Here are the postcards!
I’ve been collecting postcards since 2008. Since then, I’ve sent and received over 1800 postcards from all over the US and dozens of countries. I respond to every postcard I receive, so I’m always open for private swaps.
My origin story: Back when I was a young boy, I got the idea to write a letter to several world leaders, but I only ever ended up writing the US president and the Queen of England. I was so tickled to receive responses from President Bush and then Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II! Well, they weren’t directly from the world leaders, but rather from their staff members. President Bush sent me an autographed photograph (which I lost later in a show-and-tell accident).
One of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting sent me a very detailed letter, typed on Buckingham Palace stationery, answering all of my questions about the Queen’s horses and her corgis and her favorite foods. I marveled at the strangely-sized paper, the texture of the embossed coat of arms centered at the top of the page, and the stamps on the envelope. A real person had spent time reading my letter, responding to it, folding it and placing it in an envelope, and then more real human beings had taken the time and effort to transport it from London to some mail distribution center, to an airport in England, to an airport in the US, and back through the various USPS chains until it arrived in a plastic mailbox at the foot of my driveway in southeast Michigan.
I’m still fascinated by this process today, and all for less than the price of some chocolate! So I maintain correspondence with about a dozen penpals across the world, and send and receive postcards. At last count, I have a little under 2,000 postcards that I’ve received. Keep scrolling to see the most recent postcards that have arrived in my mailbox.
Mt. St. Helens (Oregon)
No, Mt. St. Helens is not in Portland, but it is part of the Cascades Range and the volcanic chain that stretches down from Canada to northern California. Mt. St. Helens famously erupted on May 18, 1980 after 123 years of inactivity. This view does, however, show the view of the eruption from Portland, Oregon!
gay pride (Netherlands)
In my PostCrossing profile, I invite people to send postcards that have an LGBTQ theme and to tell me about LGBTQ people where they live. I’m always a little embarrassed when people from the Netherlands or Denmark or Canada, for example, write about LGBTQ people because they have a much longer history of progressivism and celebration than we do in the US. This terrific postcard is a great reminder of that history in the Netherlands.
For example, t
he Netherlands was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage (2001), followed by Belgium (2003), and Spain and Canada (2005). Here in the US, we lagged behind them and South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, Denmark, Brazil, France, Uruguay, New Zealand, England and Wales, Scotland, and Luxembourg before permitting it nationwide in 2015.
le Pigeonnier, Eguisheim (France)
J’ai déjà réçu une carte postale de ce bâtiment, mais pas de ce point de vue. J’adore voir les ruelles étroites entre les maisons qui pendent sur les chemins! Je vois une mélange de l’architecture française avec celle des allemands dans ce photo-là. Merci à Dominique pour cette très belle carte postale!
PS - Avez-vous noté les cigognes en bas et à droit? Je sais que les cigognes sont nombreux en Europe, mais je ne connais pas la raison pour leur apparence ici.
Alsace (France)
Voici une carte postale de mon ami Dominique, qui continue à trouver des cartes postales si belles et intéréssantes. Celle-ci de la ville d’Alsace, que j’adorai visiter dans le futur proche. Malheureusement, il écrit qu’il s’est tombé malade avec le CoVID, sûrement du vague Omicron, mais heureusement, il n’a pas eu de mauvaise expérience grâce aux vaccins. Nous avons beaucoup de gens à remercier, surtout les medecins, réchercheurs, infermiers, etc. etc. qui nous ont sauvé du pire de la pandémie.
Canadian icons
This is the first postcard from my new penpal, Ray, in British Columbia. It features so many of the iconic elements of Canada and is a real delight to behold! Given how close my childhood home is to Canada and how frequently we traveled there, I’m surprised that I don’t know more of these, especially the food items. Maybe it’s because we didn’t have any close Canadian friends or family members? Of course, maple syrup and maple trees are quite popular in Michigan, as are Canada geese and moose. We have no grizzly bears in Michigan, but we do have black bears. We didn’t often have Loonies growing up, but our pockets were always composed of 10% Canadian coins. Outside of the dollar coins, they’re the same size, shape, weight, and denomination (even if the relative values varied). I was always scandalized when a vending machine - or worse, a store! - refused to accept Canadian coins.
Did you know? (Louisiana)
Our dear friend Laura is just wrapping up a year-long work trip to New Orleans - it’s hard to believe it passed so quickly! She sent this terrific postcard from the city she’s called home for the past several months. I love trivia and quick facts like this so much! I also can’t wait to hear more about what came out of the project!
San Antonio River Walk (Texas)
This postcard comes from my friend and colleague, Ken, who was recently visiting family in Texas in advance of a big move. How did I not know he was from Texas (or at least had family there)?!
If you haven’t visited the San Antonio River Walk, I highly recommend it. Especially on a warm evening, it’s a great place to walk around and shop and grab a margarita. I know it’s a tourist-trap, but it’s one of my favorite places in Texas.
tulitikkuenkeli (Finland)
This lovely winter postcard comes from Finland, where the sender was quite busy on the day they sent this postcard. I love the warm glow of the candle warming up this little angel!
Femme de profil (Madame Lucy) (United Kingdom)
This postcard features a detail from the painting Femme de profil (Madame Lucy) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and was sent by my former student XD. She traveled from the United Kingdom, where she lives, to Paris and later to Norway recently, and sent this postcard upon her return! It’s really beautiful.
great white shark dental hygiene (California)
This delicious postcard comes from YL, and must be a part of the great set that her boyfriend surprised her with earlier. It features one of my most favorite animals of all time - the great white shark (one of the few animals with a direct translation in Chinese) - with a truly fantastic speech bubble: 每天都會用完一盒牙線呢！If my translation is correct, it’s: I go through a whole box of dental floss every day! If they didn’t lose and replace their teeth so regularly, I’d believe it!
Lion Bridge (Russia)
This postcard comes from and English teacher who also speaks Spanish and French who writes that this was one of her favorite places as a child: the Bridge of Four Lions over the Griboyedov Canel in Saint Petersburg. Stunning!
Jazan Folklore dance (California)
Our friends Kimee and Michael sent us this terrific postcard from when Michael was living in Saudi Arabia. It depicts a Jazan Folklore Dance at Janadria Festival in Riyadh. I think this is the first postcard I’ve ever gotten depicting Saudi Arabia!
matchbox art (India)
This terrific postcard comes from southern India, where the writer tells me about the complex interplay between Hindi (one of the 22 scheduled languages of India) and Tamil (one of the local languages official to parts of the south of the country). This old matchbox lid features English written in the Tamil script, which I really love!
Lagrasse (France)
Voici la 70eme carte postale envoyée de la France par mon ami de lettres, Dominique. Malheureusement, il a écrit qu’il a aussi eu le CoVID-19 dans cette cinquième vague de la maladie. Il n’est pas seul; mon amie a aussi eu la maladie en Bordeaux, peut-être d’être allée au travail à l’université ou peut-être l’ayant eu par un de ses fils qui vont à la crèche. Je leur envoie pleine de santé, de positivité, et de paix pendant leurs convalescences.
Sydney Olympic Games 2000 (Australia)
This postcard comes from Australia, where the sender writes about how the 2000 Olympics still loom large in the collective memory. This postcard itself comes from when the Olympic flame was passed from Atlanta to Sydney, hence the Bald Eagle and the Kangaroo!
birds of North America (Oregon)
Linda worries that this card might be a repeat, but I don’t think it is. In any case, I wouldn’t mind because I love birds and I love LouPaper’s style! It was in fact Linda who turned me on to this artist, and now I’m working through several dozen that I bought a while ago. Thank you, Linda!
“My heart beats Hessian” (Germany)
This postcard is a response to my call for local, indigenous, and minority languages, and features a variety of German that translates roughly as above: My heart beats Hessian. Not only do I speak no German, but I know almost nothing about the other varieties of German that are spoken, so this is a real gift to receive!
Alfie and Olive play the crossword (New York)
One of Andy’s and my new traditions since the pandemic is to complete the New York Times crossword puzzle every morning without hints or cheats. We’re well into our mid-500-day streak already! After solve the crossword puzzle, we immediately turn to Rex Parker’s blog to see his thoughts on the puzzle, and it’s become a daily activity that we share over breakfast.
We recently sent a small token of our appreciation for his hard work and he thanked up with this postcard, designed by his daughter Ella Egan. I hope it doesn’t sound callous to ask this, but what joy have you found during the pandemic? Among ours has been the crossword puzzle and Rex Parker’s blog.
atlas of China
This postcard presents one view of China, and comes from a college student in China. She writes “First of all, I wish you and your husband happiness. You have courage.” Perhaps I’m reading too far between the lines but I’m happy to represent one possibility of happiness for folks all over the world.
a treasure trove of postcards (California)
These four postcards highlight the problems of my titling scheme. Although they were sent from California, two of them were obtained first in Costa Rica and one was obtained in Arizona. They come from a dear friend of mine, Marina, who collected these postcards during some fairly recent travel and work experiences, and makes some important recommendations to me and Andy. I so enjoyed receiving these cards as they definitely qualify as later-cards (one of my favorite genres of postcards).