more. Some make an effort to find a card that you have mentioned in your profile and or put special postage stamps on the card. Everyone is different but by in large I have found 99.9% of the members are really very nice. I always write a small paragraph when I register a card and ask for a address so I can send a thank you card. It’s something I can afford to do but not something I expect anyone else to feel they have to.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

My biggest hobby is lighthouses, along with postcards, I also collect stamps, postmarks, books and photographs on the subject. My wife and I have visited all the accessible Lighthouses in North America and many hundreds around the world. During the Summer months I am a volunteer at Boston Light (1716) for the National Park Service and the U.S. Coast Guard. I also narrate harbor cruises for a Boston Cruise Company where I tell the history of the city, harbor and islands. I also narrate lighthouse cruises along the Massachusetts coast, four north of Boston and two south of Boston each Summer.

Show us your mailbox, your mailman/mailwoman, your postoffice or the place where you post or keep your postcards!

Picking up my mail.

Entering new cards into my computer.

Show and tell us about your favorite received postcard to date, and what makes it special.

I have because of Postcrossing hundreds of favorite postcards. When someone lives away from the sea and makes an effort to find a card picturing a lighthouse that’s a favorite. When someone includes some interesting comments that’s a favorite. Each day when I go to my mailbox and there is a card or cards they become my favorite. I have lived a very blessed life with a wonderful family and friends but because of Postcrossing the blessings continue to come as I am constantly gaining and developing new friendships.

Jocelyn, 39, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. For her, Postcrossing is a full time job. It must be, she receives an average of 5 to 20 cards a day. Learn more about Joce and her activities in Postcrossing.

How did you come across Postcrossing? What got you hooked?

Over three years ago, I was a big part of Flickr's The Biggest Group thread. We had a sub-thread called TBG-Traveling Postcards. I immediately loved the idea of sending and receiving postcards within the USA and throughout the world! I found Postcrossing through a flickr friend in The Netherlands (who is not on Postcrossing anymore) and I was immediately hooked – sending and receiving officials and participating in the forum. Wow! What a concept! I was amazed at how friendly everyone was! I would have never thought that so many people could be just as addicted as I am! I currently host the two largest round robins: Color RR and Photo RR.
I have met so many people through Postcrossing. It’s amazing how many friendships have developed over the past few years. I am very grateful to be a member of this wonderful site.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Aside from postcard collecting, I love to cruise! I have been on over 26 cruises that have sailed all throughout the Caribbean. What an excuse to cruise too – oops, I am out of postcards, I must cruise again to replenish my stock so I can trade! I live in the desert so I can’t get enough of the ocean. Photography is also a great love of mine. It’s interesting capturing unique photos of people, places and things. Postcrossing is a full time job (but a fun one!) so I don’t want to have any other hobbies!

Show us your mailbox, your mailman/mailwoman, your postoffice or the place where you post or keep your postcards!

Here is a photo of my mailbox where I run home to check everyday (except Sunday). Sometimes the box is full – I receive, on average, 5 to 20 postcards per day! I used to have a wonderful system to store my postcards (in photo boxes, alphabetically by country) but since I started scanning them and uploading to flickr, my system turned into a mess. A neat mess though! I have many bins of postcards that have been scanned, bins that are ready to scan and bins of cards available to trade. No matter how they are stored at the moment, I love each and every postcard I receive!

And here is a part of my postcard collection:

Show and tell us about your favorite received postcard to date, and what makes it special.

I absolutely love this postcard. It’s a simple wish for my birthday when I turned 39 in November 2008. The little girl on the card is blonde and just so beautiful. The girl reminds me of me, when I was young; so sweet, innocent and happy! The colors on the postcard are vibrant and bright and every time I look at the postcard it makes me smile. It was written and stamped from Thaddee Calisson, Paris, France.

A small town in Oregon (U.S.A.) is asking for postcards from all over the world. In return, they will send back their recently created postcards about their town. What else could we ask?

Here are the details:

I just wanted to invite all Postcrossers to contribute a postcard to an upcoming event:

Celebrating the Art of the Postcard

Help the Cornelius Post Office celebrate the joy of small works of art and personal communication. Cornelius is a small town in Western Oregon, known for hazelnuts, blueberries and vineyards. Here at the local post office we noticed that for visitors there was no way of sending a local postcard to share the cool things about this unique little town. We’re working on that! Share your postcard with us and get one of the ones we are producing!

Exhibition: Begins January 11, 2010 in the lobby of the Cornelius, OR Post Office.

Make sure to include your return address to receive one of our postcards in return and to be included in the list of participants.

Send your postcards to:

Postmaster
1639 Baseline Street
Cornelius, OR 97113
USA

Follow us at: http://postcardmailart.blogspot.com/

Have you sent yours?

Postcards tell us stories. About their journey, their sender, their origin. Their photo can tell a lot about the place where they came from and the stamps can share some history about the country too. But they still hold potential to tell much more. Thinking of this, Anna and Tess Knoebel have started Abe’s Penny – a micro-magazine in postcard format.

Each monthly issue of Abe’s Penny has 4 postcards that together form an artistic narrative prepared by a photographer and writer. The themes are random and unexpected and each issue has new artists that prepare the photo for the postcard and the accompanying text.

All postcards are mailed to its subscribers at the rate of one per week and they accept subscribers from anywhere in the world.

If you would like to subscribe to Abe’s Penny micro-magazine or if you are just curious about it, be sure to check their website and their archive for the previous issues. Let us know what you think!

Have you heard of Owney the dog? This dog was a postal sensation during the late 1880s to the 1890s. Of course, he’s still popular today but not as popular as he did during the climax of his career.

One day in 1888, a stray dog wandered into a post office in Albany, New York. The postal workers took the dog in for the night and the poor, little fella fell asleep on a pile of sacks which were used to carry mail. During the next days, the postal workers decided to keep him and gave him his very own mail sack to sleep on.

Some accounts claim that Owney became so familiar with the scent and texture of the mail sacks that he followed one wherever it was taken. Another account says that Owney’s sack was needed one day and Owney followed its scent as it was brought into a postal train. Whatever the real story was, Owney’s career as the Post Office’s mascot was launched through his love of mail sacks.

Owney would follow the mail sacks onto mail wagons, mail trains, and even mail steamships! Soon, the wonder dog was traveling all over the United States and the world!

In 1897, Owney died of a peaceful death. Through the various fundraisings performed by his friends and fans, his body was preserved and immortalized as an inspirational display – first at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the United States Post Office (USPS) and then at the Smithsonian Institution.

If you’d like to see more of Owney, he’s quite popular on Flickr. There are a few postcards with Owney’s image on them and these can be new ideas for your next postcard mailing!