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.
mail on the moon (California)
How my friends find such unique and exciting postcards I guess I’ll never know. Kimee and Michael are absolutely no exception to this observation. Would that I could receive mail postmarked from the Moon!
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
A former student of mine sent me this postcard after his recent trip to Hawai’i. The national parks are among the jewels in the US crown, although I’ve never been myself!
Nancy (France)
Voici la place Stanislas, “bâtie entre 1752 et 1756, sur les plans d’Emmanuel Héré, pour le roi Stanislas. Au premier plan, grilles de Jean Lamour, au centre, le musée.” Dans mon expérience, la France est pleine des jolies pièces dans tous les coins. Merci, Dominique!
Happy Year of the Rabbit (Illinois)
My penpal KAK sent me this great new year’s greeting! It’s really lovely; I’m excited to see what the Year of the Rabbit brings this year.
rainbow lobster (Massachusetts)
This delicious postcard comes from Nozomi who attended a conference in Boston. It’s funny to me that lobster is an ingredient now synonymous with haute cuisine but was once so common that everyone ate it.
Abitibi, Québec (Canada)
Mon amie Corinne m’a envoyée cette carte postale depuis un village près à son coeur à Abitibi. Voici la gare CNR à Senneterre. J’adore les gares par tout et j’admis que je ne connais pas de tout celles du Canada!
hand drawn Paris (California)
A former student of mine traveled to Paris on vacation and thought to bring this postcard back for me and mail it! What a thoughtful gesture - there’s so much to do and see and eat in Paris that I am truly touched he took the time to find a postcard and bring it back.
the power of reading (Oregon)
Truer words… as they say! This postcard comes from Linda in Portland with news of Bob, the neighborhood peacock, who irritated her dog Gus on Christmas day with his porch antics! Later, Linda found how irritating birds on the porch can be, too! Happy holidays indeed!
let it snow (Germany)
My penpal Carolin sent this delightful postcard capturing the warmth of a radiator (enjoyed by a wise cat) in front of the snow falling over a beautiful European town. It’s quite idyllic!
Objekt Specktrum (France)
J’adore cette carte, qui est venue grâce à Dominique. Même si cette carte postal provient du musée Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum en Autriche, je l’ai reçu depuis la france. Quel couleur si vif!
Kacie Lyn Martinez (California)
This stunning drawing/painting comes courtesy of Kimee and Michael; last year, Kimee got a calendar featuring art by Kacie Lyn Martinez and decided to — instead of recycling the calendar — repurpose it into postcards. What a terrific idea! (I admit that I don’t know if this is the right way up or not)
puppy play (California)
I don’t usually do this, but I’ve decided to hide the original postcard image behind a cropped version. While it’s not pornographic, it is erotic, so I’ve decided to put a cropped version here. If you prefer to see the original, you can click on the arrow to see it.
What a thank-you note to receive from our friends Julian and Salvo! We are equally as delighted to have spent a year in their company, eating and drinking together, talking and seeing shows together, and traveling together. Their sense of humor is one of my favorite parts of being with them, and this card is just a shining example of that.
Guangdong (China)
It’s rare to get more than one postcard from the same sender in PostCrossing, unless you’ve set up a private swap. This sender sent two great postcards - perhaps as insurance in case one didn’t make it? The first arrived last month, and now this one. I do hope to visit Guangdong sometime, including its capital city Guangzhou.
les Tuileries en Hiver (France)
Je pense que tout le monde doit connaître le nom de Robert Doisneau, même aux États-Unis, notamment pour sa célèbre image : le baiser de l'hôtel de ville. Voici une autre image de 1958. J'aime bien la statue nue recouverte de neige et le violoncelle recouvert de son étuil. Merci, Dominique.
Waseda University (Japan)
I received this postcard from my friend and former colleague Ken who just took a position at Waseda University this past year. Although we miss him terribly at work, I know that Waseda has a terrific instructor and administrator on their hands.
Joffe’s House (Russia)
The sender of this postcard says that her apartment is visible in the drawing right underneath the triangle to the right of the tower. The back of the postcard calls this “Joffe’s House” which is hard to find online. I did find this collection of photos on Wikipedia, so it must be famous somehow!
famous Shenzhen food (China)
This dreamy illustrated postcard depicts famous dishes from Shenzhen, China. The sender says that she hasn’t eaten any of these dishes, though! It’s delightful.
Iao Needle (Hawai’i)
Our neighbors Robynn and Oliver traveled to Maui earlier this month and sent this beautiful postcard. At first, I thought it was from Taiwan! This isn’t too surprising given the similarities between the islands (and their indigenous languages). I’ve never been to Maui but I really hope I get to experience its beauty in person soon!
Milano (Italy)
The last time I was in Milan (or Italy, for that matter) was 2005 after my TAPIF contract had expired. Unfortunately, the Duomo di Milano—pictured here—was completely covered in scaffolding for a renovation. Nonetheless, we found the city beautiful, even if we were only there for one night before driving to Lausanne and Geneva, Switzerland. This postcard comes from my penpal Lino and I am very attracted to the font design at the bottom, which reflects the Italian flag. It’s very clean and clever!
Frosty the Finnish Snowman
This is a beautiful illustration sent from my penpal Jussi, who writes that on the day he sent it (December 12), it was -9C (15.8F) and they had gotten about 5 inches of snow. I’m tickled that he used the US customary system of measurement for my benefit ,even though I think I’m pretty good at understanding metric lengths!