While I was in school I was always fascinated by the concept of Penpal, and I had my first penpal from Ukraine in class 7. After so many years I kind of looking forward to writing again and feel that smell of stamps, beautiful cards, and the traveling world from my home through their experiences. So I started to write postcards again, and in the past 6 months, I have written and received postcards to 40 countries of the world.
People across the world are so willing to write and share their stories and send beautiful stamps that my album is growing multifold now. In the following post, I will share some of the beautiful stamps that I received, and in this post, I want to write about postcards that I received and how it’s amazing to write again, apply postage stamp and wait for it to reach and same way excitingly waiting for something to arrive in my postbox.
Before I write about some of my postcards, let me tell you about Deltiology. And it is is the study and collection of postcards. So I would say is Deltiology one of my hobbies too.
When I started writing postcards and receiving them, I read bout an interesting postbox in a tree at Mossel Bay, South Africa. I got a postcard of the postbox but not a letter posted from there, I hope someone reading this can help me get a postcard posted from that post box so that I can get its postmark.
The story of this post office is fascinating too:
In 1500, a Portuguese sea captain named Pêro de Ataíde lost much of his fleet in a storm off the Southern Cape. Before returning to India, he wrote a message reporting the damage and warning of rough waters to the East. Ataíde tucked the message in a boot dangling from a milkwood tree near a spring where sailors often drew water. Miraculously, the message was retrieved by its intended recipient, Joao de Nova, the very next year. The tree became a de facto post office box, where sailors would exchange letters protected in boots, iron pots, or beneath rocks. Seamen would leave their messages behind, trusting that their countrymen would pick them up and deliver them to their correct destination, albeit very slowly. The tree, now believed to be approximately 600 years old, still continues to send and receive mail. A large post office box shaped like a giant boot has been constructed beneath the tree, where people can send letters anywhere in the world and receive a special stamp. Presumably, delivery now takes less than a year.
I got a beautiful envelope with a beautiful stamp from Belarus that comes alive when you download an app from the app store. How far we have come from normal paper stamps to stamps coming alive. In fact, I got a stamp from Portugal that has an LED in it and it lights up too. I will post about it when I write on stamps I got from penpals worldwide.
I love to write and receive a postcard and I made some wonderful penpals over the last 6 months who are frequent in posting and these I got from them. One from Portugal and another from Germany. If you see the card how beautiful it is and depicts the art on a card and other from Germany showing the city of Dresden. Not sure if I will be able to visit such a beautiful country but its worth travel from my house virtually listening to their stories. I got to know that Dresden is famous for Baroque - well, it was an amazing journey from home to Germany via this card.
I received a multiview card from Amsterdam about the beautiful architecture of houses and again got me mesmerized with beautiful houses which I can just see in this card and enjoy. Eva sent me that cards from the Netherland and told me about the beautiful houses and how she heard about world war 2 stories in her childhood. Another card in the picture is beautiful tree-covered with snow which I got from Haan which is in West Germany, and the card told me about town and its details. It’s amazing to experience to know about world seating at my house.
Who doesn’t love trains? Even today, I enjoy my train rides and meeting talking to passengers traveling along - and I also want to travel the world and experience their train services, but for now, I got this beautiful card of the train from the Czech Republic, and it brings all those emotions of traveling alive. In the same picture, you can see the beautiful city of St. Petersberg from Russia which I am hopeful to visit. Anna from Russia told me about palaces and squares of the city with so much enthusiasm that I felt I was there with her exploring city. Moving on to three beautiful cards that I received from Germany, France, and Malaysia. Card with the beautiful animation of suitcases and an animated character. On the card, Olaf (sender) mentioned about his life as a teacher and gave details around stamps that were used on the card. Card with a tiger and a young fierce lady came from France. The writer explained the city and little history of the France character of the card. And now a card from Malaysia on Doraeman. The card was perfectly shaped card with the beautiful stamp and to be honest it was my first experience with the shaped card. Really card sometimes surprises you and lets you travel and experience from your place.
The final 3 cards I am sharing here are from Malaysia, America, and Taiwan. In each of these cards, it came with beautiful stamps and I am really happy to see many people across the world are still want to write a postcard and wait eagerly to get them.
One of the cards spoke about the Oregon trail from America and Kim explained to me in the card about 2,170-mile historic east-west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. She also told me how her penpals welcomed her when she visited India and spent a month with them. Card from Taiwan is an illustrated card that shows different little things from the country, and Sandra who sent that card also used the beautiful stamp on the card. And the last card for today is a card from Pirates of the Caribbean movie and again its beautiful card from Malaysia and lovely stamp of wild animals to match on the card.
All these cards tell a story and I am happy to send and receive cards. If someone of you still interested in the sending and receiving card, do let me know and I will be happy to send you one from India. I have received 200 cards from 40 countries yet and its a long way to finish the world. Each card has its story and each card has its journey.
Oh, I forgot to show beautiful handwriting that I admire from one of the senders of the card, and I admire it totally.
In this quarantine since post offices are closed, I am unable to post 180 postcards - which I will post as soon as international operations begin at the post office.
Until next post, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay indoors.
My old post on the stamps:
First 10 Miniature stamps of India: https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Learning-through-the-Stamps-amp-Postcards-Part-2/td-p/2504055
The journey that took me to the amazing world of Philately : https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Learning-through-the-Stamps-amp-Postcards-Part-I/td-p/2501411
Thanks,
Sunil