We Collect

Traditionally, people have sent greetings cards to connect with friends and family, marking important life moments and celebrations such as religious festivals and events.

By collecting people’s greetings cards and stories of different religious celebrations we seek to better understand how people use the post to connect during these moments.

Below are details of our current projects. This work is part of a our wider commitment to collect materials and experiences reflective of the UK’s diverse communities and cultures.

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Do you celebrate Ramadan, Diwali, Hannukah or other religious festivals?

Have you received a religious greetings card, postcard or letter? Perhaps you received a gift or ordered something for your celebrations that arrived through the post? If so, we want to hear from you.

To take part we would like you to suggest an object from your celebration sent or received via the post that you would like to donate to the museum. We are interested in:

• Letters, greeting or postcards marking religious celebrations that you have sent or received.
• Parcel packaging that contained items relating to your celebration.

We are interested in what the contents of these cards, letters or parcels have meant to you.

If you have an object or story you would like to donate, find out more about the process at the end of this page.

Take part in our project to document the COVID-19 crisis by submitting items you’ve received via the post during the pandemic.

We aim to build an expansive view of this significant moment in history by collecting physical objects and personal accounts that reflect the complex and shifting relationship people have with the post, including the very real impact on postal and delivery workers.

You can submit suggestions of items covering the period from March 2020 onward that you would like to donate to the museum, around these areas:

• Letters and Envelopes: We are interested in collecting letters and envelopes, whatever the content, as well as any mail art that you may have created or received
• Greetings and Postcards: reflecting how the post has enabled us to mark special occasions, without seeing each other in person.
• Parcels and Packaging: Across the country businesses used the post to continued trading during the height of the pandemic. We are interested in the parcels and packaging companies used and what the contents of parcels meant to you.
• Photographs and Posters: Postal workers were key workers during the pandemic and we have documented their experiences by collecting photographs of deliveries and posters thanking them for their work. We are interested in collecting more examples of these but would like to hear from delivery workers about other types of objects that reflect their lives in the pandemic.

If you have an object or story you would like to donate, find out more about the process at the end of this page.

How do I get involved in these projects?  

If you have something you would like to donate to us across any of these projects, please contact [email protected]. You can talk to one of our Collections Team, who will explain the process of donating an object or story.

Collections Development Policy

The Postal Museum is committed to ensuring our approaches to collecting are considered, respectful and ethical and are aware of our duty of care in undertaking this work. For more information about The Postal Museum’s collecting processes, see our Collections Development Policy (PDF). We are committed to ensuring our collecting is reflective of the UK’s diverse communities and cultures.

Permissions and Copyright

If we select your submission to collect, we will share the full copyright and permission information with you, so you can ensure you are still happy to donate the item and have the correct permission to do so. Should an object be transferred to The Postal Museum’s collection, the museum becomes its legal owner. All submission correspondence are private and will only be seen by The Postal Museum staff.

If you are under 18, please ask for permission from your parent or guardian and ask them to complete the Permissions and Copyright form on your behalf.