Postcrossing Blog

Since picture postcards were first created, they have been instrumental in documenting a locality’s history. Dating from 1905–1950, exaggerated and tall-tale postcards originated from the pioneer bravado of the western expansion and were extremely popular in the Great Plains and rural communities hoping to form an identity for themselves as a place of agricultural wealth.

These postcards promoted agrarian and wildlife benefits to a public that was aware of the exaggerations, and were used to facetiously advertise the products and unique aspects of a region. The common theme among the postcards was immensity; fishing, hunting and riding oversized animals, harvesting gigantic fruits and vegetables, or wheeling in massive sheaves.

While exaggeration postcards illustrated an object of disproportionate size, the tall-tale postcard added a caption, bringing the whole scene to life with anecdotal referential humor. The most well-know creators of these cards were Alfred Stanley Johnson, Jr., and William H. Martin. They created their masterpieces using trick photography, usually taking two black and white pictures, one a wide shot and the other a close-up. The enlarged close-up image was then cut and glued over the wide shot to create the embellished result.

Titles such as “Great Sport Fishing Here” and “Harvesting a profitable crop of onions in Kansas” helped further the intent of the image. Other designers painted their unlikely scenes or used a combination of photography and painting (an early day exercise in Photoshopping!).

Larger than Life: The American Tall Tale Postcard, 1905–1915 by Morgan Williams is a great volume on the exaggeration postcard, capturing “many facets of life in turn-of-the-century, small-town America and vividly bears witness to a unique form of creativity.” To check out more of legend William H. Martin’s work, visit http://www.photographymuseum.com/talltale.html.

By the way, all the images illustrating this blog post come from Brenda’s wonderful collection – check out her website for many more!

Michelle (aka MichelleW) hails from Dallas in the state of Texas. She’s an advocate for children’s cancer research, and describes herself as the proverbial “cat lady” in her neighbourhood – with 4 cats and a cat-themed mailbox to prove it! :)

Here is what she had to say to our interview questions:

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

In 2010, I was recovering from cancer treatments and my good friend, Aurora, showed me this “new thing” she was doing. She explained the process and showed me how to set up a profile. She kept saying, “just be patient, ” when it seemed like forever for the first card to arrive. And then it come and when I got the first card and then the second…I was hooked – completely! It was only the start of what has been an unbelievable experience.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Besides Postcrossing I enjoy some arts and crafts and like to find other members who like handmade cards. If I’m not writing cards, I’m reading a book, watering the plants or at the movies. I also try to support children’s cancer research hospitals by participating in walks or sending cards to kids in the hospital. I met far too many children during my time in treatment. I also have a small blog that I write mainly to show off the cards I send and receive every month!

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

I’m embarrassed to show you where I keep my cards-to-send! I have enough cards to send to the entire Northern Hemisphere. I started storing received cards in albums, but realized that was going to get too expensive – so I ended up with attractive boxes that are categorized by cards I get from the official Postcrossing site and those I get in Round Robins – my passion! The mailman was too shy for a picture.

I had fun finding different styles of letter drops during a trip to Canada this summer. And I was very happy to find my cat mailbox since I am without doubt, the cat lady of our neighborhood. My youngest cat loves to paw through the cards.

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

I have received literally thousands of cards through Postcrossing, but there is one that I will always remember and not for the front, but for the message, which said,

"Saturday, March 12, 2011
Hello from Yokohama, Japan! You probably heard about the big earthquake we had here yesterday. My husband I weren’t hurt but it was very scary and we were without power for 8 hours. I hope things go back to normal soon.

Have a great day!,
Lauren

Now Lauren is a Postcrosser. I’m not sure I’d be writing cards after a day after such a major catastrophe!

Have you inspired anyone else to join Postcrossing or start collections of their own?

I hope so – but I can’t prove it! I’ve found that you raise eyebrows in stores when you buy 30 cards or so in one transaction. I’ve had several people ask me what I do with them and many have written down the site’s address. I hope they joined. It’s amusing to have people ask, “You actually mail them…like with a stamp??”

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

At first it was receiving, but now I love the process of reading profiles and trying to choose a card that really fits the addressee. I also print my labels with graphics for that person – whether it is their avatar or country’s flag. When it is registered, I get a truly warm feeling in my heart when someone replies, “It’s exactly what I love and that’s my picture!” I also have to admit that I get a certain twinge of satisfaction when my cards are marked as “favorite.”

Is there anything that you are passionate about?

I am passionate about children’s cancer and cancer research for “orphan” cancers. My experience with a rare form of the Big C made me realize how much is left to learn. To see a five-year-old with a shaved head, big scar and waiting for radiation will break your heart but also amaze you when you observe their determination and laughter through their pain. I still keep up with one young man who beat a very deadly brain tumor. They fight so hard and I try to give whatever I can to help researchers with their work.

This year, politics and environmental issues have been uppermost in my life. I’m a liberal tree-hugger, which is not common in a conservative state like Texas! My efforts are geared primarily in reduction of fossil fuel usage and saving native animals such as the grey wolf from total extinction in the US and Mexico by big-business ranchers and petroleum interests who destroy their habitats. I can get rather heated on the subject of conservation.

We’ve discovered Irwin Terry’s wonderful blog by accident, but were instantly captivated by his passion and dedication to illustrator Edward Gorey. As his works are featured in so many postcards, we invited Irwin to write a post about this famous American artist. :) So tell us Irwin, who was Edward Gorey?

Edward Gorey (1925 – 2000) was an American illustrator, writer and humorist who lived in New York City and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Mr. Gorey wrote and illustrated over 100 books, illustrated hundreds of books for other authors, provided the animation for Mystery! on PBS, and won a Tony Award for the 1979 Broadway production of Dracula. He was also a postcard aficionado, promoter, and a postcard collector. From an early age, Mr. Gorey created and sent interesting correspondence to friends and family, much of which was embellished by hand.

In 1976 he created his first set of postcard images titled The Broken Spoke which appeared in Sports Illustrated and was also published in book form. He went on to create and publish sets of postcards with themes ranging from Neglected Murderesses to Scene de Ballet. From 1984 to 1996, Mr. Gorey created a special annual post card for National Post Card Week. When designing postcards, Edward Gorey took the nom de plume of Dogear Wyrde, one of the many anagram names he created.

Due to his signature style of drawing and amusing images, many of his illustrations have been used as postcard images. Today, the best place to find/purchase Edward Gorey – illustrated postcards is The Edward Gorey House museum in Yarmouthport, MA. The gift shop at the museum sells over 50 different postcard images as well as books of postcards created by Mr. Gorey.

For more information on Mr. Gorey, his postcard images and his work, you can visit my Edward Gorey collecting blog.

Today’s spotlight comes from Evanscrew, a family of four from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They like hiking and have an unusual hobby called Letterboxing. Intrigued? Find out all about it on this week’s spotlight!

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

We are a family of four and I love finding activities that are fun for us all, but also activities that we can both learn from and give back to. We participate in a hobby called Letterboxing (see next question) and there is a discussion board on one of the websites for that hobby that is all about Postcrossing. That is how I learned of Postcrossing.
What got me hooked was how educational it is—not only do we receive interesting postcards, but we also enjoy the great notes that most postcrossers include on the cards. I share the cards with my children, we put a pin in our world map if the card comes from a new place, and we learn about the place on the card.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

We love to read, go hiking and biking, and explore new places. One of the best hobbies we have found that combines many of our loves is called Letterboxing. Clues may be found on the internet that lead you to plastic boxes containing a rubber stamp (often hand-carved) and a logbook. As letterboxers, we carry a logbook and family stamp representing our trail name. When we find a box, we stamp our stamp into the box’s logbook and the box’s stamp into our logbook then carefully close and rehide the box for its next finders. We love to find and also plant these boxes. It is very important to be careful when letterboxing—both to maintain the natural elements around the boxes as well as to keep the letterboxes themselves safe. People intending to try this hobby should read up on the generally accepted etiquette for finding boxes and teach their children (if there are any) as well!

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

This is the Main Post Office in Falmouth. There are several smaller post offices in Falmouth that we sometimes use as well. Several postal employees automatically take out the stamp for hand-cancelling the cards when they see me coming!

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

We love all of our cards!! We are active in the forum as well, and love seeing what people choose for us!
This is of the World Map we have hanging in our home where the children put pins to mark where our postcards come from.

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

Honestly, it gives me a thrill to choose cards and stamps that I think a person will enjoy based on their profiles. And what fun—that is all we know about that person—what is in the profile—yet for a moment in time we are connected to someone in another part of the world as we prepare the card, knowing it will travel a great distance and hopefully bring a smile! Receiving cards that have obviously been chosen based on our interests is a thrill as well—that someone we don’t know in a place we may never visit has taken time to think of us—how cool is that!

Kristin (aka Volvomom) is a schoolteacher in Massachussetts, USA who shares Postcrossing with her sixth graders. Here is what she had to say to our spotlight questions:

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

I found out about Postcrossing in the US magazine ReadyMade. I was hooked from the start! As a child I started off with pen pals, which evolved into hosting foreign exchange students. My family has hosted from France, Bulgaria, Russia, and Norway, to name a few. Postcrossing seemed like yet another way to make the world smaller.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

My main hobby is my eleven year old twin sons. They are the light of my life! Each card I send has two smiles, which represent my sons.
Of course, my username indicated my other hobby – Volvo cars. I’m passionate about Volvos. I currently am on Volvo #5. It’s at 131,000 miles, but I swear it will hit one million miles someday!

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

I have to give a big shout out to the staff at the Chelmsford Post Office. They’re great with the volume of mail I receive! I also have to thank my dad and mom, who pick up my mail when I’m not home!

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

I have two postcards that are my favorites, out of so many, it was hard to choose.

The first is from user Thaddee_Calisson. It’s a vintage Volvo ad. I have this card framed and hanging in my home. It’s classic – in French and a Volvo. What more could I ask for?

The second card is an official from Anna in Sweden. What’s unique about this card is it was part of three cards. The other two cards went as officials to other users – one in China and one in Finland. I loved that I was part of a world puzzle!

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

I love meeting people from all parts of the globe and hearing their unique stories. Each time I receive a postcard I am reminded of the human experience.

Is there anything that you are passionate about?

I am passionate about education. I am a Spanish teacher to middle school students. Next year I will be teaching a World Cultures class once a week, so if there are any other teachers in the Postcrossing world who would be interested in working with me on this project, please let me know! I strive to teach my students tolerance and understanding, as it is a necessity in today’s world. Postcrossing is helping me do that with them. Thank you for that opportunity!