This is a historic site, Mailbox Zero and receives about 11 visitors a year (plus the local mailman).
We didn’t always have these dome-shaped boxes. Before that you had to go pick up your mail or have it delivered in return for sex, a chicken, some preserves or another nice, homey gift.
In some parts of the country you still have to pick up your mail unless the mail delivery person is into you and you are ok with that.
With the advent of junk mail the postoffice was overflowing with crap mostly because people couldn’t pick up their mail all the time. When they did, they threw out most of it and the post offices started becoming junk paper warehouses.
The post masters were getting really annoy and started a campaign to pressure the Postmaster General to change things. It was the legendary “Fuck This” campaign of 1949.
Things were going well for the US, having helped wipe out Europe and Japan and the president was feeling flush. He came up with the idea of getting a bunch of weird little trucks and have mail delivered. I think Ford, GM and Chrysler were part of the task force that came up with this.
He got few billion, bought the trucks and everything was all set up. Mail delivery people drove around and dropped off people’s mail in their driveways or on their stairs. Most of it blew away or got soaked in the rain.
It took a while but after a few months someone came up with the idea of a metal mailbox. I think it was by someone at a steel company. Millions were manufactured and distributed. People were educated on how to put it on a post and write the street number on it.
There was a huge ceremony and the president drove up to the very first mailbox, Mailbox Zero in Circleback, Maryland and delivered about 80 pieces of junk mail, a few bills and a card.
It was a huge success and the mailbox has become an American symbol of pride and accomplishment.
My mailbox is rusty, the door doesn’t close and sometimes my mail is stolen, but I am proud of it.
