Butterfly In The Attic: National Postcard Week 2016 Postcard Swap; A Celebration of Snail Mail

May 1st is the kick off of National Postcard Week 2016 ! A wonderful way to celebrate our hobby and passion of postcard collecting. It is simply a postcard swap!

National Postcard Week can be traced all the way back to 1911 but it did not take off until it was officially launched in 1984. This week was set aside for postcard enthusiasts to exchange and swap hand designed cards across the nation.

While "Postcard Day" can be traced back to 1911 the modern event, National Postcard Week, started officially in 1984 as a way for those of postcard nuts to exchange and swap our hand designed notes across the nation. It is also way to celebrate an iconic and very important national institution, our United States Postal System, USPS. While the postal system is not perfect, it is an organization that has solidified our country and provided services for hundreds of years. During times that communication just simply would not have been possible without it. The history of our American postal system is rich and although I complain just like most at times, it is an organization I am proud to support.

With all of the electronics, gadgets, text, and emails often our mailboxes are full of junk mail and bills; how much fun will it be to get tons postcards from all over the US (and maybe from other countries?) I'm game!

How to Join the Swap!

First you will need to design a card:

While the deadline is weeks away you don't want to wait to start your creations. Remember it will take some time to either have your cards printed or to make them by hand. But basically all you need is to create a postcard that you can send to each person on the list.

Some Ideas:

A reproduction of a favorite vintage postcard

An original piece of art designed by you

Photographs of your area, your hobby, pet, family gathering, you name it print it

Hand sketched images are wonderful and can be easily scanned and printed

Rubber-stamped or handcrafted

I have received vintage cards also which I love just as much as the handmade

Really the skies the limit

Make sure to include the message National Postcard Week 2016 somewhere on the card.

If you are creating your image digitally it is easy to produce several by printing them yourself or sending it out to get printed. I use Vistaprint since they are about the easiest and cheapest place I have worked with. I would love any of your suggestions in the comments.

Next Sign Up:

Deadline to sign up is April 17, 2016

You can Join the FB Event, National Postcard Week 2016, and send me a private message with your email and address

Simply send me an email with NPCW in the subject with your email address and the address that you would like your cards sent to at ButterflyInTheAttic [at] yahoo.com. Please do not leave your information in the comments since it can be picked up by anyone.

Note:

I will only use the information to create the mailing list and email the participants copies of the list. The addresses and emails I will not use this information for any other purpose or distributed for any other purpose other than the postcard swap.

During the week of April 17th I will send everyone a list with the participants for this years swap.

Lastly:

Send a card to each person on the list during the week of May 1st - 7th with the goal that they are postmarked within that time frame.

Now just wait for those beautiful card to come rolling in and enjoy!

From Last Year's National Postcard Week: