August Stats

 

A respectable month of activity in Postcrossing this August:  During the month, I sent 76 cards and received 65.  This month my ranking jumped to 25th highest Postcrossing member in the USA (with 83,875 members) based on number of sent cards.  Still #1 in Alabama.  Incidentally, the USA is only second most active among world countries in Postcrossing.  First place by a large margin is held by Germany.  The USA has collectively sent a little more than 118 million cards, while Germany has sent 160 million cards.  Germany has achieved this with fewer Postcrossing members; nearly 84,000 for the USA, and about 69,000 for Germany.  So per capita, German Postcrossers are nearly twice as active as Americans, sending 232 cards per member, versus 141 for Americans.  Germans end up sending 18.2 % of all cards on Postcrossing, while Americans send 13.4%.  But there is a glimmer of hope: in the last 30 days, Americans comprised 17.6% of all new members of Postcrossing, while Germans were just 6.3% of new members.  I wonder if this is new enthusiasm sparked by the newly issued Postcrossing stamp.  Just an interesting comparison. Write on.

Coast Guard Day

 On this day in 1790, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton convinced congress to fund the construction of ten small sailing vessels, revenue cutters, to enforce tax and customs fees in the newly created USA.  This was the beginning of a maritime law enforcement service that would directly evolve into today's Coast Guard.  Since then, the duties of the Coast Guard have changed and grown, and today it is also responsible for fisheries management, aids to navigation, lifesaving and rescue, and in wartime, various combat roles.  After the American Revolution, the US Navy was disbanded only to be re-created in 1798, so the Coast Guard is America's oldest continual maritime service.

Also on this day, some 175 years later, I was created.  So it is a coincidence that I myself had a short-lived and not entirely successful service in the Coast Guard.  For me, last year was a landmark birthday, but this year, as with most of them, I indulge in a bit of retrospection.  My life can no longer be called a short one, though I hope it lasts for a while yet.  I was born in the midst of the early space race- in the middle of the Gemini program, when the USA finally surpassed the USSR in manned spaceflight achievements.  And four-year-old me was around to sleep through man's first steps on the moon.  (My talent for sleeping through major world events as they happened is considerable, with Princess Diana's death and OJ Simpson's slow speed car chase just to name a few.)  My life has encompassed the space race, the Cold War, the Chernobyl accident, the digital revolution and birth of the internet, a major worldwide pandemic, and the utterly disastrous Trump presidency.  So it's never been dull.  And for more than the past 12 years (longer than Samuel Pepys), I've kept a daily personal journal to record and comment on world events, both large and small.  I wonder if it will interest some historian in, say, a hundred years.

Anyway, Happy 236th birthday, US Coast Guard!

July stats

July was a quiet month for Postcrossing, with just 61 cards sent and 71 cards received.  This brings my all-times totals to 12,432 cards sent and 12,426 cards received.  I'm happy to see that cards are getting through to recipients in Russia- 3 cards sent there this month and 7 cards received- so the sanctions seem to be truly at an end.  Despite my lackluster activity, I did move up in rank and now am 25th of more than 83,000 USA members in terms of total sent cards. (Still #1 in Alabama, too.)  As always, I'd intended to be more active in sending cards, but life seems to persistently get in the way of plans.  Here's to more Postcrossing in August.  Write on!

Turning 21

 In 2005, a couple of creative people had the bright idea to create a system that could connect people all around the world.  With some knowledge of computer databases they created Postcrossing, a project that facilitates the exchange of postcards between individuals who have never met.  Over the years, the system has grown to over 800,000 members in 207 countries.  Each month, this group sends nearly half a million postcards and have sent a total more than 87 million cards.  The distance they've travelled would cover 538,000 round trips between the earth and the moon.  I've been a proud member of Postcrossing for more than 13 years and have enjoyed every minute of it.  Happy birthday Postcrossing.  Write on!

June stats

 The Postcrossing stats for June are in, and during the month, I sent 85 postcards and received 79 postcards.  That brings my all-time total sent cards to 12,368, putting me in 27th place among the 83,000 Postcrossing members in the USA.  Still #1 in Alabama.  Good to see an active exchange of cards to and from Russia once again, after the recent resumption of USPS service to Russia.  Write on.

Back in the USSR

 It was about a month ago when I learned that the USPS had resumed service to Russia.  After years of sanctions and embargos, it was once again possible to send postcards from there from the USA.  Postcrossing first assigned me a Russian address on May 16, and several more in the days that followed.  Today I am pleased to learn the first of these cards has been received in Russia.  My card to Postcrossing member "Boring_Lydia" was registered a short time ago after travelling 5.077 miles in 32 days.  This opens up the 3rd most active country in Postcrossing to American members, and will provide more variety in the cards I send.  Write on!

Rare card alert- followup

 On June second, I sent my first card using the newly issued Postcrossing stamp to a recipient in the UK.  And today, after a journey of 4,217 miles and eight days, the card was registered.  Since then, I've sent many more cards with the new Postcrossing stamps, so Postcrossers all around the world are soon to see the results of years of work that resulted in these stamps.  A brave new era in postal mail.  Write on!

Rare card alert

 After a long day at work and a harrowing commute in a severe thunderstorm, I arrived home yesterday to find my order of the new Postcrossing stamps had finally arrived.  And this morning, I sent off my first one!  As I've mentioned before, the USPS Postcrossing stamp comes after years of petitioning by Postcrossing members to the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, the group that recommends new stamp designs to the USPS.  I had written my own letter to the committee several years ago, and never received any reply or acknowledgement, so I had come to believe it was a dead issue.  But then only a few weeks ago, I learned that a Postcrossing stamp issue would be at last released, as it indeed was at the World Expo stamp convention in Boston last week.  So today, the first maxi card (a postcard featuring the stamp image, an actual stamp with first day of issue postmark, and a matching stamp for international postage on the address side) went out in the mail today.  Hope you enjoy it, Richard in the UK!  Write on!

Back on the list

As I requested a batch of addresses from Postcrossing this morning to write some postcards, I was surprised to be assigned an address for Russia.  Because of US sanctions, USPS mail service to Russia has been suspended for the last couple of years.  I have been receiving postcards from Russia, but could not send any postcard to Russia.  Until this morning.  Not wanting to waste time and expense, I have tried to verify this change.  A check of the Postcrossing Postal Monitor page, and the USPS Service Alerts page shows that Russia is no longer listed as a suspended destination.  But it seems to be a very quiet policy change since I can find no specific announcement of a resumption of Russia service by any reputable source.  So I guess I'll take a chance and write the postcard and I hope it reaches you soon, Nikolai in Leningrad.  Stay tuned for any updates.  Write on!

Postcards of the future

 It's generally accepted that the first postcard was sent in Austria in 1869.  And for many decades, postcards were a convenient method of sending short messages, often compared to modern day text messages.  But only 30 years after their origin, postcards were used to predict the future.  A somewhat whimsical, somewhat serious collection of cards issued in France in 1899 sought to predict the state of the world 100 years hence.  This sort of futurism always fascinates me, mostly because we humans are so bad at predicting the future that when we sometimes get it right, it is all the more amazing.  For instance, the collection of French postcards predicted that in the year 2000, people would travel in submarines pulled by whales.  Or that firefighters would battle flames in tall buildings by wearing wings.  Yet some of the cards show future life that is recognizable to us today.  One, called "Correspondence Cinema" depicts electronic long-distance communication via voice and video, familiar to anyone with a smart phone.  "Electric scrubbing" shows the mechanical floor cleaner that mirrors today's Roomba.  So while postcards may not be a completely reliable forecaster of technological advancement, they continue as they always have to provide enjoyable amusement.

Breaking news: Postcrossing stamps

 For about as long as I've been a member of Postcrossing (well over 13 years), there has been an effort to create a US postage stamp design dedicated to the hobby.  In fact, many American Postcrossers have a plea in their profile urging everyone to contact the USPS Citizen's Advisory Committee to include a Postcrossing stamp design in each year's new stamp issues.  Many years ago, I myself wrote the committee on more than one occasion and never received any sort of response.  I'd given up hope that the USPS would ever issue a Postcrossing stamp, even as other nations continue to do so:  Germany, Estonia, and Czech Republic are but a few.  Well, today I was thrilled to learn that in May the USPS  will release a new stamp dedicated to Postcrossing.  The issue includes four different designs, and are triangular.  It will, of course, be at the international 1 ounce rate (currently $1.70).  Seems like persistence pays off, as they say.  I can't wait for the USA to join the family of nations with a stamp dedicated to Postcrossing.  Write on.

Rare card alert

 Today's rare card is a bit unusual.  It was not sent or received from an obscure, small country.  Instead, it is a card I sent to Denmark, a country that ended its postal system last year.  On December 30, 2025 the state run postal system, PostNord, ceased operations entirely, making it the first nation in the world to do so.  Reasons given were the decline of familiar person-to-person letters and other common mail, which has been largely replaced by digital communication.  And yet, Denmark remains a member nation of Postcrossing, and I was assigned a Danish address 17 days ago.  Instead of a national postal system, private couriers exist to provide the same service.  Think of it as sending a postcard by FedEx.  From what I can tell, it's an expensive option for Danish citizens to use the company, Dao, to send their postcards.  In fact, the Postcrossing member I sent my card to mentions in their profile that they live close enough to the border that they send their outgoing mail from Germany.  So today I present the delivery of a postcard I sent to a country without a post office.  Write on.

Feb stats

 Once again, my monthly postcard numbers fell a little short of my goals.  Real life always seems to get in the way.  In the shortened month of February, I sent 84 cards to recipients around the world, and received 94 cards.  This gives me a ranking of 26th among 78,000 Postcrossing members in the USA, and I remain #1 among members in Alabama. My longest distance card this month was one that travelled 8,179 miles in 90 days to Taiwan.  I sent off a batch of cards this morning, with a new emphasis on observing holidays throughout the year.  So a few St Patrick's Day cards are now on their way and will hopefully arrive around March 17.  Write on.

Achievement unlocked

 As an active member of Postcrossing for over 13 years, have been proud to tick off one landmark after another.  Today I mark the sending of postcard 12,000.  That works out to an overall average of about 77 cards per month that I've sent to recipients all around the world. Never could I have imagined when I started this project in October of 2012 that it would endure and grow to such a result.  Card # 12,000 went to Marks in Riga, Latvia.  It took 24 days to travel 5,024 miles.  I've spent untold hours selecting, writing and sending these thousands of cards over the years, and there's many more to come.  This landmark just inspires me to continue on with the effort.  Write on!

Blog to blog...to blog

 

In a recent post, I described how I had sent a postal cover to a blogger who solicits them, and it had been received by him in France.  In return for sending him these, he promises to send one of his own and I received mine two days ago.  He definitely has the right touch- the envelope has received beautiful hand stamp cancellations, as opposed to my lackluster processing plant high speed dot-matrix cancellation.  Also, in addition to the international postage, mine included a commemorative landscaped stamp of lower Manhattan, one of my favorite places in the world.  This is surely just a coincidence; I don't think he could have known of my frequent trips to New York City over the years.  And inside were included some picture postcards of Mende, the hometown of Daniel, my French correspondent.  Mende is an ancient community in the south of France, with a history that dates to Roman times, around 200 BC.  It is a cathedral town, and the Mende Cathedral is, like the more famous one in Paris, called Notre-Dame, and also is dedicated to Saint Privat.  This whole exchange has been very interesting.

2025 stats

 Happy New Year!  2026 is only a few hours old, and I am already up and Postcrossing.  Stats for last month and the complete year are already available, and it was a moderately active one for me.  In the last twelve months I sent 1,043 postcards to recipients around the world and received 1,012.  In December the numbers were 72 sent and 95 received, bringing my lifetime totals to 11,905 cards sent and 11,866 cards received.  That's a lot of stamps and trips to the local post office! Over the past year, I've made contact with 64 different countries, from American Samoa to Ukraine.  My Postcrossing rank is hovering around where it's been for some time: 28th among 77,303 American Postcrossing members, and #1 among 809 members in Alabama.  It's been a rewarding and enjoyable hobby in 2025, and I look forward to more of the same in 2026.  Write on!

Rare card alert

 As a Postcrossing member for more than 13 years, I've eagerly (but hopefully not obnoxiously) spread the word about my hobby.  Along the way, I've convinced a handful of family and friends to join me in sending postal mail to random strangers around the world.  But in sending nearly 13,000 postcards to randomly assigned people, it was only this week that for the first time I sent a card to someone I know in real life.  This rare card didn't go too far- just to Jacksonville, Florida to an old friend from my college days.  But in sending this first ever card to someone who is not a total stranger, I achieved another first in this hobby that has occupied so much of my time.  Write on!

Rare card alert

 For whatever reason, there are not many active Postcrossing members in central America, and therefore cards from that region are rare.  So it took over 13 years of Postcrossing for me to receive my first ever card from Guatemala.  Sort of.  The card itself is from Amsterdam and was sent by a Dutch Postcrosser who was travelling in Guatemala at the time he sent it.  So it has an ID number from that country: 2131, meaning I've sent nearly six times as many cards as the entire country.  In fact, there are only 23 registered Postcrossing members in the country.  All this makes for an exceedingly rare card, one I'm happy to add to my collection.

October stats

 A productive month for me on Postcrossing.  In October, I sent 141 cards to recipients around the world, and received 122 cards.  This brings my all-time total for sent cards to 11,759, which earns me the rank of 28th Postcrosser in the USA out of 76,696 members.  I also hold on to my #1 ranking among Alabama Postcrossers.  And on this cold November morning, I'm steadily writing cards that will go out in todays mail.  Write on!

Happy Anniversary

 

Happy Postcrossing-versary to me!  It was on this day, 13 years ago that I joined the worldwide postcard exchange project known as Postcrossing.  On that day, I mentioned on Facebook that I'd joined, little knowing what I'd be getting myself into.  Since then, it has grown into a hobby that I devote much of my time to, not to mention significant expense.  Over the years, I have sent over 11,600 postcards and have so far received about the same number.  From 116 countries around the world, postcard have come and gone, sometimes in days, sometimes in months.  But I value each one I send and receive, as a small symbol of a fellow resident on planet Earth; no matter how similar or different we may be, we share our humanity and our passion for postcards.  I've managed to persuade a few friends and family to join Postcrossing with me, but even more participate in other ways.  My wife and some other family members are now always on the lookout for new and interesting postcards for me to send around the world, and I deeply appreciate their contributions.  So far, I see no prospect of relenting in my efforts to dispatch postal souvenirs from central Alabama to the wider world.  It's a hobby I hope to continue to enjoy for many years to come.  Write on!