2019: The Year of the Postbox

It's also the Year of the Pig, but we aren't quite there yet. Hello, 2019! I hope everyone had a nice first day. Mine included mailing off the rest of my holiday cards, finishing a project, drinking a bottle of Prosecco and watching the Fellowship of the Ring. Pretty solid day, honestly. In any case, I also decided that 2019 should be the year that we all embrace or renew our efforts to love our local postbox. Here in the U.S., a mailbox needs to receive 25 pieces of mail a day in order to remain active. That's not insignificant. I don't even do 25 pieces a day, normally. 

So, here's the challenge. Find yourself a mailbox. Make a pledge to use that mailbox for all your postings. When you visit it, snap a picture and tag it #2019yearofthepostbox and every so often, I'll do a round-up of our adopted member boxes. I'm also thinking about a sticker you can put on your own personal mailbox (not on the blue ones or official property, because I can't advocate vandalism) that states that it is supported by a member of the Letter Writers Alliance. What do ya'll think? What challenges are you taking on this new year? Happy 2019 everyone!

Comments

[Cynthia]

I have a new favorite mailbox because it is new and has the more narrow door. I don't have an I-phone though so no photo...

Actually I am going to review my address book and mailings this year. A little resentment is simmering about the ratio of mail sent to replies received. Perhaps that means a new approach.

[Victoria]

I usually drop off my mail in a post box outside of a local post office, or by the train station. There are a couple closer to my home that I've considered using, but I'm not sure if the boxes are still active or not. The paint seems a duller blue, or there's a lot of graffiti. How do you know for sure if a post box is still active?

Love the idea of a sticker for the personal at home mailbox! I'd also want to make one that says "Letters Welcome Here" :)

[Joe F.]

I tend to take my letters inside to the post office mail drop (I walk past the post office on my way to work in the morning). I shall now endeavor to drop them in one of the mailboxes I pass on my walk, instead. My remaining dilemma: do I adopt *one*, or spread the drops out as best as I can? (If that's ever my biggest problem, I intend to throw a party. I'll even put festive hats on all the mailboxes, whether it's vandalism or not. Though it occurs to me that this would be one way to get a whole *new* problem.)

[Cynthia]

For my AM mail I use one box that only picks up at 10 AM.
For a 3 PM pickup I have to use another box.
Afternoon is usually just 1-2 items.

[Donovan Beeson]

Draw a picture of it on a postcard and send it in! I would love that.

[Donovan Beeson]

If it is there, it is active. They physically remove the boxes if they are not going to collect from them anymore. Even the really beat up looking ones are still in service.

[Donovan Beeson]

YASSSSSS! Party hats for all boxes!

[Lauren]

I love the idea of stickers and the campaign you suggest. I say we give it a go!

[tornadogrrrl]

Sadly, I'm in a bit of a desert when it comes to mail boxes. There are none within a 10 block radius and then the closest is outside the post office, so unlikely to need the attention.

[Amelia]

I am a down for this!

[Olivia Arrow]

Happy new year! Great idea, I love it. To find the closest boxes I used this site: https://mailboxlocate.com/states/IL/cities/CHICAGO and I found they're a little sparse in my area. I'll make an effort since there are so few over here.

[Donovan Beeson]

Thanks for that site Olivia!

[subgirl]

We have a blue box right at the intersection under the light by the rental home we moved into last year and it is my little friend now!

For several months we were worried and waited anxiously as there was a note placed on it by the USPS saying that it was due for removal by x date due to lack of traffic. Only x date came and went and the note was still there, as was the blue box. Then, quietly, the note left & the box stayed.

(Which was good, the note was causing lots of confused potential post-users to wake us up at odd hours asking if it was ok to use it still. I didn’t know the 25 letter rule then, so I assumed -correctly- that as long as it wasn’t locked and still there mail was being picked up.) I would send postcards every so often to make sure but didn’t know for sure. Now I do and am still happy I have a blue box so near

The noises and clanks of the blue door swinging for passers-by dropping their mail in, along with the postal workers gathering the letters makes me smile every time I hear it.

I’d love to “adopt” “my” box this year, but I’m not sure I could write 25 letters a the WHOLE YEAR much less more frequently. I am still newish to living with active Crohn’s Disease and have not yet figured out how to run my life from the bathroom & bed. I am a semi-lapsed LWA member, but hope to rejoin the active ranks one card & blue box at a time!

Thank you!

[PamelaArtsinSF]

I use a mail box two blocks from my house right outside a donut shop so we always say "I've got to drop off my mail at the donut". Pickup is six days a week at 2:20 and I am happy. And, yes, I would LOVE a sticker. I often wonder if the USPS person who picks up the mail from that box notices how much mail art is in it almost every day??!!!

[Sephora]

I live in a small town in Tuscany and everyday I go to Florence for work. I was used to send my postcards (I'm a Postcrisser) and letters from the mailbox near the train station in my town, and sometimes from one near my office, in Florence.
Well, I realized, after months, that postcards sent from my town arrive really slow or dont' arrive at all.
From Florence thay have no problems.
So I'm sending thing just from the city, now.
I'll do a photo next time I'm sending postcards for sure!

[Jane Fulton]

The only mailboxes near me are those outside the post office. So unless post office is closed, I bring inside. I leave most of my outgoing mail in my home mail box and mail carrier picks it up. How about pictures os our own mailboxes?

[Donovan]

Yes! Pictures of all members mailboxes please!