Postcards…did ‘ya send ‘em? Do you still?

[Fyrefox]

Now that summer is almost here, I’m reminded of being taken on family vacations, and the postcards that it was customary to send to folks back home then. Most gift shops at vacation sites had racks of picture postcards that they then sold at six for 25 cents. In the few square inches of space on the back of a postcard, you’d scrawl something stupid like “Wish you were here!,” then slap on a six-cent stamp, and drop it in a mailbox for a neighbor or relative to get, hopefully before you returned!

i don’t think that many people send postcards anymore in our era of cell phones and instant electronic communications. But have you ever sent postcards? Perchance, do you still?

 

[hollydolly]

I have often sent postcards in the past...the far past... and have received many too because I collect them..I have several albums full of Postcards from all over the world... Including many places in the USA..

 

[StillLearning]

My husband use to send postcards to our son when he was overseas on aircraft carrier. Our son use to carry them around and they would end up being ripped, smudged with dirt and food.

 

[horseless carriage]

Haven't sent postcards in quite a while but I still hand write all my letters. Official ones as well as personal ones, other than when I joined this forum, I have never used email.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

When I used to travel, I’d send them but now my travels are short spirts here and there. I might go to Ontario or Newfoundland so I probably wouldn’t and one.

I DO send cards and letters still though.

 

[RadishRose]

Now that summer is almost here, I’m reminded of being taken on family vacations, and the postcards that it was customary to send to folks back home then. Most gift shops at vacation sites had racks of picture postcards that they then sold at six for 25 cents. In the few square inches of space on the back of a postcard, you’d scrawl something stupid like “Wish you were here!,” then slap on a six-cent stamp, and drop it in a mailbox for a neighbor or relative to get, hopefully before you returned!

i don’t think that many people send postcards anymore in our era of cell phones and instant electronic communications. But have you ever sent postcards? Perchance, do you still?

View attachment 351522

Back when I was a teen I recall sending a few. None since.

 

[jujube]

I used to, but don't anymore.

I got so pi$$ed about the 17 postcards I mailed from Ecuador. I paid a fortune in postage, confirmed that I had the correct postage and that I had addressed them correctly AND dropped them at a post office.

NOT ONE was delivered. I'm sure someone just peeled off the stamps. I haven't mailed one since.

 

[Pinky]

I used to send postcards, but, not for a long time now.

 

[MrPants]

I used to send postcards, but, not for a long time now.

You'll appreciate this one!
I know a guy who deals in "distressed goods". I went to his warehouse once and he had an entire skid of one particular post card. It was a post card of Toronto before the CN Tower was built! I laughed and asked him what he thought he was gonna do with them. He said; "sell them to someone". I laughed so hard I thought I was gonna pee myself. Can you imagine how many post cards are on a skid? Thousands at least! I imagine he still has them

 

[Jules]

It’s been years since I sent a postcard. If a hotel had one in the drawer with the paper and envelope, I take all that loot and use the postcards as bookmarks.

 

[MrPants]

It’s been years since I sent a postcard. If a hotel had one in the drawer with the paper and envelope, I take all that loot and use the postcards as bookmarks.

Don't forget to grab those little plastic tubes of shampoo & moisturizer while you're at it
Although, I think they must have caught onto that because now they just have all that stuff in larger dispencers in the bathroom

 

[Jules]

Don't forget to grab those little plastic tubes of shampoo & moisturizer while you're at it
Although, I think they must have caught onto that because now they just have all that stuff in larger dispencers in the bathroom

I really hate those dispensers. And they don’t leave shower caps and shoe shine clothes very often now. It’s a rare pen that doesn’t come home with me.

 

[Olivia]

Now that summer is almost here, I’m reminded of being taken on family vacations, and the postcards that it was customary to send to folks back home then. Most gift shops at vacation sites had racks of picture postcards that they then sold at six for 25 cents. In the few square inches of space on the back of a postcard, you’d scrawl something stupid like “Wish you were here!,” then slap on a six-cent stamp, and drop it in a mailbox for a neighbor or relative to get, hopefully before you returned!

i don’t think that many people send postcards anymore in our era of cell phones and instant electronic communications. But have you ever sent postcards? Perchance, do you still?

View attachment 351522

Used to when I still traveled. It was a kick to come back and to see where I had been.

 

[Fyrefox]

The history of postcards is interesting, but too lengthy to go into here. They flourished in the later 19th to earlier 20th century, and earlier ones can be quite collectible. In addition to picture postcards that illustrated tourist attractions, some were comic in nature, and could be bawdy to the point of being termed “saucy.” Some were racist, sexist, and even vulgar, including subject material such as fat jokes. They can provide little historical glimpses into cultural evolution. Here are a few milder naughty examples…

 

[barbarak333]

www.postcrossing.com was fun and interesting for a while. I enjoyed reading member profiles and sending/receiving postcards to/from all over the planet. Then I wound up on the inactive list. Some of the diehard postcrossing folks have sent/received thousands of postcards.

 

[Fyrefox]

This dovetails with another thread about archaic expressions, because I can remember when the admonition to vacation-goers was to “Send us a picture postcard when you get there!“ In a bygone age prior to cell phones and the internet, communications weren’t instantaneous, and sending a postcard from vacation destinations was a way of showing folks at home that you had arrived, perhaps making them a bit envious.

Today with cell phones and the internet, being “away” is no longer the big deal that it once was. It’s like you can’t really get “away” anymore, since the cell phone calls, e-mails, or text messages follow you everywhere. You’re still always connected, and I’m not sure that this is consistently a great thing…

Getting or sending a picture postcard in the mail meant that you or someone you knew was having an adventure!

 

[TennVet]

When we travel my wife always looks for post cards at the hotel, in the airport, or in any shop we enter. She mails them before we start home and then is amazed that it sometimes takes weeks for them to arrive. In spite of this our grand children are always pleased to get one of those cards from Nana.

 

[Brookswood]

Yes. I use a service that allows me to upload a photo from my phone. I add the name and address of who I send it to along with a message. They turn it into a postcard and send it for me. The cost is about $1 each.

 

[Gary O']

Postcards…did ‘ya send ‘em? Do you still?​

Seldom

But may create one outa this pic of my Great Grand Pappy O'

He was larger than life

 

[OneEyedDiva]

I used to send them but not anymore.

 

[January]

Used to send them years ago. Probably decades ago, actually.

Not since the internet and I can send emails from anywhere in the world.

 

[Fyrefox]

Curiously, about the only postcards that I now get are advertisements rather than mailings from private individuals. If not ads, they are political promotions of candidates. Both fall into my “junk mail” category, with many addressed to “box holder” rather than to myself personally.

Thankfully, my post office maintains a large barrel-type garbage can on site, and most of such mailings I receive go right in there! The poor trees who died for naught…*sighs*

True postcards from days of yore have become rare and even collectible items. I kinda miss getting postcards from people off on vacation in those wild and wooly days before cell phones and the internet…

I belong most comfortably to an earlier age that is no more. That’s the problem, really…

 

[hearlady]

I still try to buy a postcard wherever I go. I keep a certain nice box for them. I have some old ones that were sent to me and some my mother had.
I rarely send one these days. I might start.

 

[Lewkat]

I used to send them, but with card services available on my computer, I send e-cards now.

 

[katlupe]

I remember sending them to my parents when I was away somewhere. The first one was on a trip to Canada with my uncle's family. I must have been about 8 years old at the time. When my father passed away and I started going through his important papers in a locked box what do you think I found? Every single postcard I sent to them over the years. Starting with that first one! Makes me glad that I sent them. I have no one to send one to now and I don't go anywhere.