Whatever happened to postcards?
My childhood friend Clipper and his wife Ellie are leaving next week for what appears to be a wonderful boat cruise down the Danube River in Europe, starting in Germany and ending in Vienna, Austria.
When learning about this great trip, I instinctively said to Clipper, “Send me some postcards.”
Then, I realized that I have not received a postcard in years. Nor have I sent one. Holy cow. Whatever happened to postcards.
A relic. A thing of the past. Yes, they do sell them in some convenience stores, but who buys them?
I get it. Why send a postcard when you have so many other options.
A postcard takes some effort. You have to find the postcard to purchase; you have to put pen to paper and write out your comments (and there was an art to postcard writing); you have to know the snail mail address of the person you are sending it to; you have to write that down on the postcard; then you have to find the right postage to place on the postcard, which can be a challenge depending upon the country where you are traveling; you have to purchase the postage and affix it to the card; and finally you have to find a post office or somewhere else to send the postcard. A lot of effort.
Now, compare that to taking a picture on your phone and forwarding that via email or text messaging to the email or text number that you already have in your phone. So easy. So easy. Or just post a picture on your favorite social media platform.
Nevertheless, I have to say that I miss postcards.
- First, I just like getting something in my mailbox. Anything will do. It just feels good to open the mailbox and have something in it.
- Second, when I get a postcard, I know that someone has taken the time and effort outlined above to send it to me. It means something because it took some effort to send it. it created a personal connection.
- Third, I am dyslexic, and a postcard has a real advantage for me. Its size dictates that the writing has to be very short and sweet.
- Fourth, I love pictures, especially ones with lots of color. Postcards fill that bill.
- Fifth, I love the tactile feel of a postcard. It is bendable but sturdy. It has some character to it.
You can see that there are a lot of reasons that I am somewhat mourning the lack of postcards today.
However, I just realized that there is one more reason why I really miss postcards. I have a postcard collection!
How can I add to it if I never get a postcard?
Frankly I have not touched my postcard collection for probably some 55 years or so. I haven’t even looked at it. in fact, it is in a storage container in a self storage facility, to be cleaned out at some future time. i am sorry that i cannot access it right now, so that i could share with you some of my old postcards.
Still, I spent some time on creating this postcard collection at an earlier stage in my life. I was somewhat proud of it. the cards in it brought back memories. It had some meaning. And it was a way of cataloguing different destinations, trips, and eras.
it turns out that there is a word for the study and collection of old postcards. it is called deltiology, from the Greek deltion, which means small writing tablet. it also turns out that there is a word for those who are really into the frenzy of collecting postcards. it is called postcarditis. for those that are interested, the oldest continuously run postcard club in the United States is the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City, founded in 1945.
Ironically, the first known picture postcard was sent in 1871 from Vienna, where Clipper and Ellie will be alighting at the end of their dramatic Danube boat cruise.
Bottom line, I just realized that I miss postcards!!
Hi I just realized I miss post cards
Me too! One other problem with post cards is the sender usually arrived home before you got their card!
The nice thing about the cards, is people keep them. Cleaning out the belongings of the several estates I’ve acted on as Executor, I ran across cards I sent over 60 years ago to my parents, mother in law, cousin etc and those cards bring back vivid visual memories and voila! another bonus —the words inscribed tell of more things since kind of forgotten.
Neil – Lovely blog!! We’ll try to send some postcards from our trip down the Rhine and Danube Rivers in Europe! Clip
Yes, I believe this is a dying art. It is sad, of course. It was a way to connect with loved ones , and to let them know they were thought about on the trip. Honestly, now, an activity long lost. Gone! But we did receive one from France just recently-but like as you said, they were home well before. But it was still nice to get.- and know we were thought of.
Ah! And I have “35mm-slide/itis”, literally thousands of them, from 1960 on, my trips as a young (and older) married, across country, all over Europe when there in the Army, and many places elsewhere since, including Machu Pichu and even some under water. My wife was enough of an artist and she taught me how best to frame and compose a shot that I just know some of them are “good.” They are all in slide trays, ready for viewing, the Extachrome faded, the Kodachrome still fine, but filling a large packing box—which I say I’ll open and look at “some day” and get some printed. Yeah, right. But…
Thank you for the blog. You are correct 👍 I to miss postcards. It has been a long time since I sent or received a postcard. Something to think about. Many of your replies are right you do get home before your postcard arrives.