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Dressing Up Your Mailbox
Adding a vertical look to your yard or driveway can add an aesthetic look to your landscape. A vertical structure will naturally draw your eyes up. The next step is to create a look around the structure that initally pulls your eyes in that direction. You can add a vertical structure, but why not capitalize on the ones already in place such as a mailbox or a lamppost and dressing them with flowers or vines.
If the landscape between the vertical structure and the home is attractive, consider using vines or another type of plant that grows upward to dress the mailbox or lamppost. If the view to the house is not as attractive, use the vertical structure as a concentration point by skirting the area with attractive ground cover and a large concentration of flowers for color.
Dressing your mailbox or lamppost will create an inviting entrance area to you home. Use your imagination and capitalize on the benefits of that vertical structure.
History Of The Mailbox
Letterboxes and mail slots were first used in Paris, France in the late 1700s. They became more popular in Europe in the middle-late 1800s when the British Post Office decided to begin mail delivery and asked people to install letterboxes. Previously, all mail was picked up at the local post office.
In 1863, the U.S. Postal Service began the Free City Delivery. Mailmen delivered mail to each door waiting for a patron to answer the knock. This method of mail delivery took extra time and patrons were not always home or able to answer the door. Patrons began to install mail slots and letterboxes at their doors.
The Rural Free Delivery (RFD) was introduced by the U.S. Postal service in 1896. The Postal Service researched ways to save time and solve the problem with mail-carriers delivering mail to the scattered rural patrons. They proposed that mailboxes be placed at curbsides and roadways. In 1923, the Post Office mandated that every household have a mailbox to receive mail rather than a tin, basket or wooden box. Soon after, mailboxes sported a signal flag. At first the flag was used to signal both incoming and outgoing mail.
In 1915, Roy J. Joroleman, a Postal employee invented the curved, tunnel-shaped mailbox that we are familiar with today. The shaped was designed to prevent water and snow from collecting in the mailbox. This design has been the top-selling type of mailbox since the Postmaster General released the design for manufacture and production.
Since that time, the U.S. Postal Service has retained the authority to approve specifications for size and characteristics of all curbside mailboxes. Approved mailboxes are always stamped with “U.S. MAIL” and “APPROVED BY THE POSTMASTER GENERAL”.
Whitehall Mailbox Adds To Curb Appeal
When planning a yard design, curb appeal becomes a part of that design plan. In my case, as in other rural areas, we would call it “driveway appeal”. But did you remember to research mailboxes as a part of that yard design? In many places, the mailbox is the first thing a visitor will see and will set the tone of the overall curb appeal.
After doing some research I chose a Whitehall mailbox. They are made to enhance the look of your yard or driveway with their quality and design. Whitehall Products have been in business since 1941 so I know that the have many years of experience in mailboxes. Their mailboxes are hand crafted from rust-free recycled aluminum and are 20% larger than most mailboxes to hold a large amount of mail or packages. Magazines will even lay flat in them. They can be personalized with letters and/or numbers plaques.
I have seen mailboxes that have sunflowers painted on them, mailboxes made into a sculpture and mailboxes that look like the wind was trying to take them away. I prefer to choose a mailbox that is sturdy, designed to last a lifetime and that says “this is my home and welcome”.