Postcard Thoughts

[Teacher Man]

Pen pals are, for many of us here, both a way to connect with the world in a wimsical, old-fashioned manner, and a way to use as many of our pens and inks as possible. Sometimes, there is not the time to send long letters to everybody. At least, sometimes there is not enough time for that in my life.

 

So postcards become interesting. You can send them to pen pals as stepping stones between letters, to keep the conversation going, and to assure them that you are still there and have received their letter. They also allow you to use even more of your inks (at least, unless you are one of those pople who switch colour mid-page).

 

If you want to carry the postcard thing further, you can actually find people here who will exchange postcards with you (I have so far found three via this forum).

 

And you can joing postcrossing. I did that about a year ago and have so far sent out about 240 cards. There are unexpected nasty surprises, because many postcards are apparently allergic to many inks, or even all inks. But there are also delightful surprises, like the fact that Rebubble uses paper which has so far dealt with any ink I have used on it very beautifully.

 

Sure, sending postcards all over the world costs money. In my case, 90 cents per card the postage adds up, and postcards are not cheap, either. Yet there are so many fun, funny, interesting or just strange cards, and the only thing to do with them is to send them to somebody who will hopefully enjoy receiving them. So, on the whole, it is a fun hobby, and far cheaper than many other hobbies.

[CraigR]

I was involved in the postcard exchange here on FPN several years ago and really enjoyed. It was a great way to use my pens and inks. One of the aspects of the exchange that was of interest was the cards that were hand made or printed by the sender. Yes, postage is an issue for many of us as is the cost of the cards. When I was actively sending cards, I used postcards from some of coastal areas of southern California, where I lived. Very pretty. Then, I thought that I would print my own cards using photos that I had taken. The hunt for quality, fountain pen friendly card stock was the main problem.

 

When I was a boy, I loved short wave radio. I would listen to people from all over the world, look up their call signs, and send them a post card detailing the date and time of the contact. I would request that they send me a QSL card (a Ham operator's calling card). My bedroom walls were covered with hundreds of colorful cards from all over the world. Very cool stamps on some of them too. This was in the 1960s and postage was much less expensive.

 

Post card exchanges remind me of my QSL card days.

[Runnin_Ute]

I have on occasion done postcards, but the problem I have found often times is finding any sort of post card. Last May I was in St. George, Utah for a few days. Near two National Parks. (Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park) a State Park (Snow Canyon State Park) and maybe an hour drive to Cedar Breaks National Monument. Not to mention it isn't that far from Bears Ears and one other who's name escapes me at the moment.

 

Zion and Bryce are just a few miles away. You would think cards would be all kinds of places. Nope. I had to actually hunt (or go to the park, which wasn't on the agenda that trip)

[CraigR]

I have on occasion done postcards, but the problem I have found often times is finding any sort of post card. Last May I was in St. George, Utah for a few days. Near two National Parks. (Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park) a State Park (Snow Canyon State Park) and maybe an hour drive to Cedar Breaks National Monument. Not to mention it isn't that far from Bears Ears and one other who's name escapes me at the moment.

 

Zion and Bryce are just a few miles away. You would think cards would be all kinds of places. Nope. I had to actually hunt (or go to the park, which wasn't on the agenda that trip)

Agree. My wife and I traveled in our RV for many years, visiting so many beautiful places. But, it is very hard to find postcards from these areas any more. Guess the cell phone camera and social media have put a damper on snail mail photos and notes.

[sharonspens]

Agree. My wife and I traveled in our RV for many years, visiting so many beautiful places. But, it is very hard to find postcards from these areas any more. Guess the cell phone camera and social media have put a damper on snail mail photos and notes.

 

Oh, so sad. I love sending postcards to my pen pals when I travel, and I will hunt them down. I carry a sheet of postcard stamps just to be prepared.

 

I have an easier time locating them when I am out of the US, strangely enough.

 

Sharon in Indiana

[Runnin_Ute]

 

Oh, so sad. I love sending postcards to my pen pals when I travel, and I will hunt them down. I carry a sheet of postcard stamps just to be prepared.

 

I have an easier time locating them when I am out of the US, strangely enough.

 

Sharon in Indiana

And they are appreciated!

[Teacher Man]

Since there are so many non-travel-related cards out there, this has not really been a problem to me. I have a huge collection of cards of interesting places, paintings, amusing photos (like those of an army of miniature people manufacturing various foods)... There are just so many artists doing amazing postcard work. I agree that tourist cards seem to be disappearing. To me, that has not really been a problem.

[Teacher Man]

Since there are so many non-travel-related cards out there, this has not really been a problem to me. I have a huge collection of cards of interesting places, paintings, amusing photos (like those of an army of miniature people manufacturing various foods)... There are just so many artists doing amazing postcard work. I agree that tourist cards seem to be disappearing. To me, that has not really been a problem.

 

I mean, most recently I bought two boxes of cards, one with illustrations from the Winnie-the-Pooh books and the Alice books. I have a beautiful set of extra wide cards with images from the Star Wars films and concept art from the Star Wars universe (they hate nearly every ink, but they look stunning). A while back I bought a box of cards with illustrations from old science books. I am thinking about buying a postcard set showing the art of Da Vinci. So, tourist cards are often beautiful, but I don't think they make up even five percent of what I send.

[Studio97]

I was involved in the postcard exchange here on FPN several years ago and really enjoyed. It was a great way to use my pens and inks. One of the aspects of the exchange that was of interest was the cards that were hand made or printed by the sender. Yes, postage is an issue for many of us as is the cost of the cards. When I was actively sending cards, I used postcards from some of coastal areas of southern California, where I lived. Very pretty. Then, I thought that I would print my own cards using photos that I had taken. The hunt for quality, fountain pen friendly card stock was the main problem.

 

When I was a boy, I loved short wave radio. I would listen to people from all over the world, look up their call signs, and send them a post card detailing the date and time of the contact. I would request that they send me a QSL card (a Ham operator's calling card). My bedroom walls were covered with hundreds of colorful cards from all over the world. Very cool stamps on some of them too. This was in the 1960s and postage was much less expensive.

 

Post card exchanges remind me of my QSL card days.

I still have a few QSL cards from the early 1970s.

[thudthwacker]

I've been using almost entirely postcards for InCoWriMo this year. Much to my surprise, our stock of postcards tend to have more fountain-pen-friendly paper than our greeting cards (though, of course, a few have been pretty awful). I really like using them -- interesting to look at, and if you have the oversized ones, a pretty decent amount of room for a note.

[thudthwacker]

When I was a boy, I loved short wave radio. I would listen to people from all over the world, look up their call signs, and send them a post card detailing the date and time of the contact. I would request that they send me a QSL card (a Ham operator's calling card). My bedroom walls were covered with hundreds of colorful cards from all over the world. Very cool stamps on some of them too. This was in the 1960s and postage was much less expensive.

 

Post card exchanges remind me of my QSL card days.

 

Your bedroom walls covered with cards bearing exotic stamps is a wonderfully evocative image; thanks so much for sharing.

 

On the topic of postage, though, I did a little research (which you'll have to take my word on -- I didn't note the links): in 1963, a postcard cost 4¢ to mail. In 2018 dollars, that would be 32¢. Which, yes, is less than the 35¢ that is the current rate, but not by that much.

[Teacher Man]

Postage: Yes, sometimes rates go up and we grumble. But keep in mind: Compared to the many other things we pay for, and the money we are willing to pay forn them, it seems pretty decent to me that for 90 cents I can get somebody to carry a piece of cardboard from here to Japan in a week.

[Teacher Man]

Postage: Yes, sometimes rates go up and we grumble. But keep in mind: Compared to the many other things we pay for, and the money we are willing to pay forn them, it seems pretty decent to me that for 90 cents I can get somebody to carry a piece of cardboard from here to Japan in a week.

 

 

Note that in my case, "here" is Germany.

[thudthwacker]

Postage: Yes, sometimes rates go up and we grumble. But keep in mind: Compared to the many other things we pay for, and the money we are willing to pay forn them, it seems pretty decent to me that for 90 cents I can get somebody to carry a piece of cardboard from here to Japan in a week.

 

Note that in my case, "here" is Germany.

 

 

Oh, absolutely. In truth, just about the only time I ever have occasion to use the "¢" symbol is when I'm talking about postage. And, where I am, it's only $1.15 to send a letter anywhere in the world. Still a heckuva bargain.

[CraigR]

 

 

Oh, absolutely. In truth, just about the only time I ever have occasion to use the "¢" symbol is when I'm talking about postage. And, where I am, it's only $1.15 to send a letter anywhere in the world. Still a heckuva bargain.

I am still amazed that for 50 cents I can mail a 3 page letter to most anywhere in the US. That is door to door service. In most cases, delivery is in 2 days. Not a bad deal.

[Runnin_Ute]

I sent a number of cards for Christmas this past year. One was to a member here, who lives in Florida, he had a PO Box and it was send on December 7, 2017. Today it arrived in my mailbox marked Forwarding Order Expired Return to Sender by the Post Office. Guess I am going to try and resend it.