2514-2516 North Orchard Avenue

An artistic mailbox on an artistic post, from April 25th...

Closer on both sides:

2501 North Orchard Avenue

That's the second box I found along my April 25th trip up this part of Orchard Avenue past Grant. It's purple with white topped by a candy-striped flag.

2444 North Orchard Avenue

The next three mailboxes are in two blocks of Orchard Avenue between Grant and Glenn.

This is one side of the box at 2444. It's painted green, blue and white, and mounted on a piece of wood over a steel plate. The post is a brighter, more saturated blue.

But that's not all. The mailbox is painted in the style of the walls that run between the home's front yard and the street:

I took photos of the mailboxes on April 25th. We'll see the next one, a bit north, next week.

2102 North Madelyn Avenue

This mailbox has scenery (a Native American pueblo, maybe?, at the left side, with hoodoos at the right side and a flag that's a US flag:

Here's a closeup of the box:

And the other side:

The photos are from April 18th.

2851 North Beverly Avenue (Uncle Sam)

Here's our Independence Day special edition: a mailbox with Uncle Sam along the post. I found it on my April 18th Mailbox Mission.

By the way, last week Monica Surfaro tweeted about a story on Uncle Sam.

1837 or 1857 North Arcadia Avenue

I'm guessing that this mailbox is a tractor. (Any other ideas? Please leave a comment below.) The box, the house and the curb didn't show an address. It's just north of 1823, though, so I'm guessing...

My seeds of doubt were planted :) on April 18th.

Santa Fe double-header

I'm on the road for much of June. At one campsite, one of the few radio stations I could get was a sports station with lots of baseball games. When I got to Santa Fe — a city full of art — on Sunday, I started to see lots of artistic mailboxes. The two-headed mailbox below made me think of a two-game series with the same team… a double-header:

OK, that analogy is stretching things. :)

By the way: Last week's entry showed two mailboxes, too.

Next week, we (this blog and I) will be back to Tucson mailboxes.

4441 & 4449 East Patricia Street

Here are two mailboxes mounted on a spoked wheel:

I rolled by on April 18th.

4441 East Monte Vista Drive

The homeowner probably does some traveling, or moving, or something...

It's a mailbox covered with license plates. I spotted it, or them, from my car on April 18th.

9201 East Indio Place

I'm trying to imagine what a new letter carrier might think upon seeing this bewilderingly fun mailbox for the first time. Rube Goldberg, maybe?

John Benedict made it. The photos are his, too. Thanks!

3609 East Kleindale Road

Here's a rusted steel mailbox with a white hand as its flag.

Next, a photo from another corner:

I found the box on April 18th.

4526 East Duncan Street

When I photograph mailboxes, I don't ring the owner's doorbell or do anything else to get the story of the box — unless I see a resident, or they see me. (As you'd guess, people who see me taking photos of their mailbox tend to walk over and ask what the heck I'm doing.)

On April 18th, I was visiting artists' open studios on the twice-yearly tour. On my way to one of the studios, I passed by a mailbox with plants in front of mountains topped by clouds:

The gate next to the mailbox was open and a man walked out. So I went over to chat and ask if I could photograph the mailbox. He was glad to talk; he told me some of the story. It was painted by an artist named Jessica Lemar who now lives in Colorado. Cars have run into the mailbox a couple of times, but he's kept putting it back up. He put me in touch with Jessica, and she told me about her Facebook page named ArtOrBust. She does a lot of nice work!

Some day I'd like to send postcards to mailbox owners, with my photo of their box, to ask the story of the mailbox and who made it. It's nice when happenstance lets me get the story as I take the photo.

2241 East Hawthorne Street

This tan-colored mailbox sprouts a couple of long leaves from the bottom of its post.

I couldn't find a good angle to show both leaves when I stopped by on April 18th.

4125 East 27th Street

That's a white mailbox with the family's name and handprints in blue. I found it on April 14th.

802 South 8th Avenue?

Last week, David Aber sent me a photo of a mailbox he'd photographed (according to the datestamp imbedded in the photo file) June 9, 2012, at the corner of 18th Street & 8th Avenue. Since that's a while ago, and because there wasn't an exact street address, I drove over to find the box and look for an address.

I found the box, and it's just as in Dave's photo. I didn't find a street address. But the next home south was at 806 South 8th. So I tried both 800 and 802 in Google Maps. The Location box here in Blogger couldn't find either street address, or even the corner of 18th & 8th.
But here's a map link from Bing Maps.

And what is on top of the box?

If you know, please leave a comment below.

4458 East 27th Street

A plain-vanilla (actually, black) mailbox embedded in a post made of stones:

I snapped the photo a week ago, April 14.

4701 East 27th Street

Here's a blue-green mailbox with saguaros and a skull that I spotted earlier today:

843 West River Road

A plain white mailbox on top of a brown chest with brass fittings, from April 4th:

4802 East Seneca Street

Too bad this green box, and post with a white handle and spout attached, doesn't have real water for thirsty bicyclists. (Actually, I didn't try it...)

I panted by on March 27th.

4652 East North Street

(Yes, really: East North Street. Just a couple of blocks east of this spot, south of Grant, are North Farwest Drive, North West Drive, North Midwest Drive, North Mideast Drive, North East Drive, and East South Drive. C’mon, Tucson street namers, this is almost as bad as addresses in Utah like 400 East 400 South. Say what?? :)

Anyway, this little one-block stub of North East Street — just west of Swan — has one of the most fun mailboxes I've seen so far. It's painted white with red lines, to look like a barn. The black post is covered by bright red suspension springs. On top is a piece of steel with the owners’ names cut out by what I'd guess is a welding torch...

Just across the street is one of my favorite hidden Tucson murals.

I ducked into North Street to check my map for a bicycle tour I'm planning to lead during the spring Artists’ Open Studios with Bike Fest 2015. I was there on March 21st.

3351 East 29th Street

The tiles around the top of the stuccoed post that surrounds the black mailbox match the tiles in the entry walk. Address tiles on the wall by the entrance make it a package.

I spotted this trio as I was driving near Reid Park on March 13th.

3109 East 28th Street

This white mailbox looks like it's been out in the sun for a while:

It had faded this much by February 27th.

33 East Adams Street

The black and red design shows the house number: 33. But it also looks heart-shaped to me, as does the scrollwork on the post underneath the box.

I found this unique mailbox on January 9th.

4450 East 28th Street

This black mailbox is mounted on an exhaust manifold with a yellow flag above.

Let's get a closer look:

I raced by on December 25th.

4631 East 24th Street

This candy-striped box stands in a candy-striped pot on the gravel yard.

Even the windowsills are candy-striped. (I took this fuzzy photo from the street. I don't go onto peoples' property.)

I was there on Christmas Day.

4519 East Juarez Street

Most of this plain metal mailbox is covered with multicolored mosaic tiles:

The photo is from Christmas Day.

4212 East Sylvane Drive

With all the scrollwork around this mailbox, can a letter carrier find where to put the mail?

I took the photo on Christmas Day.

4020 East 26th Street

This black car with flames coming out of the hood is headed uphill at an angle such that the letter carrier only has to open the grille and drop the mail in:

I roared by (on my bicycle :) Christmas Day.

4523 North Soldier Trail

Two views of a mailbox inside of a large gray stuccoed post painted with nature scenes:

I drove by on November 9th.

11745 East Summer Trail

This unique fish-shaped box with a rusty iron finish was made by custom metalworker Solaz:

Their website is solaz.biz, and the site shows more mailboxes. I took the photo on November 9th.

Update (April 16, 2015): The artist, Emily Mann, wrote (on another blog entry; I've moved it here): “Hi. Thanks for coming by during Open Studio Tours. I've just installed a new mailbox in Shadow hills with a Tree of Life theme, embellished rusted steel with brushed clean steel and decorative post. --it's welded on and concreted in quite securely! I've just added it to my webpage, solaz.biz and would invite you to go check it out for real.”

3130 North Soldier Trail

It's 2015 and I'm back on my bicycle hunting for mailboxes:

That rusted bike between the posts of a mailbox isn't actually mine, of course; it's missing the seat, handlebars and tires. I drove by (in a car) on November 9th, along the route of the 2014 fall Artists Open Studios tour in far northeast Tucson.

1431 South Palo Verde Avenue

Just in time for the new year, here's an old box on a fence, unused.


It sits behind a new bog-standard mailbox at the curb:

I took both photos almost a year ago: January 1, 2014.

1739 North Nancy Rose Boulevard

Just in time for Christmas, here's our 300th mailbox! It's in a rusty brown color, surrounded by a butterfly and a flower — a calla lily, I'd guess.

I fluttered by on November 16, 2013.

2901 East 26th Street

Here's a pair of black mailboxes with saguaro posts:

I usually don't show saguaro posts, but these two were too fun to miss.

I took their portrait on July 28, 2013.

3274 East 24th Street

This white mailbox is embedded in its custom-made post, with a nook below it and tiles that match the ones on the home's front porch:

It's the last of four boxes along this block of 24th Street. I was there on August 6, 2013.

3265 East 24th Street

Here's a dark blue mailbox with a country scene in reds and browns: a little road winds past trees, one with a swing, and a building (maybe a school?):

The other side of the box is black with the house number.

I rolled by on August 6th, 2013.