Seldon Smith's gifts, part 1 of 4

2020 wasn't a great year, but here's a bright spot. David Aber found the 4000 block of East Montecito Street, which runs east from Randolph Park. One of the neighbors on that street made mailboxes by hand for 15 homes — at no cost, as gifts!

Today we'll see all of the mailboxes and parts of the homes behind them. The next three weeks’ entries have close-ups of each box. Thanks to David for spending all of the time to take the photos (on November 30th), then edit them!

Scorpion box...

…its tail is the handle to open the door! I found it (but didn't open it :) on November 22nd.

7046 Flamenco Place: Another amazing locomotive

On November 8, 2016, we showed a handmade locomotive mailbox. This one looks homemade, too. Here's a closeup:

David Aber sent the photos on November 5. Thanks as always!

880 West 19th Street: Mobile mailbox

This mailbox on a tricycle is rusty enough that I'd guess it actually hasn't been moving for a while:

I rolled by (and stopped) on August 4th.

4310 East Ware Road: Other bugs are in danger

The praying mantis on top of this flower-covered mailbox gives me a bit of cred in the “Battle of the Boxes” with David Aber, who always finds amazing mailboxes. (Come to think of it, though, he was driving both of us in his car. Sigh. :)

(A praying mantis eats other insects.)

The rest of the front yard is a nice complement to the box:

That's the last mailbox I found May 29th in this neighborhood: near Columbus Boulevard a few blocks north of 22nd. (But I'm planning to come back and hunt for more.)

618 South Columbus: Another barn (?) on a post

Last week's entry showed what looked to me like a barn on a post. Not to be outdone, I'm sure, this box is bigger.

The address below says 618 S. Columbus, but this is actually just south of there. I was in the neighborhood on May 29th.

4251 East Santa Barbara: Barn (?) on a post

David Aber and I came across this mailbox-filled neighborhood on May 29th when I had car trouble nearby. (There are more mailboxes from nearby before and after this blog entry.)

What is this? Maybe it's a barn. Or something else. (Or maybe it's an unusually-shaped wooden box that holds mail.)

  We'll have another box like this next time.

4257 East Santa Barbara: Post with tiles on top

Tiles, in two shades of blue, around the top of the large stuccoed post:

This is one of a series of mailboxes I found on May 29th in this neighborhood around Columbus Boulevard north of 22nd Avenue. More are coming up.

3439 East 28th Street: Metal flowers along the posts

I found this mailbox on May 26th:

Magnificent entrance and quirky mailbox

Never seen a mailbox with a broken-looking post and a mouse on top? You have now:

(At least, it looks like a mouse to me.) Next to this quirky masterpiece is the gorgeous mural-covered entrance to the home. Tomorrow, you can click here to see the entrance on the Tucson Murals Project blog.

I pulled over and squeaked to a stop on May 29th.

1238 East Silver Street: Sea Creatures

David Aber took photos of these gorgeous mailboxes on May 23rd and emailed them to me the next day. Amazing mailboxes, as usual, Dave!

7372 East 31st Street: Engine 7372

David Aber found this gem on March 15th. The owner put (OLD?) “OL NO 7372” on the side:

4040 East 17th Street: Lawnmower

I spotted this mailbox with a lawnmower chained to the post years ago — but didn't take this photo until February 13, 2020. As far as I can tell, the lawnmover hasn't moved!

5702 East 19th Street: Tractorbox

We're finished with the mailbox archive. Back to mailbox hunter extraordinaire David Aber. He's outdoing me again :) with this photo he emailed on February 11th. Thank you, Dave!

4975 North Sandario Road: Desert mosaic posts

Many people put the effort into their mailboxes, but this plain box has mosaic tile on both sides of the post:

David Aber made that montage from the photos he took on April 2nd. Tomorrow morning's entry on The Tucson Murals Project blog will have closeups of the two posts. Starting tomorrow (August 25), you can click to see the closeups.

Mailbox archive mystery: 2415 Somewhere

The camera says I took a photo at 2855 E. Grant at 6:05 AM on June 27, 2013. I rode my bicycle a ways, then took the photos below four minutes later — at 6:09 AM. The address on the box is 2415. Where did I take them?

I searched streets around the area with Google Maps Street View for addresses starting with 2415. It looks like there's an office building behind — maybe that's along Tucson Boulevard? No luck. So here are the photos. If you know where I took them, please leave a comment below! (You can remain anonymous.)

Mailbox archive: 3342 East Seneca Street

Here's a unique post that hangs the mailbox far out:

I found this box on June 25, 2013, but didn't publish the photos until now.

Mailbox archive: 2726 East Seneca Street

Birds are walking across the top of this box, and a lizard flag adds color:

I flew by on June 24, 2013 (and stopped for a photo). I haven't published the photo until today.

Mailbox archive: 3221 East Glenn Street

You can't miss those huge house numbers! And the “Yes” flag is a fun addition.

I found this mailbox on June 12, 2013, but didn't publish the photos until today.

Mailbox archive: 3311 East Glenn Street

When I found this mailbox on June 12, 2013, the hand-painted flowers on both sides were faded by the sun. I wonder what it looks like seven years later?

I used my photo editor to zoom in on this side of the mailbox…

Here's the other side:

I haven't published the photos until today.

Mailbox archive: 3321 East Glenn Street

This mailbox has the house number in the post, one digit per circle — except that the last number, at the bottom, is missing. Since the whole thing is tilted at a crazy angle, I wonder if a car hit it?

I found this on June 12, 2013, but didn't publish the photo until today.

Mailbox archive: 3515 East Glenn Street

The sun is just over the hills in the cutout sheet of metal between these two posts. I took the photo on June 12, 2013, but haven't published it until now.

Slowing down for the summer

I've decided to head for the hills this summer — to Santa Fe. So I'm going to publish mailboxes once a week — every Monday — until I'm home in September. If I see a great mailbox in Santa Fe, I might publish it here too.

Stay cool this summer! And by the way, if you haven't seen all of the mailboxes since this blog started in 2012, look for the “Blog archive” in the right-hand column on a desktop (or tablet?)… or just keep scrolling down the list of blog entries, page by page.

Mailbox archive: 2737/41/45/47 North Richey Boulevard

This group of four mailboxes has two lizards between the posts. I found them on June 12, 2013, but haven't published them until today.

Mailbox archive: 956 North Richey Boulevard

Here's a mailbox with a mosaic post showing the sun, a saguaro, and a coyote (or wolf?).

The two sides are different.

You might have noticed a strange pattern in the second view above. The mailbox has a series of horizontal lines. But, as I edited the photo, I noticed that it had striped patterns that changed depending on how much I zoomed in. Here's an example:

If you see something like that, it actually isn't real! (If you have nothing better to do, click on the second view and zoom in and out… you might see the patterns. How exciting. :)

I took the photos on June 12, 2013, but haven't published them until today.

Mailbox archive: 3602 East 3rd Street

Another in our long-running series of mailboxes I photographed in 2013 but didn't post until now is this box with a cutout plant on a metal plate between the posts. I snapped the photo June 12, 2013.