Sometimes it’s the little things, the essentials of life, that can surprise us with a punch of unexpected design beauty.  Such is the case with the utilitarian mailbox. Here in Southern California, in the newer housing areas, mailboxes are built to house several boxes within one structure, usually situated street-side, in the middle of a row of 4-6 houses.  If you’re lucky enough to live where your mailbox is on your property, sometimes you are required to situate the box curbside to afford the mail man/woman) ease of delivery without leaving his/her vehicle.  We live in an older housing tract where you still have the option of having a mailbox near, or even installed in your front door.

{source}

As reported of late, the U.S. Postal Service seems to be struggling.  A detailed feature on this topic can be found HERE.

Their [USPS] model has changed with 1^st Class mail volumes down over recent years as we simply mail fewer letters and pay more bills via the internet.  The cash cow was dying, and farmer Donahoe came up with plans to ‘trim the herd’ and reduce services, post offices and days of service to reflect living within their revenue stream as required by Congress. –Analog Sherpa

Certain this will date me, I’ll be sad to see mailboxes go away.  Maybe they never will, but if they do, the enjoyment of the written invitation, thank you note, and birthday card will be one step closer to their demise as well.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the ease of email.  Even texting has served me well.  My longtime friend, Linda, lives on Bainbridge Island, WA while I live in Irvine, CA.  We used to write letters to each other to stay in touch, now hardly a day goes by when we don’t catch up with each other via email.  A great comfort to me as I enjoy her friendship and would be sad if I couldn’t talk to her as frequently.

{source}

Rather than give any attention to the gloomy prospect of mail actually going the way of the Pony Express, I decided to embrace the beauty of the mailbox.  I’m here to share with you some of the prettiest, and one or two most interesting, if not comical, mailboxes found online.

I have to start with this one…if only there had been one of these in our neighborhood when our sons were wee lads.  They might have written more letters to their grandma in Arizona!

{source} 

This is my all-time favorite, in part because it’s red, and because it’s found in my favorite travel destination, England.  The classic British mailbox.  What’s not to love?  You can buy similar mailboxes on line HERE.

{source}

{source}

I digress, back to the mailboxes here in the U.S.  I like the dual purpose of this mailbox, it handles mail, newspaper and bonus, a pretty box of flowers. I’ve planted vines around posts that hold mailboxes for clients before, it always dresses up the mailbox a bit.  Maybe even the postman/woman  appreciate a pretty mailbox.

{source}

The mailbox below is not what first drew me to this image.  Don’t you love the arched door and transom, stone pediment, stone facade, urn, wooden bench and boot scraper…not to mention the little door-side mailbox?!

{source}

This door, painted a pale Tiffany blue, and the mailbox within the door are great.  One little personal note on mailboxes that go into your house…I’ve always had a just a tiny fear phobia that someone would put something in the slot, like a snake or something.  Maybe I had a dream  nightmare about that once, but I’ve always been timid about putting the slot for mail into my house.

{source}

I like the idea of the mailbox being painted the same color as the door.  Even though you cannot see the full mailbox, this box looks homemade, appealing for what looks like a stone cottage. {*sigh}

{source}

No words, aside from “yes, please”…

{source}

The take away is, there are some gorgeous mailboxes out there.  You may have one.  If not, you can buy one.  This one is available on Amazon.

{source}

 

What does your mailbox look like?  I’d love to hear from you.