8401 East Sarnoff Place

That mailbox is one of the type you can't pin down exactly. David Aber (who sent the photos on April 13th) saw it as a truck. When I saw it, the ladder reminded me first of a fire truck. (Also see the bulb on the roof: is it a flashing "emergency" light? There's another view in the photo below.) But, hmmmmm, could the curved bar above the wheels have something to do with a railroad caboose? Whatever: You can see that I obviously have too much time on my hands.;-)

Here's a view from the other side:

7218 East Sylvane Drive

We usually don't show saguaro mailboxes/posts here. But, as David Aber wrote: “Its sheer size and gaping maw caught my attention.”

I got curious what was in the "maw"… so I zoomed his photo in to that part:

He sent the photos on April 13th, which is also the day that I think he took them. Great sleuthing, Dave!

8232 East Brent Place

David Aber told me recently that, when he's headed somewhere, he takes different routes each time he can. That explains why he finds so many amazing mailboxes! (That's good advice for anyone — not just in a car, but especially on a bike. Side streets are probably safer and often more interesting.)

For obvious reasons, David calls this "Chainbox". He wrote: “I’ve seen a lot of creative ways to make a mailbox post, but never with a chain this large. It had to come from an enormous piece of equipment.”

(Then there's the rusted plow in the background that's been made to look like a bird.) His photo of the other side of the box is similar, without the bird.

He sent the photo on April 13th — the same date his camera's data says that he took it. Thanks!

5212 East 2nd Street

David Aber took these two views of a beautiful mailbox he spotted. Even better, he made the montage above. (Thank you!)

Normally, Google only allows us to show fairly small photos (800 pixels on either side). As an experiment, I've tried putting David's original-sized photo (3853x2806 pixels) online at TucsonArt.info. It's just the raw photo file, nothing fancy. When you click below, the photo should open in a new tab or window. Depending on your web browser, you may see the whole photo squeezed to fit your screen, or just some of the photo. (If you see just some, look for a "zoom" setting.) When you're done viewing, just close that window or tab. Here it is:

Very large version of the photo above

If you have any problems with this large image, please let me know. (You can use the comment form on TucsonArt.info.) If I don't hear of any problems, I may try this with future mailboxes. Thanks.

4828 North Placita Pajarillo

Back on October 3, 2016, Emily Mann of SolAZ.biz sent these photos of a new mailbox she'd designed and built:

She wrote:

I just installed a new mailbox with a solar-lighted base. It is on my side of town off of Snyder and Catalina Hwy. … I may be taking the integrated solar panel off and planting it away from the box. The owner thinks they may like it better that way.

Doesn’t the post look cool lit up?! There is an orange/red piece of glass in the top filtering the light.

Thanks for sharing your work, Emily. Everyone else: If you are (or know someone who is) a mailbox designer, I'd be glad to take photos and show them — or to publish your photos, as I did with these from Emily. The main requirement is that the mailbox be one-of-a-kind, not mass-produced.