In typical internet fashion, a recent online errand to buy stamps sent me tumbling down a rabbit hole. I was on the US Postal Service website to order more international stamps, and at the top of the stamp page there was this colorful product. Maxicards? Postcrossing? What’s this all about?
A few minutes later, I was reading about a charming little project started by a postcard aficionado over 20 years ago. The concept is simple. People log into the Postcrossing web site, click a button, and get the mailing address of another random site member, to whom they send a postcard. Once that person confirms receipt of the card, the sender gets put into the queue to receive a postcard from someone else.
It’s not a penpal site; there’s no expectation to maintain a correspondence with the people you receive postcards from. It’s just a way to have a completely analog, old-fashioned interaction with a random stranger. It reminds me of one of my major hobbies, ham radio, in which I talk to people all over the world whose only commonality is that we all like to play with radios. In fact, the reason I was on the USPS site in the first place was to get postage for the QSL cards I often exchange with other hams, after we’ve contacted each other on the air.
I don’t know whether I’ll become a consistent Postcrosser, but the handful of cards I’ve sent so far have gone over well. And I did go ahead and get a four-pack of those special Postcrossing maxicards, which I’ll be sending shortly, so that ad at the top of the USPS page really worked.
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