Apartment Complex Snail-Mail Boxes
Located at the edge of a medium sized small town in Oregon is a complex of four hundred apartments -- this is where I presently live. Trees are abundant here as well as birds and other critters. All to my liking.
Culturally it is a laid back complex consisting of a diverse community -- many of them students at the local state university. Here one is allowed to have dogs. Thanks for that as I have Daisy my big black lab.
The complex has located our snail-mail boxes along the entrance road where one need only walk a small jaunt to pick up mail.
Each time I take a stroll to pick up my mail I smile at the industrial looking boxes standing all in a row. They do the job well of keeping our mail safe but I always equate them to one-legged robot distributors. I miss my old mail boxes of Kentucky that always had an air of character about them.
Here are some examples of Kentucky mailboxes that I would see as I rode around enjoying the scenery.
Hand painted mailboxes were quite popular.
One of the mail boxes above is my old Kentucky box which was located along a dirt road. A cow pasture was behind the boxes and I would often say hello to the cows if they were near my box.
A gathering of old Kentucky mailboxes above are full of character. I often wonder if someday we will no longer see these old boxes along the roads as we travel. Do you think we will ever see the day when everything will be digital mail?
Love those KY mail boxes! I wonder if there's a rule against decals or other trim on that plain row of boxes at your current home.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think there will be a time when mail boxes will become obsolete, except maybe at post offices. I suspect there are those who are plotting the demise of "rural delivery" and any kind of home delivery (except with a hefty price tag perhaps a la UPS) The internet sales sites, especially Amazon, depend enormously on some kind of home delivery.
June -- I don't know the rules on decals or other trim on mailboxes. I do know that the US post office has fairly strict rules on where, how, and measurements restrictions on a mailbox. In Ky I was surprised to see decorated mailboxes in use. Personally, I feel that it would be great to see mailboxes painted at the owner's discretion. hanks varvara
DeleteHeaven help us to be totally digital. I love those mail boxes, though I can hear my mother's snort of derision, that they look so "common-place." Nothing wrong with that, and the decorations that people went to the trouble to do are great!
ReplyDeleteBarbara -- Your mother's response to the Kentucky boxes sounds a bit like what my father (now deceased) would say. Your mother and my father come from a different generation when appearances meant so much. I wish that we as residents of this complex could paint the mail boxes as shown in the first photo above. But they belong to the US Postal Service and they, of course, have rules and regulations! thanks -- barbara
DeleteProbably that will not happen in my lifetime. I have mixed feelings about it. Right now it is a big means of delivering advertising, so that will help it continue for some time.
ReplyDeleteTabor -- My hope is that it will continue far into the future. But I have heard rumors that rural areas might have home delivery cut and will have to pick up mail at their local post office. If that is true then what about the elderly that live up and down our country roads?? thanks -- barbara
DeleteI agree about the character in the design of your Kentucky mailboxes! The other do look almost as bad as ours - they are green with a hinged top. Dull as ...
ReplyDeletevisualnorway -- Our mailboxes are so industrial looking. I would take some of that green that you have as it would blend in with our natural surroundings. thanks -- barbara
DeleteHi Barbara, How I love the subject of mailboxes! I love how your observant eye caught these, and I love how you noted the contrasts. That is a good question about the future...Digital mail depends on electricity, hmmm.....I myself take great joy in exchanging paper letters with some folks and certainly hope that the art form of the paper letter and card does not become extint...But then again, I only read paper books as well...
ReplyDeleteRita -- I too like sending cards out once in awhile to a friend or family member. I know that I also am happy to receive a letter or card. Digital certainly would not mean the same thing as holding a card or letter in hand to be tucked away in a memory box. Emails seem to be changing our world along with all the social media sites -- difficult to predict what the future will bring.
DeleteRural mailboxes are fascinating on many levels. My sister painted a quilt block on hers to notify her customers they were at the right place. The block was the well known Ohio Star, and also a quilt block. Customers with quilts in hand for quilting did not get it. When that mailbox was run into, she painted QUILTING on the new box. It works.
ReplyDeleteJoanne -- Your sister's idea of painting a quilt block on her mailbox is fantastic. I know her block was for letting her customers know that this is the quilter's place of business. My mind stretches the quilt block idea a little further. Just think how beautiful the mailboxes would be with different quilt blocks painted on them. In Kentucky one can find many old barns with quilt blocks painted on them adding charm to the barns. thanks -- barbara
DeleteWell, i like your old tractor!
ReplyDeleteFury Gnome -- I like it too. It was spotted out in Kentucky country a few years ago. I felt it had a bundle of stories hidden in its guts. thanks -- barbara
DeleteWe have several non-standard mailboxes in our neighborhood. I might ask a neighbor of ours to decorate our box with flower paintings, as she did her own.
ReplyDeleteHattie -- Maybe you could try your artistic talents on painting your mailbox. A town I found to be the most artistic with their mailboxes was Santa Fe, N.M. I lived there for almost a year and was always delighted by the colorful visuals surrounding their homes. thanks -- barbara
DeleteHmm. Maybe I will take your advice!
DeleteHattie -- be sure and publish your finished mailbox if you decide to go that route -- after-all -- you are producing some interesting artwork. -- barbara
DeleteI definitely like Kentucky mailboxes better....:)
ReplyDeletetroutbirder -- totally agree with you on our mailboxes. thanks for th comment -- barbara
DeleteI think mailboxes will disappear around the same time as newspapers. I enjoy your mailbox photos. I have a small circular driveway at the end of our street where the mailcarrier would always circle around to head back the other direction. I added a second mailbox in the driveway to make it easier for him and for me. I keep two boxes. One in the driveway for the regular mail carrier and one across the street for the fill-ins who don't know about the unofficial arrangement I have with my regular mail carrier. Don't tell anyone.
ReplyDeleteRaining Iguanas -- You are quite the clever man to put up two mailboxes -- one for the sub and one for the regular mail carrier. I promise not to tell about your arrangement with your mail carrier. Well many of our newspapers have established themselves online so the time of extant mailboxes might be in the near future? thanks -- barbara
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