Santa Koala, 3202 East 28th

We started 2013 with a koala bear mailbox, at 3202 East 28th Street, complete with branches and leaves. When I rolled by last Friday, the 27th, I saw that the owner had added some Christmas cheer to the street.

2411 East Waverly Street

I rolled by this sunny spring scene on May 14th: a handpainted white box, covered by — and surrounded by — flowers.

2345 East Elm Street

In case Christmas Day in Tucson doesn't turn out to be bright and sunny, the photo in today's Tucson Murals Project post, Maybe a mural, part 49: Giant flowers on Elm will brighten up your day.

There's also a mailbox at 2345 East Elm, but it's not quite as spectacular as the flowers:

Homeowners at 2345: Thanks for the art… and the box!

PS: I've been super-busy these past few months. There just hasn't been time to post many mailbox photos. I'm hoping to break away a day, soon, to post a lot of the backlog of boxes. Please check back!

Pantano River Park (at Speedway)

Is it the World's Biggest Mailbox? Well, it doesn't actually hold mail, so… maybe not:

It's just east of the Lowe's store on Speedway & Kolb. There's a map and some overall info on the Pima County website. The November 12, 2012 Arizona Daily Star article Tucson Oddity: Postcard tiles, 'mailbox' send welcome message tells more.

I took this photo on November 13th. There are more photos on the Tucson Murals Project blog in the April 21, 2010 entry.

2401 East Mabel Street

This black mailbox has stenciled flowers and numbers:

I found it on May 14th.

2626 East Devon Street

On May 14th, I rolled by this white mailbox with hand-painted rectangular pictures and decoration.

3720 East Lee Street

Okay, so this photo isn't really a mailbox. The mailbox is behind it - a stock U.S. Postal Service multi-unit box. But I thought the unique combination of a totem pole and a wind vane made this worth posting here.

I blew by on May 13th.

2810 East Lee Street

Here's a black box with unique scrollwork and a ball on top of the post.

I snapped it on May 13th.

2726 East Lee Street

I'm on my latest trip to New Mexico (which is part of why I haven't been posting to this blog… the other is that I've been really busy!). But I'll try to Keep The Boxes Coming much more often now.

I found this white mailbox, with lavender and brown dribbled paint and a lavender flag, on May 13th.

2711 East Lee Street

Why does this red-and-white mailbox have a post that's around ten feet high? The top reminds me of a place to hang flags or pennants. (If you know better, please leave a comment below or send me email.)

I spotted it (hard not to miss it!) on May 13th at 2711 E. Lee Street.

Update (June 19, 2019): Donna Reardon emailed us the story of this mailbox:

This is my childhood home I grew up and lived in for 18 years. My father made this mailbox and post. He was an certified welder and iron worker. The reason why it’s so high is that it was a light for the front yard. Of course the light on the top is long gone. It was pretty neat in the 1960’s. We didn’t have any street lights and the yard was very dark.

Thank you, Donna!

Another box that rocks: 2209 North Tucson Boulevard

I'm back from a trip out of town (without my mailbox photos to post). But now the boxes are back!

On January 2, I posted a box that rox — actually, a mailbox on a pile of rocks. Here's one on a post (made of concrete?) that's (almost) covered with flagstone:

I unearthed it May 13th.

2602 East Mabel Street

Instead of putting your mailbox outside the wall around the front of your home, why not put it in the wall — so you don't have to go around to get your mail?

The owner of this mailbox did that. It's embedded in the stuccoed wall (and covered with stucco itself) next to a bright green and dark lavender gate. I rolled by (and stopped!) on May 13th.

The other side of 2601 East Mabel Street

As I hinted in the previous entry (you can click there to see it), I've been very busy. So busy, in fact, that I didn't check to see if I'd taken a photo of the other side of that box.

I found it this morning, as I was about to do another post. Here's the other side of the same box, on May 13:

2601 East Mabel Street

The Boxes Are Back after a break for (me) moving to a new home. This box is a great way to start (again):

It's white with green and black faces and eyes. I found it on May 13th.

608 Shattuck Street, Bisbee

Although this is the Tucson Mailbox Art blog, I can't resist a great mailbox anywhere (especially on Friday the 13th in 2013 :).

Gregg Townsend just surprised me with photos of this church-shaped mailbox in Bisbee... including teacups and saucers on the ground next to its post:

Is that an electricity-generating windmill over the steeple? Here's a close-up:

Whattabox! Thanks, Gregg.

1214 North Forgeus Avenue

Here's a mailbox design I haven't seen before. It's painted green, and the base is also painted: with flowers.

I spotted it on May 13th.

The other side of 2903 East Toledo Place

Back on January 1, I posted a mailbox at 2903 East Toledo Place. But I only showed one side. I came back on May 13th and photographed the other side:

Though I normally don't show boxes with saguaro-shaped posts, the chile-shaped flag won!

2934 East 9th Street

On top of this brown mailbox is a quail cut from sheet metal:

I waddled by (quickly) on May 13th.

301 South Eastbourne Avenue

This black mailbox has a black scroll underneath. (There are more similar columns around the grounds.)

I was there on May 13th.

3346 East Arroyo Chico

Pots on mailbox posts are nothing unusual here in Tucson. This home, though (in the part of town just north of Reid Park, with large homes on curvy streets) had an unusual combination: a beautiful pot on a nicely-stuccoed post... and, next to it, a plain gray mailbox on a metal post.

Maybe it was under construction when I rolled by on May 13th? If you've seen the home since then and have an update, please leave a comment below or send me email. Thanks.

648 East 8th Street revisited

This mailbox, with its dark sort-of-metallic blue and a couple of handpainted designs, has a multicolored fence around it. I stopped by to gawk on May 11th... but lost track of the photo above. (Instead, on May 18th, I posted a fuzzy photo enlarged from the photo of the fence. It shows the very top of the mailbox, but not very clearly.)

If you'd like to see the fence, it's on today's Tucson Murals Project entry.

4041 East 32nd Street

I rode past this black mailbox — with deer a and a tree — on May 3.

4113 East Valentine Place

This arch-shaped mailbox (at the right) has matching arches in the background.

I rode by (amazed...) on May 3rd.

4218 East Valentine Street

This worn black mailbox has scrolls and loops in its post.

I spotted it on May 3rd.

(PS: I've been very busy recently, so I haven't posted as often as I usually would. I'm hoping that soon life will slow down enough to get back to the boxes!)

4360 East 32nd Street

This white mailbox has a handpainted house number and design. I found it on May 3rd.

2906 East Lisbon Place (our 200th "post")

As I rode my bike around Tucson's (mostly) side streets back in 2012, looking for art on the walls of homes and businesses, I kept spotting creative mailboxes along the street. I started to think about posting some mural art along with a special mailbox.

But (of course) a mailbox isn't even close to flat! That gave me the idea for the blog you're seeing here: Tucson Mailbox Art. It didn't take long to hunt through the photos I'd taken of mailboxes in the past year or two and start this blog. The first entry, dated 12/12/12, showed a mailbox I'd snapped two days before.

I started taking photos of every “interesting” mailbox I found. (And, as time went by, I saw some mailboxes over and over again. Those went onto the new blog page boring mailboxes.)

Today — almost eight months later — we're at the two hundredth mailbox... as well as the 200th (post) “post.” (I apologize for that artless pun. :)

Finally ... The Box!

This “croc box” was hand-painted. As the homeowner told me that day, it came to Tucson from Florida.

Whattabox!

(By the way: If you click the Google Map link below, you'll see that this part of Lisbon Place runs north-south — even though the street sign said East Lisbon Place. Figuring out where you are on Tucson streets can be a challenge sometimes...)

4602 East 32nd Street

This black box has a red outline and a (painted) spider spinning a web. I photographed it cautiously :) on May 3rd.

4511 East 30th Street

This red, white and blue fire hydrant looks as if it belongs here near the curb.

So what's a mailbox doing on top of it? Is it a used fireplug?

(I was going to suggest that the owner might also have made a deal with the Fire Department to put a mailbox on top of the pole. But then I realized that the top of the hydrant is where the on/off valve is located... and firefighters wouldn't want that blocked!)

I rolled by on my bicycle May 3rd.

515 South Avenida De Palmas revisited

Back on March 9, I posted a photo of this mailbox with a metal palm tree above it — both painted black — which I snapped mid-day on January 3rd.

On April 30th, I rode by that same box near sunrise. Here's what I saw on the 30th.

119 South Irving Avenue

I'm back from vacation. On with the mailboxes!

This box has one of the chain posts that I usually don't show. It's the surroundings that make this light green mailbox special:

Next to the mailbox are two stylized wooden saguaros, also painted green (but a more-saturated version of the color).

The saguaros and mailbox are surrounded by a rock garden. It's a nice spot to drive by and admire just east of Randolph Park. (It's also a couple of blocks away from a very fun mural along Broadway, just east of Alvernon. (If you come east on Broadway from Alvernon, turn right at Longfellow and park to see the mural. Then drive south a block to Cooper, where little San Clemente Park is a pleasant place to sit. Go east on Cooper, then take the second left turn (north) onto Irving. This mailbox scene is half a block north, on the right.

Below are a Google Map of this little “tour”...

View Larger Map

(if that map doesn't seem to show a short tour, try clicking here)

... and a closeup of the box:

Enjoy! (And welcome back to this blog.)

1432 North Dodge Boulevard (or next door...)

Couldn't be finer for the Fourth of July! (Well, it could use some fresh paint.)

This box is next to the plain black box numbered 1432 N. Dodge, but I didn't see any other house number. I found it on May 30th.

4010 East Palomar Drive

This handpainted silver and black mailbox has a crazy critter flag:

I took its photos on April 28th.

4012 East Cooper Street

It turns out that this mailbox — in a large white brick post with plants on top — isn't as unique as I thought it was when I snapped its photo on April 28th:

(As I've ridden my bicycle around Tucson, I've discovered a number of similar big posts with plants. This is one of the biggest! Still, I'm going to add “mailboxes with plants on top” to the “Not these mailboxes” list.)

4220 East Whittier Street

On April 28th, I flew by this black mailbox... with a lacy vine wrapped around it and a cardinal-shaped flag.

(By the way, you may have seen this box before. I originally posted it on June 19th. I've just moved it to appear on June 25th.)

4042 East Cooper Street

This black mailbox is surrounded by railroad gear... and there's a windvane on top!

I rolled by it on April 28th.

4051 East Calle De Jardin

On April 28, I found this brown mailbox with three kinds of cactus (cut from a sheet of metal and painted white) on top.

4032 East Calle De Jardin

This rusty black mailbox is mounted on an Oriental-looking (maybe Japanese?) post of brown with yellow panels inside.

I found it on April 28th.

4022 East Calle De Jardin

A grey mailbox with a sort of prickly pear “sunrise” between its posts:

3934 East Calle De Jardin

This black mailbox has hand-painted blue flowers and butterflies:

I found it on April 28th.

237 South Calle de Madrid

A bright copper mailbox with a copper flower on each side, at 237 S. Calle de Madrid, on April 28: