When I receive a lot of vintage and antique postcards, one of the things I love most about them is reading what it written on the back. There is just so much history there…and of course some personal stories, humor, sadness and more.
One thing I noticed frequently though is that there are so many postcards out in the world that were written on…but never mailed. I always wonder what happened that caused the writer to not mail out the card. Was there a reason for keeping it? Did it just get lost in the shuffle of other things? Were they keeping it for themselves? There are many numerous reasons which we will NEVER know the truth about.
So, I created The Lost Postcard Bandit.
The Bandit’s mission is to send out ALL of the cards that I come across that have been written on but never mailed. I mainly send them out to my friends and family and fellow postcard lovers, but every now and then I have an actual destination in mind. If the front of the card is someplace that still exists, I may send it to them.
I don’t say much on them. I typically just add the hashtag #thelostpostcardbandit – and to this day, there are many people receiving these postcards that have no idea they are coming from me. Some of them recognize my handwriting or postmark though and they sometimes will post pictures of the cards they received on Instagram and tag them with my hashtag for the Bandit. I LOVE WHEN THIS HAPPENS!!! Finding a home for these “LOST” postcards makes my heart happy.
Here is the very first card I mailed out. I am not including the recipients address for privacy reasons, but you can see what I am talking about with this example.
So, if you ever receive a strange postcard in the mail and you just aren’t sure what or why…you never know…THE LOST POSTCARD BANDIT may have struck again!!
Scott David Booker 