A "Mail Box"

This afternoon turned out to be pleasant and sunny so I decided to go for a long overdue walk.
Each week I deliver our church's weekly notices to those in town who weren't at church the Sunday before.

Its been raining most afternoons or I have had other appointments so it was great to be able to go out. After reading a blog I follow, twebster books and her post on Letterboxes, I thought I would go out armed with my camera and see what I could find. 
I was a little concerned that people may be watching me and wonder what strange things I was doing snapping the camera around the streets so I didn't linger for long each box.






Of course there were all the usual letterboxes that you can buy from a hardware store or our The Warehouse outlets so I was curious to see what other designs I could discover.




I remember Kelly, a lady from the local pensioner flats, once ringing me when I was the local Avon lady. She used to talk very loud as if we were talking down a long tube and she wasn't sure if I could hear her. Of course I would think it the other way around.

Kelly had asked if I sold 'mailboxes'.

Now Kelly would often ring me to do extra things as she couldn't get out much. I would have to bring $20 notes and smaller in change as she would only have $100 notes and I was her 'bank'. 



At first I wasn't sure what she meant as Avon does sell a lot of things other than makeup and skincare but I was wondering what in the world a 'male box' was.



When she finally explained what it was she was looking for I was able to tell her no, they never had sold letterboxes and I didn't think they ever would.


How ever I see in the latest catalog they have gone into children's clothing so I may well be proved wrong. It wouldn't be the first and probably not the last either.







I digress...











We live in a small country town and a lot of the boxes were old, some with lichen and faded timber or worn off paint. Some were quiet novel or just plain unusual.




















































And on returning home I suddenly realised even ours was a little different to the standard box.

Harry had made ours a few years ago now out of a sort of thick nylon type board. It has a place for letters, a "shelf" for papers and then a box type area where the milk used to be put when we had milk delivered to our gate each day, hence the handle on the front.
Its now used more for parcels and large items.


This box sits 'in' the fence and the mail, parcels and papers can be collected from the home side of the fence, something the grandchildren love to do.

I did find it interesting to note that a lot of people now choose not to have junk mail delivered to their boxes, with an assortment of sticker, plaques or just plainly written "NO JUNK MAIL"