Postcards

September 15, 2004 10:47 AM

Postcards without photographs by Ansel Adams or Anne Geddes on them: do they really exist, or is it just a crazy dream? -->

Dear _________,

Wish you were here. I need more postcards. Can you help me?

I don't want to buy them, I just want to print out some nice ones and send them to my daughter, who's just started college, and is bemoaning the complete and utter lack of mail in her mailbox. I've been actively trying to find halfway decent postcards online for over an hour or so (don't want to tax you all unnecessarily, you know) and I really can't find any worth the paper that they'd be printed on. All I can find are babies and mountains. I don't want babies and mountains. I don't like babies and mountains. I want a whole bunch, so I can always have something on hand to shoot off to her. So are there any really nice postcards out there, preferably in pdf? And how about great photographs (vintage stuff, odd b/w shots) that I could use to make my own? I'd like links to some of them too, if you please. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,
iconomy

posted by iconomy to Shopping (17 answers total)

there was a service where you paid for less than a stamp and could sent glossy postcards to wherever. i remember them for having special radiohead ok computer cards. i don't think the same url applies but this was such a great service with very nice cards using us mail that i have to think it still exists somewhere. (i'd like to know)
posted by ethylene at 10:56 AM on September 15, 2004

Here are some Gorey postcards and some Escher ones and some fantasy postcards and some Van Gogh ones and... I mean, pick your favorite artist or style, put the name plus "postcards" into Google, and Bob's your uncle.
posted by kindall at 11:13 AM on September 15, 2004

[PepsiBlue] SnapFish lets you make and send postcards, through their site, from your digital images. I believe they're now also offering to create postage out of your images.
posted by Songdog at 11:33 AM on September 15, 2004

Print any cool image found on the web onto glossy cardstock, cut to a size no greater than 6" by 4.25", stamp it and go. If you're not careful, you might be infringing somebody's copyright, but that's never stopped me from doing anything.
posted by Eamon at 11:40 AM on September 15, 2004

martin parr has excellent postcards collections: see here or his official site here.

david shrigley has also done some fantastic postcards. see evil thoughts.
posted by nylon at 11:51 AM on September 15, 2004

Penny Postcards has some rather odd vintage stuff. Meant to be emailed but they're just JPGs, so you could print them out.
posted by Dean King at 12:27 PM on September 15, 2004

Response by poster: Oh these are all great suggestions, thank you, everyone. ethylene, I'd like to know about that service too...sounds intriguing.

Dean King, you are my hero. These images are fabulous, plus, unlike most ecard sites, you actually get a nice, big, fat, printable jpeg when you click on the thumbnails. The images -- I love 'em! I've already printed out a few, and they're luscious on card stock.
posted by iconomy at 1:08 PM on September 15, 2004

If she hasn't moved too far away...
posted by hootch at 1:41 PM on September 15, 2004

;)
posted by Dean King at 2:18 PM on September 15, 2004

If a lack of mail is a problem, I'll send her a postcard. Seriously - email me her snail mail if you'd like. I just printed up a hundred postcards of my photos to advertise my first photography show in a couple weeks and I have, like, 94 of them left. (I was ambitious.)

I remember what it was like to be 900 miles away in college and the joy mail brought everyday. Even when from good minded strangers!
posted by Hankins at 7:16 PM on September 15, 2004

For the price of ink and cardstock, you might be able to buy some great postcards if you live near an art gallery or museum. Last time I was at the Art Gallery of Ontario they were selling off old postcards, 20 for $2.00. They were all interesting, eclectic images of paintings, sculpture, and photographs from the gallery. (No babies or mountains! Though I love Ansel myself.)

Alternatively I found this really great site: The Postcards of Luis Marquez, which has colourized .jpg files of photographs from the 1930s in Mexico, and also teaches you about the history of Mexican photographs. Very cool stuff.

This is a great AskMe question, and also, kudos on sending the cards - it is so nice when away at school to get mail, especially mail that isn't a bill.
posted by livii at 7:50 PM on September 15, 2004

To piggyback on here, are there any more great ecard sites? Some of the above have that option, but so many out there are horrendous. Taschen has some nice ones.
posted by fionab at 9:27 PM on September 15, 2004

how are you supposed to enclose money if you're sending a post card?
posted by sadie01221975 at 9:35 PM on September 15, 2004

I [heart] Tackymail.
posted by Vidiot at 10:39 PM on September 15, 2004

Response by poster: Hankins, I'll do that - how sweet!

sadie - hehe. Remember flex dollars? Who needs to actually mail money??

Everyone, again, thanks for the sites and ideas. I bought some beautiful card stock and some glossy stock too, and so far I've printed a few Halloweenish ones from the site that Dean King linked to, and they're really gorgeous. I like having the blank back, too, so I can doodle all over it. I'm having a lot of fun with this so far.
posted by iconomy at 6:02 AM on September 16, 2004

Another thing: on eBay, I've found dozens of postcards grouped together for ridiculously low bids. I've also bought vintage postcards of the university that friends or family attend -- it's a really cool thing to get in the mail, and usually gets posted on doors, walls, mirrors afterwards. Just search on eBay for the name of the school and add "postcard" and you're sure to get some fairly cool images.
posted by fionab at 7:30 AM on September 16, 2004

I guess vintage tarts are right out, eh? Though who wouldn't love to get this in the mail?
posted by taz at 8:34 AM on September 16, 2004