50 Years of Postcards: Capitol-Beltway Postcard Club

 

What do you get when you combine postcards, a scavenger hunt, a room full of postcards, and people who love sending mail?

You have a great Saturday!

The Capitol-Beltway Postcard Club is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and we want everyone to come to celebrate with us!

On Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., we'll gather at New Hope Lutheran Church in Columbia, Maryland, for a celebration of five decades of postcard collecting, sharing, and friendship.

If you've never been to a postcard show or meetup, you may be wondering: What exactly happens at one of these events?

You don't have to be a longtime collector to participate. In fact, you don't even have to consider yourself a postcard collector. Whether you enjoy history, art, travel, writing letters, or simply discovering something new, there's something for everyone.

What Happens at a Postcard Meetup?

One highlight of our anniversary celebration will be a Postcrossing Meetup starting at 10 a.m.

If you've never heard of Postcrossing, you're not alone. Postcrossing.com connects people worldwide who want to exchange postcards.

Here's how it works: You register on the website and receive the address of someone who would like to receive a postcard. You mail a postcard to that person, along with a special identification number. When the recipient receives your postcard, they register it on the website. Then Postcrossing shares your address with another Postcrosser, who will mail you a postcard.

It's a simple way to connect with people around the world through mail.

I've been using Postcrossing for six years and have sent and received more than 5,000 postcards.

A Postcrossing meetup is a local event where people who use the website can meet in person. The website has an online forum where people can announce meetups and invite other Postcrossers. The Capitol-Beltway Postcard Club has been hosting meetups for three years at local stamp shows.

At a meetup, you might see tables covered with postcards, people writing addresses, exchanging cards, and introducing themselves to people they've never met before. Even if you haven't used the website, you're welcome to attend and learn more before taking the plunge.

 

A Postcard to Remember the Meetup

The club will print a special commemorative postcard for our 50th anniversary meetup. These postcards will be available for purchase—10 postcards for $5.

During the meetup, people will sign or stamp the backs of the postcards as they circulate around the table. It's a fun way to collect greetings from the people attending and create a souvenir of the event.

Many Postcrossers have their own rubber stamps featuring their names or profile names. I created one so I don't have to sign every postcard by hand!

We'll also have a Trash-to-Treasure table where people can bring postcards, stickers, and washi tape they would like to share.

One of the best things about a Postcrossing meetup is that you don't have to arrive knowing anyone. People come together because they already have one thing in common: They like postcards.

And postcards are a great conversation starter.

 

The Great State Sticker Postcard Hunt

We've also designed something different: a Postcard Scavenger Hunt.

Instead of simply walking around and looking at postcards, you'll have a blank postcard to decorate as you explore the celebration.

We've created stickers featuring state icons from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., including state trees, flowers, birds, and dogs. Each vendor will have a different sticker in a blue bag. You'll be encouraged to visit the vendor tables, find the stickers, and add them to your postcard.

Some of the most popular postcards feature state icons. People love to share their hometown pride, and these stickers are a fun way to celebrate the places we call home.

By the time you've completed the hunt, you'll have a postcard filled with stickers and a souvenir of your visit.

Everyone can leave the show with a postcard they've decorated themselves.

 

What Can You Find at a Postcard Show?

If you've never been to a postcard show, you might picture a few tables of old postcards. But these shows offer much more.

Postcard dealers bring boxes and albums filled with cards covering just about every subject imaginable: towns and cities, historic buildings, travel destinations, transportation, animals, holidays, art, advertising, sports, people, landscapes, and the wonderfully strange and unexpected things that somehow ended up on postcards.

My personal collection includes postcards featuring clock towers and postcards featuring stamps.

You can look for postcards from a particular place, artist, or time period. You can hunt for cards to add to an existing collection. Or you can simply flip through a box and see what catches your eye.

Sometimes the best postcard is the one you weren't looking for.

You might find a postcard of your hometown from 50 years ago. You might discover an old card showing a building that no longer exists. You might find a beautifully illustrated card, a funny card, a card from a place you've visited, or something so wonderfully odd that you have to take it home.

You never quite know what you'll find.

Make a Postcard

We're also inviting visitors to make their own postcards.

At stamp shows, we host activities that encourage people to decorate blank postcards. We provide stickers, used stamps, pens, and markers to help people create something of their own.

It's a great way to introduce children to postcards and teach them how to address and mail a card. But adults enjoy it, too!

There's something especially fun about making a postcard and then actually sending it.

A postcard doesn't have to be a masterpiece. It just needs to be something you want another person to receive.

 

Fifty Years of Postcards

The Capitol-Beltway Postcard Club has been around for 50 years.

But when we talk about 50 years, we're really talking about people. People who collect. People who send postcards to friends. People who search through boxes looking for that one perfect card. People who like the surprise of finding something wonderful in an unexpected place. And people who simply enjoy sitting around a table with others who understand why a little piece of cardboard can be worth keeping.

That's what we hope to celebrate on October 17.

 

50th Anniversary Open House

Saturday, October 17, 2026

10 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

New Hope Lutheran Church

8575 Guilford Road

Columbia, MD

Everyone is welcome!

Celebrating 50 Years of Connection

The Capitol-Beltway Postcard Club is happy to announce a special postcard created for our Postcrossing Meetup as we celebrate the club's 50th anniversary! We would like to thank Rosa Lopez for her wonderful artwork. (@RosaCLopez on Etsy).

For this milestone, we wanted a design that reflects what our club is really about: connection, friendship, and community.

Three Trees, One Community

The centerpiece of our postcard is three trees, representing the state trees of the three areas that make up our Capital-Beltway community: Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland.

But these aren't simply three trees standing side by side.

Look closely, and you'll see that their roots and branches are interconnected.

That connection is intentional.

Over the past 50 years, the Capitol-Beltway Postcard Club has brought people together through a shared love of postcards. We've exchanged cards, shared stories, explored collections, attended shows, participated in meetups, and made friendships.

The interconnected trees represent those relationships.

Our roots are the friendships and traditions that have grown over the past 50 years. Our branches represent the connections that continue to reach outward to new friends.

One of the messages we hope this postcard conveys is simple:

Keep reaching out. Keep connecting. Keep growing.

Send a postcard to a friend. Write to someone you haven't heard from in a while. Send a postcard to someone you've never met through Postcrossing.

Sometimes a postcard with a few handwritten words can create a connection that lasts much longer than the time it takes to write the message.

A Special Mailbox for a Special Anniversary

You'll also notice something else on our postcard: a special USPS mailbox.

The United States Postal Service has installed specially decorated mailboxes in select locations as part of the celebration of the United States' 250th anniversary.

Postcards have been part of our nation's story for generations. They document places, people, events, celebrations, and everyday life. They are little pieces of history that travel through the postal system from one person to another.

The trees on our postcard remind us that while we are connected by our roots, we are always growing new branches.

We hope the next 50 years bring new friendships and many more connections throughout the Capitol-Beltway community and beyond.

 

Let's Put Postcrossing on a United Nations Postal Administration Stamp

Let's Put Postcrossing on a United Nations Postal Administration Stamp!

Imagine seeing a Postcrossing stamp in your mailbox celebrating people who connect across borders through postcards. We can ask the United Nations Postal Administration to make it happen.

The United Nations Postal Administration welcomes stamp suggestions. Join other Postcrossers by sending your own letter of support.

The Stamp Advisory Committee will meet in the Spring of 2027 to review stamp themes for 2028, so now is the time to make our voices heard.

 

What Is the United Nations Postal Administration?

The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) issues postage stamps for the United Nations offices in New York, Geneva, and Vienna. It issues United Nations postage stamps that celebrate the UN’s work.

UN stamps are issued in three currencies for use at UN offices in New York, Geneva, and Vienna.

UNPA accepts ideas for future stamp subjects.

Learn more at:

https://unstamps.org/

 

What Is Postcrossing and Why Does It Matter?

Postcrossing is a worldwide postcard exchange project that connects people through mail. Postcrossing connects people across the world through postcards, regardless of country, age, gender, race, or beliefs. A simple postcard can build understanding.

Learn more at:

www.postcrossing.com

 

Why a Postcrossing Stamp?

• Builds friendships across countries.
• Encourages cultural understanding.
• Promotes peaceful connections between people.
• Celebrates handwritten communication.
• Inspires curiosity about other countries and cultures.
• Keeps international mail thriving.
• Demonstrates how a simple idea can build a worldwide community.

How to Write a Persuasive Letter

• Keep it to one page.
• Introduce yourself briefly.
• Explain what Postcrossing means to you.
• Focus on its global impact and worldwide interest.
• Mention how it aligns with the UN's mission, such as international friendships or peacebuilding.
• Thank the committee for considering your suggestion.

Ideas to Include in Your Letter

• More than 88 million postcards were exchanged.
• Participants of every age and culture.
• Every postcard is a small act of goodwill.
• Handwritten mail still matters.
• Postcrossing creates friendships around the world.

Mail Your Letter

United Nations Postal Administration

Stamp Advisory Committee

P.O. Box 5900

Grand Central Station

New York, NY 10163-5900

United States of America

 

 

One letter probably won't create a Postcrossing stamp. Hundreds of letters might get someone's attention. Let's show the United Nations Postal Administration that the Postcrossing community is ready to put friendship, cultural exchange, and postcards on a stamp.

If you want to share this information at Postcrossing meetups or other events, I have created a zine that you can print and fold as a handout.

Long Live Pluto!

One thing I love about Postcrossing is never knowing how someone will answer a question.

On my Postcrossing profile, I include a few questions for people who want a prompt for what to write on their postcards. One of my questions is: Should Pluto be a planet?

The responses have been all over the universe.

Many Postcrossers who grew up learning that Pluto was a planet think it should keep its planetary status. I understand the feeling. I spent my childhood memorizing the planets, Pluto was always there at the end of the list. It is hard to accept that the rules have changed.

Occasionally, though, someone comes up with a creative response. I've had people send me postcards featuring Pluto the Disney dog. And then there are responses like this one.

This postcard was mailed from Germany, and the sender painted it. It features Jupiter and Pluto orbiting together against a beautiful purple-and-blue space background.

I love the way Jupiter is smiling at Pluto, almost as if he's welcoming a younger member of the planetary family. And look at Pluto, he's wearing a crown!

I think that little crown says quite a lot about how the artist feels about Pluto's planetary status.

So, how do you think the sender answered my question?

Should Pluto be a planet?

I'll let the artwork speak for itself.

This is one of my favorite things about Postcrossing: you can ask a simple question and end up receiving someone's original artwork from Germany. You never know what surprise you will find when you open your mailbox.

Wish You Were Here! A Beachy Postcard from Historic New Castle

I have yet to make it to the beach this summer, so this postcard from my recent Postcrossing meetup in Historic New Castle, Delaware, was a reminder of summer.

I usually visit Ocean City, Maryland, but I also enjoy exploring the adjacent Delaware beaches. I love walking along the beach at sunrise, watching wildlife wake up as the sun rises. I have never found a message in a bottle, but that is always the dream!

I went back to Historic New Castle, Delaware, for another Postcrossing meetup at the library. I really wish more libraries hosted postcard clubs. It is wonderful to gather around a table with others who enjoy postcards, sharing cards, talking, and writing a few to send out into the world.

I loved this colorful beach scene postcard. At first glance, it looks like a classic day at the beach, but the longer you look, the more fun details you discover.

There is a sandcastle with a mailbox, an appropriate feature for a Postcrossing meetup postcard! A happy little crab is delivering the mail, while a purple octopus sails by in what looks like a tiny boat. There is even a little fin sticking out of the water.

The message on the postcard says, “Wish you were here!” This reminds me that I need to take a long weekend at the beach.

Of course, if you're visiting the Maryland or Delaware beaches, you'll see plenty of seagulls. They may look cute, but don't let them fool you. They are expert snack hunters! Protect your food if you don't want to become part of their lunch plans.

This was another fun meetup in Historic New Castle, and I'm always happy when a postcard gathering gives me an excuse to explore a new place. New Castle has a wonderful historic district, small museums, and other attractions to explore, so it's easy to combine a Postcrossing meetup with a little sightseeing.

And, of course, I left with postcards!

The artwork on this beach postcard is by Rosa C. Lopez, who creates colorful, whimsical designs perfect for Postcrossers. You can find more of her work in her Etsy shop.

Artist: Rosa C. Lopez

Etsy: rosaclopez.etsy.com

First Look at our BALPEX and NAPEX Postcrossing Meetup Postcards

I'm excited to share the postcard designs for the 2026 BALPEX and NAPEX Postcrossing meetups, provided by Linn's Stamp News.

The BALPEX postcard features Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. We chose this landmark because it perfectly complements the USPS First-Day-of-Issue ceremony for the Diagonal Flag stamped envelope being held at the stamp show. As the birthplace of The Star-Spangled Banner, Fort McHenry is forever linked to the American flag, making it a fitting design for this special event.

For NAPEX, we selected Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. The design reflects the theme of this year's show and celebrates America's 250th anniversary. It also pairs with the show's commemorative postmarks, creating a memorable keepsake for attendees.

A special thank you to Linn's Stamp News for once again supporting Capitol-Beltway Postcard Club Postcrossing meetups with these beautiful postcards. We can't wait to see everyone at BALPEX and NAPEX—and to send these cards on their journeys around the world!

Havre de Grace Postcrossing Meetup Postcard

I’m excited to share the postcard for our Havre de Grace, Maryland Postcrossing Meetup!

When I first started kicking around ideas, I thought I’d feature a bald eagle again. But since my previous meetup postcard already featured an eagle, I wanted this design to showcase a Maryland icon. That led me to the Baltimore Oriole, Maryland’s state bird.

I’ve never had the chance to see a Baltimore Oriole in the wild, but I’m hoping that changes soon. With Havre de Grace located near the head of the Chesapeake Bay and surrounded by wonderful natural areas, it’s one of the places where these birds can be spotted. Maybe this meetup will bring birdwatching luck! Until then, I’ll enjoy the goldfinches that regularly visit my flower garden.

To give the postcard a postal feel, I added a commemorative stamp. At its center is a blue crab, Maryland’s state crustacean. It’s a fun nod to the Chesapeake Bay. Including it may have had one unintended consequence: now I’m craving steamed Maryland blue crabs covered in Old Bay seasoning!

I hope you’ll join us on Saturday, August 1, at the Chesapeake Postcard Show at the Havre de Grace Community Center. Whether you’re a longtime Postcrosser or just starting out, we’d love to meet you. Stop by, sign some postcards, make new friends, and help us celebrate the joy of sending happy mail.