Postcard registering rituals - Poll in Post 67

Hey everybody,

I was wondering how do you register your cards? Do you have a special ritual you do or do you just register them?
Do you take the cards out of your mailbox and register right away? Do you wait until you have enough time to properly thank the sender?

Here is what I do:
I try to register postcards the day I receive them. I register at night when I am back from work. I usually have a bite to eat first and afterwards go to my computer. I sit down, look at every postcard, read the message carefully and register the card. If I was asked any questions on the postcard I answer to them in my Hurray-Message. Right afterwards I scan the postcard.
Then I move on to the next one.

Now I am curious to hear what your registering process is like.

24 Likes

Mine is pretty similar. I usually register the card the day I receive it.
My ritual is reading the message first and then have a closer look at the front of the card. Then I look at the stamp and try to read the date on the postmark.
Finding additional information like the distance written on the card makes me extra happy. :smiley:

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I have a kind of ritual too) I always check my mail box after school and if I have any cards I read them after lunch and go registering) I do it slow because it has a unique feeling=) After it I scan a card. I love this process :sparkling_heart:

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My husband checks the mail box after work. Post arrives really late here, so we don’t have to check earlier.
I always ask him, if there was any postcard.
If there was, I’m really happy, reading the massage and looking at the card. I’ll put them on my desk and go eat something or feed the baby.
When I have a few minutes for myself I read the cards again and register them on the same day they arrive. I always try to “answer” the massage in my Hurray-Massage.
Usually I collect 3 or 4 cards without picture to scan them all together. At the moment I collect all cards in a box, but when we are able to move into our own house later this year, I’d like to hang some of them on a wall.

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My mail comes very late as well. So I either pick it up after work or I go down to the mailbox several times until mail finally is there. :joy: On my way back up to my apartment, I first look at the countries. When I’m inside, I check the pictures. Then I firstly scan everything, including stamps that I didn’t know so far. Then I go to the website an register them one after the other and that’s when I usually read the message properly. I answer the sender’s message and usually chat a bit. Pictures are uploaded immediately. :blush:

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My first thought was: I don’t have any ritual. But then I realised - it’s the opposite!

If I have time, I collect mail during a coffee break in the morning. Otherwise, I check the mailbox after I finished working. I read all postcards straight away and then they rest on my keyboard for the rest of the day.

I register them (or send forum messages) usually in the evening, once I’m done with all work/home/social obligations so I can do it properly :slight_smile:

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I haven’t been on postcrossing very long so don’t quite know if what I do will become a ritual or if it will change over time.

I will check the postroom every day once I come home from work hoping there is a card there.

If there is a card there I will look at one side of the card first before the other side. Whatever side it has been laid down on in the post room. If it’s the picture side I try to guess which country it might have come from. Sometimes it may be obvious, sometimes not. If it is the side with the address I try to guess what is on the front. I will also read the message multiple times, and study the stamps.

If I have multiple cards I put them side by side on my desk so that I can see them all at once before registering them one at a time. After that they go either in my box or on the wall.

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Mostly I will get them out of my mailbox and read them first. Then I will scan all of them and take one by one, reading it again and register them. I will always (!) thank for the card and if I find something to connect to or a question was asked I will write about that. When something specifically catches my eye (picture side, decoration, stamp, handwriting) I will also mention it. Immediately after registering I will delete any uploaded image (if any) and upload my own prepared scan. Afterwards I proceed with the next card.

Though sometimes I might delay it until the evening… but mostly I will register it right in the afternoon.

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I do the same :grinning:

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I check my PO box about once a week. I always glance at who I get letters from and what country the postcards are from, but then I put my mail into my bag to be looked at later.

I like to sit down at my desk and read all the letters, check out all the postcards together. I usually read the cards once and remind myself to look at the front if I haven’t already.

Often I won’t register them till later in the evening. When I’m ready to do that, I look at the fronts again, read the backs again, check out the stamps and decorations, thinking about what I want to comment on to the sender. Once I’ve got all the thank you messages sent, I scan them all, front and back, and upload photos where needed. Then I set them aside to be filed when I have a larger stack.

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I have an additional step.

When I received a postcard, first I enjoy looking at the postcard view, the stamp, cancellation, and reading the message and who mailed it to me.

Then I will scan both sides of the postcards and upload them in my postcard blog - as I have more than 1 postcard blog, I decided where I will upload my postcard. I will also write a bit of postcard and if I have time, google about the stamp used and comment about the stamp too.

I will register the postcard and use the first name only and location of sender in my blog.

Then I will physically store my postcard according to my by country system.

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I generally check my mailbox after dinner. I read the postcards and then I scan them, both sides. I read them again and register the cards, writing an appropriate message. I also upload my scans during that time if the sender hasn’t already uploaded a scan themselves. Then I put the postcards in a box which I will sort by country whenever I have more time.

1 Like

Mine is kind of funny!

I really hate getting underpostaged postcards. So I look only at the message side and check stamps. If something is either definitely or maybe underpostaged, I will scan it and ask the admins for guidance. If there is such a card (fortunately very rare!) I won’t even look at the image.

As the next step, I just register cards. Usually I register the German-language cards first and the English-language cards after that, just because it is easier for me. I try to mention all the things that caught my attention.

Once registered, if an image was already uploaded, usually I will “favorite” it because I am really lucky, and I usually get cards I like to remember. Then I will update the description with the attribution of the artist or photographer (or ask here in “help / who is the artist”) if there isn’t one.

As my last step, I will add the sending city to my map of “cards received,” assuming I haven’t received one from there before.

I really like registering cards! To me, it is like thoroughly chewing and appreciating your food.

1 Like

I’m glad that you made this topic! :blush:

My current ritual goes like this:

Getting the mail–My mailbox is mounted on my house, so all I have to do is peek out the window to see if the mail carrier has come (lucky me :four_leaf_clover:). I open the mailbox, see the card inside, make a little squeal of delight and/or a happy bounce, and bring the card inside to read.

Reading the card–Besides reading the message itself, I examine every little bit of the card: the stamps, the cancellation, the extra decorations, and any other text that is printed on the card (a description of the image, the artist’s information, where and when the card was printed, etc.). I always share with my husband where the card is from, and sometimes I share fun or exciting details from the message with him (e.g. if the sender has something in common with one of us, or shares a funny anecdote).

Registering the card–This takes me forever–often just as long as writing a card myself. First, I like to do a little online research about the card or the sender–about what is pictured on the card, about the sender’s city, about who or what is on the stamps, etc. I have learned a lot of cool things from doing this preliminary research. JP-1468931’s stamp introduced me to Maejima Hisoka, the father of Japan’s postal service and an all-around fascinating guy! HK-716554 had a really cool Bruce Lee stamp, and upon skimming his biography, I learned that Mr. Lee lived in Seattle, Washington (:blue_heart:) for much of his life, and was even laid to rest there. ID-346122 included a return address with what looked like a business name, so I looked up the business and found that the sender was the owner himself! Taking the time to investigate the details of the card often yields memorable results, for which I can thank the sender in the Hurray! message.

In my Hurray! message, I like to acknowledge all of the details of the card, especially the time and effort the sender has taken to personalize the card, which is often significant. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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I don’t know if you can call it a ritual, but I am very strict about the chronological order.
When I take them out of my mailbox, I make sure that they stay in this order.
The first one I see, will be the first one that gets registered.
I also store all my cards in chronological order.
Is that weird? :rofl:

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Not at all.

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I got my first card and regisetred as soon as possible. Because I know that feeling- you “know” your card is received but still not registered. You’re looking… then again… again…

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If I’m in when I hear the letter box I always go to see if there’s a postcard. I will usually read it as I’m standing in the hall.

I always at least thank the sender. if they’ve commented on my profile or asked a question I’ll respond to that.I wait until I’ve a few pictures that need to be added by using my phone.

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Normally I register cards the day I receive them.

I look at the picture, read the message and look at the stamps.

I then register the card.

I did however register a card on the day I came back off my holidays; account was inactive but card must of been delayed / sent a bit before I set it to inactive.
The card in question was from a country that takes a long time to arrive but as I said my account was inactive for properly two months.

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I started postcrossing right before I entered the university. I was afraid my postcards would lost somewhere in the dormitory so I added my parents home address. As a result when I came home (it was quite often that days) my parents made me dance :dancer: before handing my postcards :smiley:
I think that’s an old tradition in Ukraine, Russia and some other countries - dance when you receive a letter.

After graduation I changed my addresses a couple of times and then decided to write my parents’ home address again. Now we all have good cameras and messangers so my parents take a photo of every postcard from both sides so I can register it fast. They don’t read English a lot but they try to understand who sent a postcard if she\he likes coffee or tea (i gather statistics :innocent:) and I tell them if they were wrong or right.

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