Postcard registering rituals - Poll in Post 67

Postcrossing General Topics
30

I always let my cat smell the postcards, because she seems really interested in the nose-work inspection of all incoming mail. :heart_eyes_cat::love_letter::tada:

Collage 2021-01-23 06_51_35
Collage 2021-01-23 06_51_351024×1024 248 KB

Sometimes, if the sender has not uploaded a photo, I will add a photo with my cat, or if the card has especially nice stamps, I will add those to the photo wall for special memories.
Collage 2021-01-23 06_55_45
Collage 2021-01-23 06_55_45720×1193 213 KB

13 Likes
31

What is your ritual for when you receive a card?

Do you note on it the day received and from whom? Do you send them a message letting them know it’s arrived? How do you store your received postcards (when you don’t plan to display them)?

3 Likes
32

Yes I’m sending them a message letting them know it’s arrived.And I’m examine card what’s writing on it meaning of stamps etc.For example I received a card from China.So there was Chinese writing in stamps with help of Google Lens I translated Chinese writings.Then put it to my postcards box.

1 Like
33

I read the writing side, look at the stamps and see if they have spelled my name right. Then (if I remember) I look at the picture side. For official cards, I then register the card and write a message. After this, if the card has not been scanned, I take a photo and upload it. The final steps are a quick look at the sender’s profile and then the card gets filed away. Most of the time I put cards in a big box of cards I’ve got. Every few months, I look at the cards and choose my favourites which I then put in an album.

1 Like
34

I’ll pick up the postcards from where my family put them for me, I’ll have a quick look at the front and where the postcards are from, then I’ll start reading them, usually I keep the ones that are in an envelope (if there are cards in envelopes with my received cards) for last.
After I’ve read all of them I’ll open the postcrossing website, then I’ll enter the ID and read the message again, before writing the Hurray message, after I’ve done that with all my received postcards I’ll sort the postcards in the order of the ones that were sent later and first and put them in that order in my ‘received postcards box.’

35

Do you have any sort of sorting method?

Do you have any sort of sorting method?

So you sort them by the date the other member sent the card, then file them away?

36

When I receive postcards I do these steps in order: Read the card, take a little time to admire the stamps or decorations, look at actual image of the card, decide if I want it on my bookshelf for a while. If it is a Postcrossing official card, I will register it and write my Thank you and answer any questions in the card. If it’s for the forum, I will let the person know it has arrived; if they remembered to include their username. If not, then I spend some time searching. All postcards go into my singular postcard box; I have not devised a way to sort them yet.

37

No, it’s literally just a box on top of the bookcase. I slip them in and when I can’t fit any more in I sort them into three categories: album, bin and keep in box.

image
image4032×3024 2.65 MB

4 Likes
38

Let’s see, my routine is:

I pick them up at my PO Box, then I first make sure they’re all addressed to me before I leave the building (I once had one for another postcrosser in my box). I usually also just glance at the IDs to see what countries they’re from.

Once I get home I read the backs. I set them aside to register them.

I read the backs again before sending the thank-you messages. Then I often remember that I didn’t look at the front of them yet. :rofl:

I send the messages, then scan fronts and backs of cards. Set them aside again to be stored when there are more than just a few.

I store them in plastic boxes which I’ve shown here before:

They’re sorted by what’s on the card, rather than by country. So animals, art, etc.

1 Like
39

I don’t have a sorting method (yet) because I don’t have a lot postcards

40

I wait a little before opening my envelopes or reading my cards. I want peace and a cup ofcoffee or tea.
Sometimes I send a PM to the person who sent me what I’ve received, sometimes I do nothing on internet and I write him/her back.
IE: I had a swap, but this girl impressed me so much and I wrote her back instead of stopping after the swap.
And now we’re penpals :slight_smile:

4 Likes
41
  1. Bring cards to a place in the house that I want to sit down and really read them without distractions or interruptions. I always bring the cards into the house from the mailbox written side up.
  2. Favorite locations are the couch in the den, or at my desk. I’ve also gone outside on nice days on our back porch.
  3. I take my time and read each one, sometimes more than once. I look at the stamps, too, and see if I can read the cancellation. I also like to read any pre-printed info on the card as well.
  4. I then examine the defects or marks that the card endured on it’s way to me. It’s just so amazing to me that these cards are traveling thousands of miles between two homes for a little bit of communication with a personal touch! I like the dings, scrapes, and wrong cancellations, most of the time. I once received just the bottom corner of a postcard from Singapore. I was able to register the card and let the sender know what happened, but didn’t want another sent, and yet she sent another anyway, so that was a surprise!
  5. Then I look at the back of the card. I do love the back of the cards as well. That’s like the icing on the cake. Sometimes they fit my tastes more than others, but each card is special. While I do have a lot of themed collections, I ultimately feel this is about the connection made - the act of taking time out of one’s life to write a kind message to a random person and to brighten their day a little more.
  6. Then I sort the cards into piles by which - official, by RR, or by Bingo, etc. Then I register the officials and write a little note based on the info they gave me. Sometimes I will look at a profile, others I won’t. If the card isn’t uploaded yet, I will wait until I scan all the cards and then upload them.
  7. After I read them, I put them on my desk (I have a roll top desk, so they sit above me, on the lip of the roll top.)
  8. When the pile gets big enough, I then scan them all on my scanner.
  9. I upload them to Flickr and sort into their albums. I always put them in a country album, but then some will fall into 1, 2, or even 3 collection categories.
  10. After scanning and sorting online, I then move the images form the “waiting to be sorted” folders into my own digital collections on my computer.
  11. After that, they go into another pile on my roll top to then wait to be filed into my physical collections/countries.
  12. I have a lot of cards and haven’t quite figured out the best display solution for them yet. I appreciate both sides of the card, so it’s been difficult to come up with a solution that will fit my want/need to be able to see both sides. So, for now, the cards are filed by most prominent collection first (i.e. Christmas Inge Look card would file under Inge Look), and if the card doesn’t fit into one of my collections, it’s filed by country. I file them by using 5x8 sized manila envelopes with the country name on the front, then in alphabetical order. These are stored in plastic storage bins to protect from elements. The collections are currently in large regular white envelopes with the names of the collections on the flaps, which stick up, also in alphabetical order, and also stored in plastic storage bins.
4 Likes
42

There is already a topic about this here! Maybe someone can merge them?

2 Likes
43

Do you have any special ways of registering postcards, especially when receiving more than one card per day? For example:

  1. according to country sent from (first all from Germany, followed by all from the US, Russia, etc)
  2. according to travelling time (if identifiable), like oldest first, followed by those travelling shortest
  3. according to text written (first those with few text, where the registration message will also be short, followed by those where a longer registration message is appropriate)

Or do you have any other registration rituals I cannot think of? Please share.

I’m type 2, btw. :blush:

44

If I get several cards I mostly register first the cards from Germany, followed by cards from Europe, Asia, USA and then all others - so I’m type 1.

45

Any of the above, although I would include in 3 maybe, or a separate category, the ones written in German which require a bit more effort on my part to read and respond to (also in German). So language of writing also comes into play.

1 Like
46

If I got more than one card I would register them in the order they happen to be in my mailbox. I’d put them in a pile textside up and start registering. If there were cards from tags, I’d register the officials first and then tag cards. :slight_smile:

47

I’m type 2 as well. :blush:

48

I defenetly have a ritual:

  1. Take postcards from mailbox, quickly look through all messages and images
  2. Same day wait until children, husband and cat fall asleep
  3. Re read all the messages slowly and carefully, register cards one by one and answer personally on each card
  4. Next day, when the light is good take picture of postcard if missing
  5. Take picture of all stamps
  6. Put postcard in special folder, sorted by Contries
  7. Upload stamp images to Flickr

Phew that’s it :sweat_smile:

1 Like
49

I register the cards I receive in the order of how much I love them.

The best loved cards are registered first :two_hearts: :green_heart:, the least loved ones as the last ones to be registered. :wink:

If I receive an official card from a Postcrosser I know personally and like, he or she has their card registered first. :slight_smile:

Sometimes the order is hard to define!

2 Likes