One of my uncommon interests is mail; I love any kind of mail but especially written letters, cards, and postcards.

There is something special about a written message that has traveled across towns, states, and even countries. The intention of taking time out of a busy day to sit down and write on a tangible card instead of sending a quick text message can have a powerful impact on someone. A postcard can be hung up as a token of friendship or even used as a decoration, a reminder that someone is thinking of you whenever you look at it.

I’ve been sending and receiving mail on a somewhat regular basis since 2019, and surprisingly I’ve never participated in the holiday dedicated to my favorite hobby: World Postcard Day! It takes place every year on October 1st, and this year, I invite everyone reading to join me in celebrating.

A Brief History

World Postcard Day was celebrated for the first time on October 1st, 2019 in order to commemorate the 150th birthday of the first known written postcard. Starting in the 17th century, postcards have evolved since the invention of the printing press and the improvement of the post office. However, the idea of servants reading messages was not very popular at the time.

In 1865, Heinrich von Stephan entered the Karlsruhe postal conference with a goal to make sending messages simpler and more informal. But yet again, the idea wasn’t popular until October 1st, 1869, when Dr. Emmanuel Herrmann presented the idea of shorter correspondence, and the Austrian Post was impressed enough to produce the first official post cards for half the postage price of a normal letter.

Postcrossing began the holiday in 2019 and has been something to look forward to every year on the website. I have been a member of Postcrossing since around 2020 but somehow I always miss it. You can see the first postcards I’ve ever received from being a member on the site here:

Even though I haven’t posted any postcard updates in quite some time, I have accumulated a good collection of them from all around the world, official postcard or even cardboard scraps. As long as it’s flat and fits the right dimensions, it can be a postcard. If you want to participate but don’t want to go hunting for postcards, you can make your own easily and for cheap. All you need is cardboard, scissors, a pen, and a stamp!

Will you be participating this year? Do you have any friends who’d like to know you’re thinking about them? Or if you’d like to hear from someone across the world, join Postcrossing today! If you are away from home, one thing I like to do is send a postcard to myself. It’s like travelling in time and it is a great memory and souvenir. I will be sending postcards on Postcrossing, Swapbot, and to friends and family.

I will be participating in Blogtober this year, so you will get an update on what postcards I send and receive there if you are interested! This will be my biggest writing challenge yet and I have many ideas and topics I want to write about for the fall season.

Thanks for reading, I will see you soon!