Postcardist

Mary L. Martin owns the world's largest postcard shop. And just just recently wrote (with Q. David Bowers) A Guide Book of Collectible Postcards. We talk about the process that led to the writing and publication of the book, and then talk about the postcard collecting business in general. You can find Mary's book along with millions of collectible postcards at marylmartin.com.

I'm joined again by postcard enthusiast and sticker aficionado, Jim Lynch.

Long-time listeners of the show will recognize Jim from episode 60, where we talked about his extensive foray into the postcard world. In this episode, we expand on that topic…here's a list of what you''ll here us discuss in this eclectic episode:

• Stickers (including the Antiquarian Sticker Book)
• Postcrossing
• Art Throw Down
• Adult Coloring Books
• Where's George Postcard Exchange
• Sent Postcard Cataloging System
• SF Postcrossing Facebook Group
• World Postcard Day
• Where to Find Postcards
• Postcards from Singapore Post
• Food Packaging Postcards
• Covid Postcards
• Pandemic Philately FB Group
• Delcampe Auction Site
• USPS Cancellation Sorters
• Travel Trinkets Canada Postcards

It's not every day that we get to hear Navajo being spoken and I'm honored to have been joined by Navajo writer and postcard creator Sylvanus Paul. We talk about how Sylvanus got started with with writing letters and postcards; why he named his Instagram account Letterdoggy; how he writes meaningful messages on his postcards; and how his stand up comedy influences the jokes he sometimes writes on postcards.

October 1, 2020 is World Postcard Day. I asked Postcrossers to leave voice messages about what they'll be doing to celebrate. And 20 people answered the call from around the world -- from New Zealand, India, Philippines, Greece, Ireland, England, Canada and the United States. This is what they said.

Special thanks to Ana from Postcrossing for adding what they're doing at HQ on such a special day.

Postcards connect people. And this show is, once again, about another connection. I connected with Orla Hegarty over the past couple of years because of this show and because of postcards. Orla is a dedicated postcard creator and writer, a mathematician, a traveler, and a postmaster for Canada Post in her town of St. Vincent's, Newfoundland.

In this episode, Orla and I talk about postcards. And mushrooms (the edible kind, silly); Burning Man (where I suppose there are other kinds of mushrooms, too); The Salt Path; Punxsatawany Phil and Wiarton Willie; Newfoundland boil ups; Newfie tacos (I really gotta have one now that Orla told me about them); Feminism; stamps; Postcrossing, and the special cancellation Orla does from her post office.

Thats's the thing about postcard connections. It's a lot more than a piece of paper with a nice design and a note on the back. What I like about the connections is that I am on a journey of continuous learning — about people and cultures and faraway places. That's what this episode delivers — it's another opportunity to learn about the world from someone who communicates with great storytelling. Plus, name me another show where you can learn about Newfie tacos and Burning Man postcards in the same show. This might be the only one.

As with most conversations, there is just a jumping off point. Let's start this episode of The Postcardist Podcast chatting about…

Determining if mushrooms are edible

Burning Man Post Office

The Salt Path

Punxsutawney Phil and Wiarton Willie

Newfoundland Boil Up

Newfie Tacos

Goedel, Escher, Bach

Covid…can we produce a show now where we don't talk about covid?

Feminism stamps

Invisible Women by Carolina Criado Perez

Postcrossing

Special cancellation for St. Vincent's, Newfoundland

Marcophily (collection of cancellation stamps)

I want to spend some time in your wheat field. You're welcome to my roost. Finally alone.

On one level, Romance postcards from 1907 to 1913 seem innocent enough. On another level, they're purposeful double entendres intended to convey risqué intent.

In this raucous and experimental episode, Serece Tascione and I review 14 cards from my vintage Romance postcard collection and Serece speculates about what the real message is on the postcards. Basically, I laugh for about 40 minutes.

WARNING: THIS SHOW IS FOR ADULT AUDIENCES AND DISCUSSES THE EXISTENCE OF SEX AND INCLUDES SEXUALLY SUGGESTIVE HUMOR.. IT IS LABELED EXPLICIT FOR THAT REASON.

Here's a book about postcard history and the global phenomenon of Postcrossing writ large. On this episode of The Postcardist Podcast, author Masha Mokeeva and I talk about her book, Postcrossing: Book of Secret Knowledge. Masha walks us through the seven highly researched chapters of the book, including:

Postcrossing. About Postcrossing creator Paulo Magalhães, how Postcrossing works, what types of postcards are exchanged, and about the place of the idea of Postcrossing in the world of ideas.

Text on the postcard. This includes a very entertaining story of Alexander Asarkan, a theater critic who made postcards himself in the Soviet era and made art out of it. Plus, what and how to write on a postcard; why the text is very important.

Stamps and mail-art. How stamps become part of the semantic field of a postcard. Which are valuable, and which are ordinary. About the fact that mail art is conceptual art, and not just decoration of postcards with stickers.

The postcards. How postcards appeared and why they were ahead of their time and became the prototype of social networks. How and why to collect postcard collections. How to store postcards. About postcard people (including an interview with me!)

Postal history. The post offices in the modern world. How Postcrosser Elya worked in the Russian post office.

Postcrossers. Why people become Postcrossers. Interviews with Postcrossers. Postcrossing meetings.

The card store. A day in the life of Masha's store, Amelie's Cards. History of publishing and selling postcards worldwide. Interview with the owner of another store, where she says that the card is a source of inspiration and a sense of magic. Plus, Postcrosser's life hacks, Postcrosser's dictionary and 100 topics for the message on the postcard.

Russian journalist and author Masha Mokeeva owns a very successful postcard shop in Moscow called Amelie Cards. In this episode, Masha and Frank talk about the origin of Masha's postcard business, why postcards are so popular in Russia, the Russian collector Nikolai Tagrin, and the market for postcards in Russia.

This is part one of a two-part series with Masha. On the next episode, we talk about Masha's book, Postcrossing:Book of Secrets.

I'm joined this week by Anushka, who has created many postcard connections across the world with her energy in postcarding. We talk about postcard design, postcard connections, postcard swaps, and why I call her The Postcard Princess of Pune.

This week, host Frank Roche is joined by Tyler Sonnichsen, who has a huge collection of his great-grandfather's postcard collection from the 1930s and 1940s.

Tyler's great-grandfather, Ben Irving, was a musician. Traveling salesman. Vaudeville performer. And prolific postcard writer. Tyler has his great-grandfather's postcards…and all kinds of terrific stories to accompany them.

Tyler is a PhD geographer and comedian based in Michigan and Florida. He teaches Human and Cultural Geography at Central Michigan University. He's the author of Capitals of Punk: Paris, DC, and the Circulation of the Underground as well as work on the vinyl record industry and the history of Parisian hardcore punk.

You can follow more of his writing and research at SonicGeography.com. He released his second standup album, Modern Life is Awesome, on RainShine Records in 2018.