I mailed a batch of post cards from Florence Oct. 31 to various friends in California. So far no one has received a card.
Any idea how long delivery might take?

Welcome to the Italian mail system! Could take anywhere from a week, a month, a year to never.

Italy has so many wonderful things to offer however they are not famous for their postal delivery

Wow, I sent postcards from Italy to both the US and the West Indies, and all arrived within two weeks max. The W.I. arrival times particularly surprised me, but all were received quite timely, IMHO.

It took over three weeks for three postcards and two envelopes to arrive from Rome to Minnesota.

On the other hand, it took less than one week for a card to arrive from Minnesota to Rome.

Don't hold your breath! We send our family in Italy their Christmas cards in October and they still sometimes get them AFTER Christmas! The funny part is that the Italians are more confused about it then we are. Every year it is the same story. Their Christmas cards always arrive in Feb or March. WHen I was living in Florence I was waiting for an important piece of mail. When it did not arrive after two months I made my final trip to the local post office to investigate. When the women were done with their coffee and cigarettes, they decided to help me. I expressed my concern. They thought I was accusing them personally of "stealing" my mail! The grand POOPAH came out and started screaming at me and carrying on, flapping his arms and pissing himself. I walked out shaking my head. The item never did arrive, nor anything else addressed to me for that matter.

Knowing the interesting Italian postal system, on my last visit to Venice I dropped our cards in the international box at the central post office. Our cards were all headed to either New York or San Francisco. The San Francisco cards all arrived within the week. The New York cards all arrvied three months later.

Actually, our New York recipients really enjoyed their cards. I received a phone call from each person, and we had a good laugh over the ridiculous delay.

I guess someone just put the NYC mailbag to the side for a while...

Oh, well.
Anyway I got a good laugh out of your replies.
Que sera, sera.
Someone suggested mailing cards after one gets home, but that really dilutes the effect (assuming they get here at all).

The Italian postal system is no longer run exclusivly by the Italian government. It has been privatized and IMO is great. The problem with sening things is not knowing how to send them. Pay a few pennies more and send it POsta Priorita (post cards too) and the will arrive faster. I normally get things from the states within a week (packages and letter)and visa versa.

All my three-month-late cards to New York had been sent "posta priorita."

Yes, the system has improved, but there are still strange glitches.

when in italy we always mail our postcards from the vatican.