Have a favorite obsession or passion? A love of dolphins, horses or cacti? Nowadays, you can announce it cleverly to friends and neighbors in the form of a personalized mailbox.
With so many more things being stuffed into mailboxes these days, such as bills, catalogs, and more bills and catalogs, imaginative designers have not just enlarged the standard size of mailboxes, they’ve made them much more appealing with themed designs.
An increasing number of companies manufacture these custom designs to help homeowners spruce up their properties in the same way they decide to paint a front door or shutters green or red.
Much of the impetus has also come from real estate developers, who know that a nice mailbox will enhance curb appeal, which helps sell a home.
“It’s one of the first things buyers see when they come to a house,” says Al Capp, office manager of The Mailbox Factory in Kirtland, Ohio. The company was started by Wayne Burwell, who used to help plow driveways in the winter. He often came upon damaged posts and boxes. The proverbial lightbulb went off. The company now satisfies any whim, including one cigar-chomping homeowner who wanted his mailbox to resemble a hand wrapped around a cigar with carved fingernails, knuckles and a pinky ring. Another customer asked for a giant golf ball atop a huge tee.
Homeowner Clifford Altschull went so far as to come up with his own unique design. President of a sign company, Brooks Gray Sign Co. in Richmond, Va., he had workers at his company create a mailbox in the shape of a carousel horse for his wife, who loves the colorful creatures commonly found at amusement parks. The front of the couple’s box represents the horse’s head, the sides are its body, the center post that holds up the box is painted gold like the post that runs through many carousel horses and it is topped by a gold ball. The entire work stands 3 feet tall and 2 feet long and was crafted from a high-performance vinyl that withstands inclement weather.
The themed mailboxes are as functional as the traditional unadorned black, green or gray boxes, which sometimes come with a flag.
Most common for any of these boxes–newfangled or old–are post- and wall-mounted, recessed, slots, chests, houses, and Victorian-style ones atop columns. The Mailbox Works in Chicago sells all the above–and more. It’s most popular suburban model is the “keystone,” a post-mounted box made from cast and extruded aluminum with brass accents. With an address plaque, a 77 1/2-inch-high post and the box, it retails for $398. The company also sells an increasing number of specialty locking mailboxes, since many homeowners are concerned about mail security, says Mark Fitzpatrick, owner of The Mailbox Works in Chicago.
Do any manufacturers or retailers worry that the mailbox will one day be an anachronism? Hardly, they say. In spite of the surge of correspondence conducted over the Internet, the long, 350-year-plus history of “snail” mail isn’t about to disappear soon.
Do most mail carriers find the box makes a difference? One carrier/supervisor in the Chicago area said, “We like looking at different mailboxes; it gives me ideas, though I have just a regular box mounted to the wall.”
Bonnie Johnson, communications/program specialist for the Postal Service in Chicago, adds: “The general feeling is that anything is fine as long as it works for a carrier. Because of their busy schedules, they want the boxes to be accessible, and they want it to be safe. They don’t want to put their hand in a box and come out with scratches, have dogs standing guard or have to go through bushes to get to the box,” she says.
And Fitzpatrick adds still another caveat. “It’s really the size that matters. A lot complain that many of the boxes are just too small,” he says.
In addition to home-oriented catalogs and gift departments of specialty stores, some other options to consider for novel boxes are:
Alanda Creations in Miami makes custom mailboxes mostly with nautical themes, says owner Carolina Dahl. The nine current designs are a dolphin, manatee, seahorse, lighthouse, marlin, golf bag, flamingo, pelican and alligator, with new ones always on the drawing board. The motif incorporates a stand and holds the box, eliminating the need for a separate post. Prices range from $415 to $600. Made from fiberglass, they can withstand harsh weather or sunlight and last at least 20 years, says Dahl, whose family has owned the business for the last nine years. The mailboxes are sold through its site at www.custommailbox.com.
For those like Dahl, who live in a neighborhood where unique designs are not permitted, her company can convert its mailboxes to garden statues and fountains. “I have a dolphin in my own yard,” she says. For more information, check the Web site or call 305-969-2622.
Fishermen’s Log in Hialeah, Fla., manufactures a variety of mailboxes, mostly in fish motifs. Choose an “angry” freshwater bass, saltwater grouper or a freshwater walleye that resembles a mounted fish; colors for all are vivid shades of green, yellow, orange and pink. The fish’s open mouth becomes the storage compartment for mail. A smaller sleeping cat is available in shades of white, black, orange or gray. All can be mounted atop standard 4-by-4 wooden posts. The cats retail for $49; the fish for $129. For more information, check out the company’s Web site at firstclassmailbox.com or call 800-765-1768.
The Mailbox Factory , manufactures standard mailboxes of metal, in addition to its custom line, often produced based on owners requests. “Owners have sent in photographs of their dogs, houses and other favorite objects to be copied,” says Capp. A hand-carved German shepherd atop a box looking forward with paw prints on the box might run about $250, with an additional $84 for a cedar post or $165 for a post with space for a newspaper.
The company’s most popular designs are those that replicate the owner’s house, with requests sent in from around the world. Most of those run between $250 and $600, depending on size and complexity. One climbed to $1,800 because of its plexiglass windows and lightbulbs, which worked off a photocell. For more information, check the company’s Web site at www.mailboxfactory.com or call 440-256-6245.
The Mailbox Lady in New Bern, N.C., was started three years ago by Jane Crayton, who wanted an unusual mailbox for her home, then began selling that design, an assortment of spring flowers, and others to local crafts shops. Her husband, Paul, a real estate agent, designed a Web site for her, www.themailboxlady.com, which showcases her 15 designs, including a lighthouse, birds, dogs, cottage by the sea, race car and beach chair. For more information, check the Web site or call 877-830-0759.
The Mailbox Works, which has offices in Chicago and Warrenville, was started by Fitzpatrick 11 years ago in the Naperville area to sell and install mailboxes for land developers, property management companies, and homeowners, its biggest market share. “When I lived in the Naperville area, I noticed all the new construction and there were no mailboxes,” he says.
He recognized a niche and started with wooden mailboxes and posts, but quickly learned that people wanted something more decorative. He found vendors across the country who had seen the same void. His company now sells dozens of different designs, but no custom models. The Web site is www.mailboxworks.com; its phone numbers are 800-824-9985.
