Monday, December 7, 2020

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!

Monday, November 30, 2020

Scorpion box...

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

Monday, November 23, 2020

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!

Monday, November 16, 2020

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.

Monday, November 9, 2020

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.)

Monday, November 2, 2020

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.

Monday, October 26, 2020

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.

Monday, October 19, 2020

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.

Monday, October 5, 2020

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.

Monday, September 28, 2020

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!

Monday, September 14, 2020

7372 East 31st Street: Engine 7372


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

Monday, September 7, 2020

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!

Monday, August 31, 2020

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!

Monday, August 24, 2020

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.

Friday, August 21, 2020

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.)

Monday, August 17, 2020

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.

Monday, August 10, 2020

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.

Monday, August 3, 2020

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.

Monday, July 27, 2020

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.

Monday, July 20, 2020

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.