Blog to blog, redux

 Last December, I wrote about a blog that displays postal covers from around the world.  The blog's author, Daniel Mathieu, solicits postal covers from like-minded people: those with beautiful stamps and interesting postmarks receive extra thanks.  So back in December, I sent an envelope with the newly issued USPS Revolutionary War stamps.  Then a couple weeks ago during National Letter Writing Month, I sent another cover with brand new stamps depicting famous individuals of the Revolutionary War.  President George Washington was an obvious choice to use, in combination with the Marquis de Lafayette, a nod towards the important contributions of France in obtaining American freedom.  This time, in addition to a letter using my best Duolingo French, I included some photo postcards of my hometown, Birmingham, Alabama.  Daniel shows these in his post, along with some links to additional info for those who might wish to know more about Washington, Lafayette, the Boston Tea Party, Birmingham, or our Vulcan Statue.  Write on!

Blog to blog

 A few months ago, I discovered the blog "La Boite aux Lettres du Monde", which my high school and Duolingo French lessons enable me to translate as "Mailbox of the World".  The blog author, Daniel, solicits postal mail with interesting stamps from all over the world, which he posts on his blog.  In return, he promises to reply to senders with mail of his own.  This is a man with whom I share a like mind, so I sent off my letter on about November 30th.  Today, Daniel has posted my letter.  For the international 1st class 1 ounce postage rate of $1.70, I used two first class forever stamps ($ 0.78 each) and a vintage 14 cent stamp.  The paired forever stamps come from this year's issue of battlefield scenes of the American Revolutionary War, which was issued this past April.  Some of that stamp issue are matched pairs, or two stamps that combine to make one scene; the ones I used were from the Battle of Lexington and Concord.  I've had great enjoyment following this blog, and seeing all the beautiful stamps from around the world, and I look forward to receiving my reply from Daniel.  Stay tuned.

Mailbox improvement week

 Yes, there is such a thing as "Mailbox Improvement Week", and we are currently in the midst of it.  During this week, we are reminded that it is important to maintain the receptacle that receives household postal mail.  For many of us who live in single-family homes, this amounts to a streetside box on a pole.  But how many of us know there are detailed specifications for the size, design, and position of these boxes?  This effort to standardize home mailboxes is intended to make the postal carrier's life easier and delivery more efficient.  From speaking to postal carriers myself, I gather the thing they like best is for you to have a well-maintained, sturdy and clean box of sufficient size for daily mail delivery.  And in these days of increased parcel delivery (from Amazon and similar vendors) a box that will accommodate at least the smaller parcels is greatly appreciated by working mail carriers.  Beyond that, there recently have been increasing reports of mail theft, both from home boxes and from blue collection boxes.  The latter is a headache for the US Postal Inspection Service but the former is something we must deal with individually.  For myself, I recently installed a sturdy, lockable box made by a company called Mail Boss.  It relies on a long chute and baffle arrangement to receive mail and hold it in a steel box with a locked door.  Even though I live in a sleepy, low-crime suburban community, I sleep better knowing that checks (yes, they are still used, on occasion) and other important documents are protected from casual pilfering.  Whatever choices you make regarding your mailbox, this week is the right time to think about it being properly maintained, clean, and usable for the purpose it was intended.  Write on!

It's in the mail 7.1

Nearly a year ago, I wrote about a mailbox near my place of work.  And just today, I noticed it had been replaced with a new model.  The old one was quite shabby looking, having been weathered and beset by vandals.  The new one is bright and shiny, though it, too, has already been marked by vandals (not visible in these photos).  In the continuing drive towards increased security, this box has been equipped with the newer anti-fishing mail slot of the type I first noticed on another local box well over a year ago.  Here's hoping the new box will serve the neighborhood well for many years!

It's in the mail 8

 This morning, as the nation struggles with a widespread computer network malfunction, I ponder a simpler time when communication didn't depend on digital equipment.  So today I focus on another in an ongoing series of postal collection boxes.  This one is outside the door of Jefferson Tower, part of the sprawling complex of buildings that comprise UAB University Hospital (which was just - once again - named the best hospital in Alabama and one of the tops in the country.)  JT, as we UAB employees call it, is a 1940s era high rise structure that was once the main hospital building in Birmingham.  It replaced Hillman Hospital, the adjacent building which was built in 1888 as a small charity hospital.  So for over 100 years, doctors, nurses and countless patients have passed the site of this mailbox, and no doubt many sent letters from it to tell friends and family of their medical condition.  Hopefully for most, it was a message of good news.

It's in the mail- UK edition

 Despite obvious differences, the postal systems of the United States and the United Kingdom share many similarities.  Most notably, they both currently suffer from serious mismanagement and regularly impose significant rate increases while services are in steep decline.  But the Royal Mail goes the extra mile to be dysfunctional while being privatized many years ago, and coming under foreign ownership most recently.  Finally, the Royal Mail has adopted ugly barcoded stamps, like some other European countries, while the USPS has so far avoided this travesty.  However, the Royal Mail has long excelled in the charming character of their public collection, or pillar, boxes.  Even today, these adhere to the classic design themes instituted by Anthony Trollope, the popular Victorian novelist who wrote books while keeping his day job as a postal official.  His classic red pillarbox design is a familiar symbol of the UK all around the world.  Part of the charm of Royal Mail boxes is that they bear the Royal Cypher of the reigning monarch when they were installed.  So one can trace the history of any pillar or wall box one might spot by reading the monarch's crest.  The most common, of course would be those boxes bearing the symbol of Queen Elizabeth II, due to her extraordinarily long reign.  But find a box old enough- and these durable articles exist- and you'll see the symbol of Queen Victoria from over 100 years ago.  So today, the notable event was reported- the installation of the first box bearing the cypher of King Charles III.  Another addition to the long, long history of the Royal Mail, which is enough to fill a 700 page book.

It's in the mail 7

 These days, neighborhood collection boxes are much rarer than they used to be.  They are found only in older neighborhoods; new subdivisions seem to be built without a convenient dropoff point.  This all draws attention to the ones that still exist.  I mean, we're not talking about Dollar General stores or Starbuck's, which can be seemingly found on every corner.  So that's what makes this forlorn box more notable.  It's in a neighborhood on Birmingham's southside, at the fringe of UAB campus.  I just wonder why with boxes so scarce, there is still this one, precisely one block away from the South Highland post office.

It's in the mail 6

 For today's mailbox, we stay close to home.  Specifically, the curbside mailboxes in the drive-through lane of my local post office.  Now, the Helena Post Office is, I think, more of a branch service center.  It offers many of the services one expects of a full-function post office, including post office boxes, counter service, and package collection.  But I sense that no real mail sorting or cancellations happen there.  Mail I send from here is actually sorted and postmarked at the major regional service center in Birmingham.  And tracking sometimes shows that incoming parcels I receive originate from the larger post office in nearby Alabaster.  Still, it is fortunate that this post office is so close to my home, and directly on my commute to work.  As the town of Helena, tiny when I moved here 25 years ago, has grown and spread out to the west, this post office is a long drive away for many city residents.  Some years ago, I had heard rumors of a second post office that was being planned for the distant west end of the city, but ongoing financial problems within the USPS seem to have ended that possibility.  Anyways, I routinely drop outgoing postcards and letters in these boxes, and from here they reach the far corners of the world.

Helena, Alabama Post Office

It's in the mail 5

 When I was a very young child, one of my regular household chores was to mail letters for my parents.  It was my task to take them about a half block down the street from our suburban Chicago home to the blue collection box on the street corner.  And in the 50 or so years since, I've retained my fascination with postal mail.  Neighborhood mail boxes are much more rare nowadays, and the ones that exist are found in older neighborhoods.  This is one of them.  I passed it yesterday while on Morris Avenue in the center of Birmingham.  Morris Avenue is a relic- a cobblestone street in an old neighborhood of the city that has seen a recent resurgence.  New housing has sprung up nearby, taking varied forms from refurbished high-rise office buildings to newly constructed condos.  New restaurants and nightlife spots are popping up all over.  But while I was visiting one of the older, established businesses in the area, Alabama Peanut Company, I saw the box still standing by, awaiting mail deposits from all the nearby residences and businesses.

It's in the mail- celebrity edition

Next up in the continuing series of mailbox posts: this one deserves some background info.  Some years ago, I discovered the now defunct Letter Writers Alliance, an online resource for those who, as I do, value the physical written word.  One quirky product they made available was the Pigeon Post.  This made use of the fact that USPS regulations allow objects of unusual dimensions to be mailed without an enclosure or package.  It turns out you can put a life-sized plastic pigeon in the mail if it has proper postage and an address attached.  My pigeon was named Speckled Jim.  I mailed Speckled Jim to friends and family around the country, where they would photograph him in various locations before returning him to me by mail.  One of these trips, in particular, would turn out to be very special when Jim met a celebrity.  (I frequently point out that I myself have never met an A-list celebrity in the wild.  I've seen them on stage on Broadway, and I've met "specialty" celebrities like Nobel Prize winning scientists, and also local regional celebrities.  But never a major, nationally known one.  So Jim beats me there.)

On one of his trips, Jim went to a friend of mine from high school, who had become a senior flight attendant for American Airlines and was based in Chicago.  As such, she was eligible for the better routes, and often flew to places like Paris and London.  I sent Jim to her so that he may accompany her on one of her trips to London.  She sent back photos of Jim in pubs and neighborhoods, and on a traditional Royal Mail pillar box.  But upon landing on her return flight, I got an excited text saying, "Wait to you see the photo I got!"  And sure enough, on the London-Chicago flight was the star of the Harry Potty movies, Daniel Radcliffe.  My friend had somehow cornered Radcliffe in the airplane galley and persuaded him to pose for a photo with Speckled Jim.  I can't imagine what went through his mind while he did this!  But he was evidentially a good sport about it, and there now exists in the internet ether a photo of the famous child actor incongruously holding a plastic pigeon.

Daniel Radcliffe with Speckled Jim

It's in the mail 3

 Continuing on from my previous mailbox post, I'd like to show one that I captured on a trip to New York some years ago.  We were staying in the venerable Wellington Hotel (now permanently closed, alas) and since it was a century old high-rise hotel, they had a Cutler Mailbox in the lobby which was apparently still in use.  These boxes can be found in high rise buildings around the city, and were usually attached to chutes so that people in the floors above the lobby could drop mail into the box without descending to the ground floor.  When it worked this was a neat solution, but the chutes were prone to being blocked by clogs, and mail stuck between floors might go undetected for weeks.  There were even rubber stamps used by the postal system to explain this as a reason for delayed mail.  The ornate chute and box systems have been captured in a lovely book showing their variety.  Perhaps a majority of Cutler boxes that exist are no longer in use, but they can be found and are a beautiful reminder of bygone days.

Cutler Mail Box: Wellington Hotel, NYC

It's in the mail 2

 I came across another interesting mailbox recently.  This one is in an old neighborhood on the southside of Birmingham. There has been a mailbox here for many years, as long as I can remember.  But this particular one looks relatively new.  And when I got closer, I noticed a feature I've never seen before: the mail drop door had been replaced by a narrow slot.  This is, I gather, an anti-theft device, intended to combat the growing threat of mail fishing.  Yes, in 2023, people still send checks by mail often enough to attract thieves who steal the checks and forge them for their own use. Thieves can drop an object on a string with sticky adhesive attached to grab mail in a box and pull it out.  So the new slot, with pivoting metal fingers that form a one-way valve of sorts, effectively prevents this.  First time I've seen this device, though it appears to be more common in places like New York.  If it increases the security of mail, I'm all for it.

It's in the mail

 Among the various social media sites that I regularly visit are a couple of quaint ones that are devoted to mailboxes.  Since they are in England, the mail collection boxes, or pillar boxes, are often very old and usually have a lot of character.  They also tend to be located in scenic locations which makes for beautiful photography.  This inspires me to follow their example, even though my efforts may not be as compelling.  The standard USPS blue collection box doesn't seem to be as photogenic as an English pillar box, and their locations not as scenic.  Regardless, I now present the first in what I hope will be a long running series:  mailbox spotting.

First up is a box incongruously located at the edge of a suburban strip mall parking lot.  I wonder who uses it- the nearby store staff?  Perhaps passing customers?  It has both a walkup drop slot and a drive-by chute for automobiles.  I'm curious how much this peripheral box is used.