When last did you hand-write a letter to someone, and take the time to post it? For many of us, that’s a thing of the past. We have email, mobile phones, social media and other instant ways to communicate.
But there’s something super nostalgic about receiving a written letter or Christmas card… Walking to the mailbox, opening it up and being pleasantly surprised to see an envelope with your name and address scrawled across the front.
Despite the world embracing the digital era, it’s nice to know that you can still see mailboxes scattered around neighborhoods during your daily walks. What’s even better is when they aren’t your average box-shaped style. Mailboxes come in all shapes and sizes, standing proud like full-time front desk employees, ready to greet the next visitor.
Bored Panda has put together a list of the most creative and cool mailboxes people have spotted around town. From lobsters to Lego, and even a lifeguard chair, many serve as the perfect inspiration to bring old-school letter-writing back into fashion. Let us know your favorites by upvoting them. We also explore the history of the postal service and you’ll find that info between the images.
#1 My New Mailbox. I Expect To Find More Coins In The Mail Now, Hopefully No Munchers
Image source: senator_bus
If you were to imagine the very first letters ever written, what would they look like? If you pictured pieces of paper scrawled with curly handwriting, you’d be wrong. The world’s first “letters” came in the shape of clay tokens. They were bobs of baked clay with dots or lines incised in them. Used in Mesopotamia some 9,500 years ago, these tokens during trade.
“A courier might bring tokens to a seller for so many bushels of grain, or so many jars of olive oil, and the seller would send the tokens with the goods back to the buyer. Think of it as a Bronze Age bill of lading,” explains the ThoughtCo. site.
This would mark the start of writing, and the very early days of what would later become the postal system.
#2 That’s Just Adorable
Image source: zeldadmx
#3 Jazz Hands For The Weekend
Image source: floridamailbox
State-sponsored, designated couriers started emerging in Egypt around 2400 BCE. This is believed to be the first documented use of an official postal system, and at the time, it was only available to pharaohs.
“The main mode of transportation was through the Nile River,” reports Egyptian Streets. “The letters were placed in a box escorted by guards.” The pharaohs would use this method to communicate with each other and send updates on political developments in their territories.
#4 My Neighbor’s Mailbox Matches His House
Image source: Partisode
#5 Lobster Mailbox
Image source: allenyeee
#6 Bender Mailbox
Image source: Entartika
Around 305 B.C., the postal service got a little makeover in the form of a new method of transportation: horses. Believe it or not, this marked the earliest documentation of what is now known as “express mail” and “regular mail.”
“The express mail services were exclusive to state officials and rulers while the latter was used by the wider public and was delivered by a postman on a donkey or mule,” reveals Egyptian Streets.
#7 Cool Looking Mailbox
Image source: looogggan
#8 Lifeguard Chair Mailboxes Are Really Getting Out There
Image source: dunavantdecor
#9 This Large Snake Is Climbing Up The Post To Swallow Someone’s Mailbox. It Is Actually Really Scary. Best Mailbox I’ve Ever Seen
Image source: BeckyLee
According to ThoughtCo., the first envelopes were made of cloth, animal skins or vegetable parts. Paper envelopes were later developed in China, and were known as chih poh.
Many years later, in 1653, a Frenchman called Jean-Jacques Renouard de Villayer brought us the world’s first mailbox in Paris. He sold pre-paid envelopes and set up mailboxes around the city. He’s deliver any letters placed in them, provided they were in bought envelopes.
Unfortunately, De Valayer’s business did not last long. It reportedly came to an abrupt end after someone put live mice in the mailboxes, completely freaking out his customers.
#10 The Mailbox At My Workplace Is A Defunct Robot
Image source: ob103ninja
#11 This Cool Custom Mailbox
Image source: Jomajorsh
#12 A LEGO Mailbox
Image source: NightStrykr
William Dockwra is credited with setting up the Penny Post in 1680. “Striking features of the scheme were that letters were prepaid and stamped to indicate place of posting and the time they had been sent out for delivery,” reports Britannica. “Deliveries were made almost hourly.”
Again, it didn’t last… Dockwra ended up being prosecuted for infringing the state monopoly. The Penny Post was shut down in November 1682, and reopened by the government a short while later.
#13 Pretty Awesome Mailbox Across From Our Airbnb
Image source: mcdngr
#14 House In The Middle Of Corn Fields
Image source: CraigslistKing
#15 I Love How Floridians Are So Into Their Nature! I Love The Birds Here Too, They’re So Big
Image source: floridamailbox
Then, in 1759, a similar thing happened in Paris. Claude-Humbert Piarron de Chamousset came up with a local postal service but the government wasn’t happy. His business was absorbed by the state postal system, but the Frenchman was paid compensation.
#16 Yep, There Is A Mailbox In That Lighthouse
Image source: alliebarr
#17 My Artistic Niece Loves “My Neighbor Totoro”. Behold The Catbus Mailbox That She Made
Image source: My_Neighbor_Totoro
#18 Sit. Stay. Get The Mail. Good Boy
Image source: floridamailbox
#19 This Snoopy Mailbox
Image source: NimbusTO
#20 This “Thinking” Mailbox
Image source: WowWhatABeaut
#21 This Chiropractor’s Mailbox Is A Vertabral Column
Image source: loucatelli
#22 My Neighbor’s E.T. Mailbox
Image source: TinyTrafficCones
#23 A Mailbox I Made. I’m Very Proud
Image source: sludgefudge
#24 This Mailbox I Found Near My Grandparents’ House, The Guy Is An Appliance Repairman
Image source: bastiwp97
#25 Mailbox Snowman My Wife Made While I Was At Work
Image source: majlem
#26 I Designed A Retro Looking Mailbox Post To Match Our Mid Century Modern Mailbox
Image source: Dixie__Flatline
#27 Scrap Metal Mailbox Art
Image source: ifyouseekay01_10
#28 Our New Cardigan Welsh Corgi Mailbox, And The Model Who Posed For It
Image source: flaflashr
#29 Big Rig
Image source: CraigslistKing
#30 This One Is A Stinger
Image source: alliebarr
#31 The Frog
Image source: riccardozavatta
#32 The Mailbox For This Construction Office Is A Crane
Image source: deadthorium
#33 I Love This Churches Mailbox
Image source: danthoms
#34 This Mailbox. Like This Year Round, Not Just For Halloween
Image source: Skankhunter36
#35 Mailbox Monday
Image source: alliebarr
#36 Mail Person’s Eye Candy
Image source: The Colorado Cowgirl
#37 Cock-A-Doodle Doo, I Have Mail For You
Image source: floridamailbox
#38 A Shark Shaped Mailbox In A Neighborhood Near Me
Image source: krcroot
#39 Someone In My Neighborhood Has Manatee Mailboxes That They Dress Up For Holidays
Image source: giddybiddy
#40 This Fish Shaped Mailbox In My Neighborhood
Image source: Crimson342
#41 Extreme Mailbox Design
Image source: echo6golf
#42 This Mailbox In My Neighborhood
Image source: st0rmbr1ng3r
#43 My Buddie’s Girlfriend Painted Their Mailbox In Tribute To The Late Great Eddie Van Halen
Image source: catheterhero
#44 Television Camera Mailbox
Image source: DrZerpexanPhD
#45 Rustic Home With Dormer Windows
Image source: CraigslistKing
#46 The Mailboxes Of St. Augustine
Image source: meghanmcc007
#47 Beep Beep Jeep
Image source: alliebarr
#48 Custom Made By My Father: East Texas Mailbox
Image source: TheGDubsMan
#49 Apartment Intercom And Letterbox In Venice, Italy
Image source: Luxuriant_1
#50 Loon Mailbox. Curb Appeal Begins At The Mailbox
Image source: afnobagaicha
#51 Save The Sea Turtle Mailboxes
Image source: floridamailbox
#52 I Waved At The Mailbox And It Waved Back
Image source: jevt1987
#53 This Mailbox Gets My Stamp Of Approval
Image source: atomictravel
#54 My New Airplane Mailbox
Image source: Joe Gallotto
#55 Spotted This Guy On The Way Back From The Beach This Morning
Image source: floridamailbox
#56 This Mailbox Is A Large Claw Hammer
Image source: vulture1957
#57 A Pelican Homemade Letterbox
Image source: Grahame Cookie
#58 Hollywood Themed Post Box, Featuring A Movie Director, Or Perhaps A Film Cameraman
Image source: veritas vita
#59 Jet-Themed Mailbox
Image source: NW_history_buff
#60 This Johnny 5 Mailbox
Image source: knuckleheadtj
#61 Yes, It Roars When You Open It
Image source: ShieldsZ
#62 Whoa Doggy
Image source: CzarcasmRules
#63 Congratulations! You Have Made It To Oregon
Image source: floridamailbox
#64 Mailbox
Image source: alliebarr
#65 DIY Mailbox Post
Image source: tylergarner
#66 I’ve Made This Letterbox. It Stands 1.5 Meters Tall. What Do You Think
Image source: Tattypie1
#67 I Have To Admit That This Is The Most Unusual Mailbox I Have Seen In Palm Springs
Somehow, I think a gecko might be more appropriate; but hey, we are talking Palm Springs, a place where creativity glows.
Image source: palmspringsinsiderguide
#68 I Hear There Is Football On Today? Gooo Sports
Image source: floridamailbox
#69 Check Out The Amazing Mailbox At This House
Image source: jcircle20
#70 When A Welder And Fitter Get Creative With A Mailbox
Image source: Fif4ever
#71 This Handmade Tree Mailbox
Image source: Industrious Designs
#72 This Mailbox Is Built From The Front End Of An Old Harley Davidson Motorcycle. The Mailbox Acts As The Headlight
Image source: theHostas
#73 This Themed Homemade Mailbox Is A Large Paint Brush
Image source: Peter and Gloria
#74 This Elaborate Homemade Mailbox Is A Miniature Crane With The Mailbox Itself Suspended From The Cable Hanging Off The Latticed Boom
Image source: Marine Biologist
#75 Guitar Mailbox
Image source: Phronimos
#76 Eyeball Mailbox
Image source: CommanderLoco
#77 The Mailbox At My Local Community Hospital Has R2-D2 Decals
Image source: Planthropist
#78 This Helpful Mailbox Matches The Road Sign
Image source: awkwardyoganinja
#79 Found A Cool Mailbox Cluster In Norway
Image source: abmba
#80 Fire Breathing Dragon. Middle Tennessee
Image source: TheRealWingZero
#81 I Know Why He Is Smiling
Image source: floridamailbox
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