SNAIL MAIL --- BOXES

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?

ARTISTIC -- SMALL TOWN MAILBOX

Earlier this year I posted some unusual mailboxes that I had taken photos of out in the country. The above mailbox was recently found in a small town in Kentucky. It is rather unique for a couple reasons.

One, is that is was painted by a family member of the owner of the mailbox. And two, the painter is a well known artist in Kentucky by the name of David Farmer.

The truly unusual part of the painting is that the flag appears to be part of the bird house painted on the box. However, when the flag is raised it reveals a brood of chicks gazing out of the birdhouse hole.

An artistic cleverness.

RFD AND RURAL MAILBOXES

SPECIAL RECOGNITION STAMP OF RURAL FREE DELIVERY WHEN STAMPS WERE ONLY THIRTY TWO CENTS

At one time, I remember writing RR2 as part of the address for letters being sent to my cousins in the country. RR meaning rural route. I knew that RR had a connection to the words, rural free delivery -- but I was, "in the dark," as to what was the meaning of rural free delivery or RFD for short. So recently I did a little research and came up with the answer to my long ago perplexity. I thought, "better late than never," to find an answer to my childhood question.

RURAL MAILBOX WITH AN EARLY HAND PLOW ATTACHED

This is what I found. Up until about 1891 residents had to travel to the nearest town to pick up their mail at the local postoffice. If they wanted it delivered to their home they had to pay private carriers to bring it from that near-by post- office. After 1891 rural routes were slowly established across the nation by the U.S. post office that by law provided free delivery to rural homes. Thus was born the acronym RFD.

RURAL BLUE MAILBOXES -- BIG AND LITTLE -- SIDE BY SIDE

So why did I put RR in the rural cousin's address rather than RFD. Well, in the past rural free delivery service included both the rural route (RR) number -- such as, "RR 5, Box 123." Box being the number on the mailbox. Rural route being the route number established by the U.S. postoffice in their delivery system.

RURAL MAILBOX -- APPARENTLY A BIRD LOVER'S HOME

Today things are different for rural routes. No more RR designations. When the 911 emergency system was created RR was discontinued. House numbers were then used on mailboxes so emergency services could find the house.

RURAL MAILBOX WITH OLD FASHIONED HAND PUMP AS POST

So there you have it. From RFD to house address on the mailboxes of today.

I have been taking photos of Kentucky rural mailboxes over the last couple days in Madison and Garrard counties. I took shots of those that kinda made a statement about the people that live in the house.

Without RFD we wouldn't have rural home mailboxes -- or what has become a custom of accessorizing our mailboxes. I would consider many of the decorated mailboxes as a folk art type.

RURAL MAILBOX -- HORSE FARM

RURAL MAILBOX OF LLAMA FARM