And the Best Postcard Winner is ...

First, this contest needs a name. I mean, aside from the Pimp My Postcard Galley Giveaway Contest, which is more or less what I was calling it in my head, but which lacks the esteemed tone and roll-off-the-tongue catchiness of the Oscars or the Pulitzers or the Iggies.

Let's call them the Posties, shall we?

And now, herewith, some Postie winners, counting down to the Grand Postie, which will be honored not with a boring ol' gold statue (meh) but with a signed galley (hooray!). Scroll to the bottom if you're the impatient type and/or want to see if you won. 

The Postie for Okay, That's Seriously Impressive and Kind of Freaking Me Out goes to a collective, the previously noted vast Pantone postcard conspiracy. Incidentally, said conspiracy shows no signs of abating and which, actually, is only gaining strength. I've now received Pantone postcards from Bali, Hawaii, New Zealand, Switzerland, Scotland, and something like sixty-three states. I think I'm up to nearly a hundred Pantone postcards now, and I'm starting to see some duplicate postcards. You know what that means? It means there's more than one pack of postcards out there in the conspiracy-mix; there's the potential for at least two hundred of these things if and when the conspiracy reaches its conclusion. 

These are just the cards that I've received since I last posted about the Pantone conspiracy.

A few favorite individual cards:

Does anyone speak computer?

Front. See below for back.

Back.

Note the first two comments. Forcing your kids to write postcards: cruel child-labor or noble life lesson? Discuss.

Caption trend: writing comments about the weather on the backs of  gray swatch postcards.
Three different people did this, including Shirley in Indonesia.

Front of the above postcard.

Switzerland ... 

Iceland ...

Pantone conspiracy masterminds, I salute you.

Indeed.

The Postie in the Great Effort Foiled By the Postal Service category goes to MB, who sent four different cards from Hawaii, each one with a single word on them: "Aloha," "Hawaii," "On," "A." Three of the postcards are pictured here below.

As you will note, however, "Aloha Hawaii On A" doesn't much sense, no matter how you shuffle around those words. It seems that there may be some other missing words--I'm going to guess I was supposed to get more postcards. I just hope the message isn't supposed to be "Aloha. I'm shipwrecked in Hawaii, on a shark-infested lagoon. Please send help forthwith."

Moving on, the finalists. 

This postcard, truthfully, is my overall favorite. It wins the Postie for Best Defacing of Photos of an Author:

Irn Bru is a vile but wildly popular soft drink native to Scotland, in case you were wondering.

Yes, that's me, along with Maren, my girlfriend fiancee (in other news, I just got engaged!). The postcard came from Ann Schaefer, my mother's friend and 1967 traveling companion, who was immediately disqualified because I was already going to give her a copy of the book. My favorite part about this postcard, though, is that it knowingly echoes a set of photos that Ann and my mother sent back home during their own European trip.

Mom's on the left, Ann's on the right.

In second place is a monster who wins two Posties, for both Best Use of Street Art in a Postcard and Most Surprising Pantone Postcard Conspirators. It comes from my friends at the Key West Literary Seminar, Michael and Kathy; Arlo and Ashley; and Miles and Alan. The endearingly goofy monster you see below is covering up a Pantone postcard (note to Michael and Kathy, et. al: Seriously, how did you get roped into the conspiracy? This thing runs way deeper than I thought ...). I forget the name of the street artist--you see these little creatures here and there around Key West--but I'm hoping someone will remind me in the comments.

And finally ... The Grand Postie. Winner of the galley and the bookmarks and a lifetime of bragging rights!

This card probably doesn't look particularly special on the computer screen. 

But those stamps weren't just Photoshopped on. Those are, no kidding, actual authentic vintage postage stamps affixed to the card. That. That is fantastic. And the card itself is from a 1935 ad in Fortune magazine, as explained on the back:

And on top of everything--on top of making a postcard from a vintage magazine and vintage postcards, on top of generally playing right into the retro-travel theme of my book--there's a fortune for me. Generous, no? And utterly fantastic. 

Congrats, Renee--you win the Grand Postie and the Europe on Five Wrong Turns a Day galley! Kudos on a job very well done. Email me your address (doug@douglasmack.net) and I'll send you the book ASAP. 

Finally, many thanks to everyone who sent me a postcard or letter. If you included your address, I'll write back. (It might take me a few more weeks, given the book launch and tour, but I won't forget about you.)

The contest is over, but please do keep writing!