Sunday, June 9, 2013

114 South Calle El Centro



This gray mailbox is one of the strangest I've seen, with its angular post and some kind of critter on top. Any guesses what it is? (If you have an idea, please leave a comment below... you can remain anonymous if you'd like to.)

I discovered it April 25th.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

4240 East Cooper Street



On April 25th, I rode through the artsy neighborhood with this rust-finished mailbox. It has translucent numbers on top and a saguaro-shaped flag, as well as a unique scroll of partly-bent metal underneath.

Only in Tucson, eh?

Friday, June 7, 2013

4066 East Hayne Street

This white mailbox has black spots and what looks to me like remnants of an old colorful design:



I took the photos on April 25th.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

4150 East Camino De Palmas


On April 25th, I came across this singed-looking mailbox inside a welded metal frame. The house number is painted on the concrete post.

Has it seen better days?

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

230 South El Volador



One side of the mailbox shows a collie. The other has a cat flag. On the ground are quail.


I spotted this gem April 25th in the middle of its art-filled neighborhood.

Monday, June 3, 2013

517 North Cherokee Avenue



This mailbox, with a blue-and-white striped "post," is at Torre Fuerte. I found it on April 12th.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

516 North Cherokee Avenue

Welcome, all of you... and especially, today, listeners from this morning's Fred and Jeff Show. I'll be a guest on the second half of their show this morning — and (later) in a podcast you can hear online. First, here's a mailbox photo for you. Then, some tips to help you find mailboxes on this blog.


This black mailbox, on a brick post, is covered with multicolored rocks (like its surroundings).

Now, about this blog. If you're wondering why I ever started taking photos of mailboxes, have a look at About Tucson Mailbox Art (or click on its tab at the top of every page). I don't show every unique-looking mailbox I find, though. You can read why — and get a list of these “boring” mailboxes — in Not these mailboxes (or by clicking its tab).

Some tips for finding mailboxes:
  • A ways down the right column is the Blog Archive. There you can find earlier mailboxes — back to the date I started this blog, 12/12/12.
  • Type an address or a street name, a color, or something else about the mailbox in the search box at the right side of any page on this blog.
  • (By the way, the Popular mailboxes list in the right column tends to get out of whack when someone mentions a mailbox on some other blog or website... it may not be the most-viewed by art-lovers who visit this blog regularly.)
  • Use one of the boxes near the the top of the right column to get an email message for each new mailbox or to follow our feed. (Here's a video intro to feeds — ignore the part about Google Reader; it's been shut down. For more useful info that you can read at your own pace, try RSS Feeds by About.com Guide Wendy Boswell.)
Thanks for stopping by! There are almost 170 mailboxes on this blog now, and I try to add a new one every day.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

1120 West Sonora Street



This plain mailbox has a crooked brick post.

Since I found this one on April 12th, I've found a lot more like it. A lot of them tilt out toward the street. One is enough, I think! So I'll add this type of post to the Not these mailboxes list.

Friday, May 31, 2013

321 North Longfellow Avenue



At the end of our sometimes May series “mailboxes & murals,” here's the mailbox at this artsy home.

You can see the mural by clicking there to go to the Tucson Murals Project blog.

Stay cool this June!

Thursday, May 30, 2013

3912 East Montecito Street


Since I found this green mailbox on March 29th, I've realized something about its stuccoed post with tiles on front. (It's at the home named Casa Fina, by the way.)

Though it's attractive, there are a lot of similar mailboxes around Tucson. (I begin to find “trends’ in our mailboxes as I discover more of them.) So I'll add this one to the Not these mailboxes list. (By the way, if you don't agree — and you'd like to see more of these — please leave a comment below or contact me in person.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

4014 East Montecito Street

At first, this mailbox I spotted on March 29th looked like a white box on a black post surrounded by cinderblock. Then I looked more closely:


The box is topped by a cat and butterfly held on by a light blue band covered with cat footprints.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Monday, May 27, 2013

721 South Bryant Avenue


I'm back in Tucson from a trip out of town with a computer that I found out was broken — but only after I'd left home. Time for more mailboxes!

When I rode by on March 29th, this mailbox was under construction (or re-construction). It's on a post made of cinderblock and brick, with a stack of pots on top. The owner told me he hasn't finished yet...

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

775 South Irving Avenue


As I wrote in Not these mailboxes, there are so many mailboxes with posts made of chains (welded together) that I usually don't show them. But this green mailbox has a chain post made of two chains... and that's different!

I rolled by it (and stopped) on March 29th.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

4137 East Hayne Street (I think)

This black mailbox, with a couple of tiny saguaro painted at one corner, didn't seem to have a house number on it. But it was in front of the duplex at 4135-4137 E. Hayne, so I'm guessing that it's for 4137.


I took the photo on March 29th.

Monday, May 20, 2013

4067 East Santa Barbara Avenue

In front of the angelic mural that wraps around the front wall of this home (click there to see it on the Tucson Murals Project blog) is a white mailbox decorated with images in little rectangles — sort of like paintings hanging on the side of the box, or postcard scenes:



I've seen another similar mailbox somewhere around town. So this one may have been mass-produced. Even if it was, the mural is well worth a visit! (I visited on March 29th.)

Sunday, May 19, 2013

230 South El Volador (and my 5 seconds of fame?)




On April 25, I was sitting by the side of the street, planning my route through this beautiful neighborhood with its winding streets. I'd snapped a photo of this green mailbox with a University of Arizona flag and a chain post (which we usually don't show, but the flag and the mailbox color made the difference here).

I looked up and saw a car with a tower on top. It was a Google Street View car. If you're really bored some day, click over to the Google Map of 230 South El Volador, click on Street View, and pan around to see if I got my five seconds of fame:

Update (December 29, 2014): I just ran across this blog entry and decided to check Google Street View. Sure enough, there I am. :)

Saturday, May 18, 2013

648 East 8th Street

You can see a bit of a multicolored fence behind this black mailbox. (The whole fence is on the Tucson Murals Project blog in the entry titled Multicolored corner.) I'm not sure quite what the design is, but are those curved pieces of metal supposed to be insect antennae or something?


I buzzed by on May 11th.

Update (September 1, 2013): There's a clearer photo in today's entry.

Friday, May 17, 2013

4037 East 17th Street

We usually don't show mailboxes that are obviously mass-produced, but this one — with skulls, gears, and indicator dials — stands out:



I found it on March 29th.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

2350 East Elm Street

This home is amazing... like an art gallery open to the public, along two Tucson streets (it's on the southwest corner of Norton & Elm). If you've been following the Tucson Murals Project blog for the past year or so, you've seen the colorful dragons on the south end of the wall. When I rolled by earlier this week — May 14th — I noticed the mailbox. It's not special, but the decoration around it is:


And there's more: wall decorations, sculpture, even a dinosaur skeleton. You can see all of those on the TucsonArt.info page 2350 Elm Street and the Tucson Murals Project page Maybe a mural, part 46: Exquisite on Elm.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

4028 East 17th Street




This white mailbox has handpainted suns, a saguaro flag, and a weathered wood post. I found it on March 29th.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

103 South Calle de Jardin

The mural-covered front wall of this beautiful home has a unique mailbox shaped like a building:


The wall was signed at the top right: the ladybug surrounded by 11-5-2002 Manny Garcia. I stopped by on April 25th.

You can see more photos of the home on the Tucson Murals Project blog from today and from 2010.

Update (October 17, 2022): There are closeups of the mailbox in today's post Flashback to this garden box: 103 South Calle de Jardin.

Monday, May 13, 2013

3930 East 17th Street

This blue mailbox with handpainted flowers is on the corner of 17th and Longfellow:



I took the photos on March 29th.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

4020 East 17th Street



A mailbox with terracotta tiles and sun on the post, at 4020 E. 17th:

I was here on March 29th.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Multiplicative mailboxes (4027 East Santa Barbara, etc.)



As I ride my bicycle around Tucson, hunting for art (and getting exercise), I start to notice patterns in the creative mailboxes.

Here's one example. It's at 4027 East Santa Barbara Avenue. It's also at 4228 & 4156 East Paseo Dorado... and probably other places.

It looks locally-made and creative. But three are enough!

I've made a list of mailboxes that you won't see many of here. You can find the list above, just under the title of any entry on this blog: click on Not these mailboxes.

Friday, May 10, 2013

3543 East 23rd Street (our 150th egg-cellent box!)

A stuffed bird on top (and iridescent eggs underneath the bird, and on the fence in front) make this black mailbox worth a peep:


I fluttered by (and stopped) on March 29th.

Thanks for following this blog. It started just five months ago... we already have 150 posts (and, er, mailboxes). Time flies.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

120/114 South Calle de Jardin


These matching bright green mailboxes on a post with a sign underneath saying "San Clemente Historical Neighborhood Homes 120/114". I was there on April 25th.

The home at 114 S. Calle de Jardin has murals, too. Click there to see them on the Tucson Murals Project blog.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

3910 East La Creciente



In front of the pretty home (which you can see on the Tucson Art Information site by clicking there), the mailbox had a whimsical little shoe with a big rock in it (to hold the shoe down, I'd bet).

I rode through that art-filled neighborhood on April 25th.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

10035 West Rudasill Road


Try to find the “mailbox” in this Rube Goldberg-ian contraption! (Hint: it's a tube with mail inside.)

Gregg Townsend took the photo — according to the data that his camera stored in the photo file, it was on December 13, 2010.

Thanks so much, Gregg!

Monday, May 6, 2013

5150 West Paseo Del Campo


Gregg Townsend sent this photo of a rocket-mounted mailbox out near the Tucson Mountains — in a place I probably won't make it on my bicycle for quite some time. Maybe the homeowners work in one of the space-related programs at the U of A?

The photo's EXIF metadata says that it was taken on March 8, 2009. (Cameras' built-in clocks aren't always set correctly. Gregg, if you suspect that date is wrong, please let me know and I'll update this.)

Sunday, May 5, 2013

106 South Calle de Jardín

This maildrop (a slot in the side of a home where mail drops to the floor inside) is part of a garage wrapped with tile (which you can see on the Tucson Murals Project blog by clicking there):


Google Maps couldn't find this address. Here's a Mapquest map.

I rode through the neighborhood on April 25th.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

825 South Fremont Avenue


This three-headed mailbox with a rusty finish is mounted on a crooked pole.

Next to it is a small cactus and sculpture garden.

I was there on March 3rd.

Friday, May 3, 2013

233 South El Volador

This mailbox is in the middle of a long mural-covered wall which you can see by clicking there to visit the Tucson Murals Project blog. The fun here is in the flag:



I took these photos near sunset on April 28th.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

505 South Columbus Boulevard

Back in 2011, the Tucson Murals Project posted a photo of a wall with a ribbon of tiles running along it. We titled it Maybe a mural, part 17. Here's an overall photo (to see a close-up of the wall, click on the link above):


Fast-forward to April 25th. I rode by again and noticed a mailbox out front (it's at the near edge of that far wall. That led to the idea of posting murals and mailboxes together, each on their respective blog. (The mailbox blog hadn't started back then.)

The closeup I shot last week:


I'll post more pairs of mailboxes with murals, or with other public art, during May. Stay tuned!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

3342 East 27th Street

On March 3rd, I found a mailbox with hand-painted mountain scenes:



(Cropped down to just the painting, it doesn't look like much like a mailbox, does it?)

The artist's signature (at the lower right corner of the second photo) is SKay or Skay.