Penpal-matching service in the 80s/90s

osullc10

Bit of an obscure one, but I remember at primary school in the late 80s / early 90s there were forms that could be filled out for a penpal service that would match you up with a penpal from whatever country you wanted. I have a memory of flags running around the edges of the form.

I'm just curious to see the form again. Is there any hope of tracking one down?

sadie06

I know what you are talking about, but I'm not sure how you could locate it. Could it have been from the magazine Ireland's Own? I remember having a penpal from that at one stage.

darkdubh

I vaguely remember something like what the OP describes.It may have been in one of those magazines like Far East or Africa that were distributed by the missions,my Nan used to get them.I seem to remember that all the potential penpals were in third world countries.On Irelands own when I was about 14/15 I had few penpalls from that.One was a girl from Manchester whose parents were Irish and she had very up to date music tastes.She sent me a mix tape of Acid House(this was around 88/89).BTW have penpals become obselete?do kids write actual letters to other kids in the world like we did or do they do it all through Facebook et all.

Misty Moon

I remember them - lots of purple in my memory of them but that doesn't mean much, I'm always remembering colours of things incorrectly. No idea where you would find one though. I was a terrible penpal - I think I managed about two letters to my penpal in New Jersey before it took me months to get around to the next letter. She gave up on me, although not before sending me a cool t-shirt and bookmark from Hawai'i. And all I had to offer in return was a Dublin Millennium sticker or some such. Ah, the memories.

GoldenTickets

Yep, we did this in school, I ended up with a penpal in Australia and two in Finland. I remember I got a juniper keyring off one of the Finns - score! The organisation was IYS (International Youth Service). Here's a blog post where you can see the form in all it's glory!

http://shewritestospeak.com/tag/international-youth-service-finland/

osullc10

It never ceases to amaze me what can be turned up with an obscure post on the internet...

Thank you indeed!

Mech1

GoldenTickets wrote: »

Yep, we did this in school, I ended up with a penpal in Australia and two in Finland. I remember I got a juniper keyring off one of the Finns - score! The organisation was IYS (International Youth Service). Here's a blog post where you can see the form in all it's glory!

http://shewritestospeak.com/tag/international-youth-service-finland/

I have no interest in this forum, just browsing, but i gotta say "well done".

Misty Moon

GoldenTickets wrote: »

Yep, we did this in school, I ended up with a penpal in Australia and two in Finland. I remember I got a juniper keyring off one of the Finns - score! The organisation was IYS (International Youth Service). Here's a blog post where you can see the form in all it's glory!

http://shewritestospeak.com/tag/international-youth-service-finland/

IYS! That was it! And not a hint of purple anywhere on the form - that won't amuse anyone but me but I assure you I am giggling now.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

sadie06

GoldenTickets wrote: »

Yep, we did this in school, I ended up with a penpal in Australia and two in Finland. I remember I got a juniper keyring off one of the Finns - score! The organisation was IYS (International Youth Service). Here's a blog post where you can see the form in all it's glory!

http://shewritestospeak.com/tag/international-youth-service-finland/

I have to ask because I am so impressed. Do you have a phenomenal memory in general, or did this stand out in your mind for some reason?

GoldenTickets

sadie06 wrote: »

I have to ask because I am so impressed. Do you have a phenomenal memory in general, or did this stand out in your mind for some reason?

Generally I have a decent memory and I wish I could say I just remembered IYS, but in this case I had to turn to Google. I just messed around with some keywords and Google Images and eventually found the form and that blog. I'm sure the girl who runs it will be baffled by the sudden spike in hits from Ireland

I stayed in touch with one of the Finnish pen pals I had for a couple of years and I was always waiting for post to arrive in those days. Once osullc10 mentioned the flags around the edge of the form I had a really strong memory of it and wanted to see it again myself. Really, I should have been getting some sleep!

osullc10

I don't know why I never signed up. It would have been nice, I should have signed up for several. There's a sense of romanticism in keeping a penpal from childhood for years/decades if you can, especially in the digital era.

GoldenTickets

osullc10 wrote: »

There's a sense of romanticism in keeping a penpal from childhood for years/decades if you can, especially in the digital era.

I agree. I wish I'd kept in touch with mine. I think in your teens it's easy to let things like that slide and not realise you're losing out until much later.

LizzieJones

I remember this being in Canada as well. I had a penfriend from Austrailia. Her first name was Bronwyn but sadly I do not remember her last name so I cannot look her up on Facebook.

pow wow

I'm friends with most of my former IYS penpals on facebook. It's funny when they post up awkward teen photos of themselves and I recognise the photos as ones they sent me There's still something almost magical about getting letters, I wish people put pen to paper more often.

LizzieJones

pow wow wrote: »

I wish people put pen to paper more often.

I do too. I miss having a penpal. I snail mail my father letters all the time. He lives in New Brunswick and is nearly 80 years old and he loves it. He sometimes writes back but that is mostly just a few lines telling me he got my letters and how much he enjoys them.

Santa Cruz

darkdubh wrote: »

I vaguely remember something like what the OP describes.It may have been in one of those magazines like Far East or Africa that were distributed by the missions,my Nan used to get them.I seem to remember that all the potential penpals were in third world countries.On Irelands own when I was about 14/15 I had few penpalls from that.One was a girl from Manchester whose parents were Irish and she had very up to date music tastes.She sent me a mix tape of Acid House(this was around 88/89).BTW have penpals become obselete?do kids write actual letters to other kids in the world like we did or do they do it all through Facebook et all.

Was it in the Far East that Pudsey Ryan had a column. He was using text speak even before it was invented

darkdubh

Santa Cruz wrote: »

Was it in the Far East that Pudsey Ryan had a column. He was using text speak even before it was invented

Yes that was it.

anewme

I knew the minute I opened this thread it was the International Youth Service. And you had to pay 32p to get a penpal.

Age 11 - I had two - a chubby girl with a bowl haircut from Merseyside called Gillian Campbell and a Serious german girl called Ulrike Schmelzer - my Mum used to call her "allright smellser" and I used to go mad!

osullc10

And with the "help" of Google, your unredacted comment is bound to find its way back to both of them

anewme

osullc10 wrote: »

And with the "help" of Google, your unredacted comment is bound to find its way back to both of them

Brilliant!

I'd love to touch base with them and see where they are now and what life has thrown at them but I don't think somehow an Irish penpal almost 35 years ago is on their mind!

L1011

anewme wrote: »

Brilliant!

I'd love to touch base with them and see where they are now and what life has thrown at them but I don't think somehow an Irish penpal almost 35 years ago is on their mind!

Doesn't stop them doing a vanity google at some point and suddenly getting a bit annoyed

anewme

Annoyed at what exactly?

L1011

anewme wrote: »

Annoyed at what exactly?

Being described as chubby usually annoys most scouse girls I've seen in fights :pac:

osullc10

Basically, however innocuous the comment, you are posting full names and personal information about these people online without their consent/knowledge. If someone other than me posted _any_ personal information about me online, no matter how far back it related, I would not be happy about it.