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
.png "Meetup Postcard")
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!
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