Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Ugly Mailboxes Make Neighbors Go Postal
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (Wireless Flash – FlashNews) – Some people go postal over the sight of an ugly mailbox.

Uglymailbox.com is a website that features pictures of hideous, weird, and unique mailboxes from all over the world.

Among the wacky creations is a mailbox shaped like a microwave, a mailbox held up by an elaborate tin robot, one shaped like a circus caravan – lion and all – and one in the likeness of the Taj Mahal.

Site founder Linda Fannin-Church believes people deck out their mailboxes as a form of self-expression, though really tacky ones can cause trouble with neighbors.

She once posted a picture of a mailbox shaped like a weird deer and people from its Michigan neighborhood bombarded her website with disapproving comments.

They complained that the mailbox was so ugly, it was making the entire neighborhood look bad and demanded reform.

However, not everyone hates manic mailboxes.

Fannin-Church imagines that the creative ones make postal workers smile because it breaks up the monotony of their route, though she has yet to hear feedback from an actual mailman.

Copyright © 2008 Wireless Flash News Inc. All rights reserved. Wireless Flash® and FlashNews® are registered trademarks of Wireless Flash News Inc.

As a result I was asked to do a couple radio “phoners”, one with Phil Parker of pH pHactor on KFYR in Bismark, North Dakota. Then I spoke with Brent Farris from KZST -Sonoma County, CA.

I have the recording of the KFYR show. UglyMailbox Radio Interview

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who’s submitted mailbox photos, subscribed to my site, visited and commented.

It’s nice to know that crazy has company

1. Raising or lowering your mailbox to meet local height requirements.
2. Replacing or adding house numbers.
3. Loose hinges on a mailbox door.
4. Rusting or peeling paint.

For example, this could use a new paint job:

I also wanted to share with you, Mr. Witles’ new mailbox. This little shoe box car opens at both ends.  I’m betting those headlights work too.

1. Raising or lowering your mailbox to meet local height requirements.
2. Replacing or adding house numbers.
3. Loose hinges on a mailbox door.

1. Raising or lowering your mailbox to meet local height requirements.
2. Replacing or adding house numbers.
3. Loose hinges on a mailbox door.
4. Rusting or peeling paint.
5. Remounting a mailbox post if loosened.

We’ve taken care of how NOT to meet mailbox height requirements.

Next step replace or add house numbers:

NO

YES

Let’s review, spraying painting your house number all over your mailbox and mailbox post is bad. Using vinyl lettering made specifically for mailboxes, or neatly stenciling numbers on your mailbox is good.

Common problems that need to be fixed:

• Loose hinges on a mailbox door.
• Rusting or peeling paint
• Remounting a mailbox post if loosened.
• Replacing or adding house numbers.
• Raising or lowering due to heaving to 40”-46” from the ground to bottom of box (height reqs vary so check with your local post office)

The Postal Service makes this annual request because of the wear and tear that occurs to mailboxes every year.

In honor of this week I’ll be posting some past and present attempts at “Mailbox Improvement” along with some tips.

Here’s my neighbors attempts at meeting the USPS height requirements.

and one that obviously isn’t tall enough.

Join me on Saturday, May 10th for Stamp Out Hunger™ — the nation’s largest annual single-day food drive! The more people who help, the more successful we’ll be, so forward this to your friends, too.

To learn more, tell a friend or download materials to promote this cause, visit: HelpStampOutHunger.com

ABOUT STAMP OUT HUNGER

On Saturday May 10th, letter carriers in more than 10,000 communities will collect food items and deliver them to local food banks to help some of the millions of Americans, including an estimated 13 million children, who face hunger every day.

Since 1993, families have donated more than a half-billion pounds of food to Stamp Out Hunger. You can help make this year our most successful ever. Simply place bags filled with nonperishable food items like canned meats and fish, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal and rice next to your mailbox on Saturday, May 10th. *

Your letter carrier will pick up the bags and deliver them to your local food bank.

* Please do not include out-of-date items or those in glass containers.

Artbot e-mailed me with two decent sites that give the story and pictures of the famously smashed mailbox.

Short story: a mailbox was involved in a interstellar game of mailbox baseball and lost. It’s now up for auction and valued at $80,000!

You can check out the history and news here:

History Claxton Page

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Glen Burnie mailbox maker reaches new heights

By LISA BEISEL Staff Writer

 

---

King Kong has made an appearance in Glen Burnie.

But don’t worry – he’s in miniature.

The gorilla sits atop Ed Witles’ 7-foot replica of the Empire State Building that also serves as the mailbox for his Eastern Street home.

It’s a new high for Mr. Witles, who’s been the subject of Maryland Gazette stories before for creating mailboxes. He’s been doing it about two years, since he retired from his job as a steam fitter at Crownsville Hospital Center.

“A lot of people like the tower out there. They ride by and they look,” he said.

His latest work is one of about 50 to 75 he’s made over the last two years. Each one is lighted and many of them have moving parts.

His hobby takes up a huge amount of time, and he often spends 10 or 11 hours per day working on mailboxes.

“I had to do something instead of sitting around here and watching TV,” he said.

Nancy Bueche, his niece who cares for him, said she likes the hobby.

“It keeps him out of my hair,” she said with a laugh.

It’s no wonder people often stop to marvel. His mailboxes are less like the standard box and more like works of art. There’s a fire engine, a tug boat and several cars, a dump truck. There’s a pony, a dog, a couple airplanes, and a spaceship.

“They went crazy over this thing,” he said, admiring a photo of the spaceship.

But they’re nothing compared to some of his latest projects. Right now, he’s working on a mailbox that’ll resemble the Taj Mahal. It’s about 3-foot square, and when it’s finished it’ll probably weigh about 100 pounds, Mr. Witles estimates.

“He’s got an eye for detail… He can take scraps and make what he needs,” Ms. Bueche said.

The mail carrier likes the interesting designs, Mr. Witles said. Like some of his neighbors, the mailman looks forward to seeing the new mailbox come out every few weeks.

“I want to make something unusual that kids see, and remember, and laugh at,” he said.

Most of the designs include a pullout drawer or hinged piece. One of the designs is a replica of his Eastern Street home, and a piece of the house opens to leave the spot for the mail. It’s still displayed on his front lawn.

Sometimes, though, the designs stump the mailman, like with the pony, a 2-foot high by 3-foot-long plastic piece that looks like it used to be a toy.

“They didn’t know where to put the mail,” Mr. Witles said with a laugh. (You have to lift up the pony’s head and put the mail inside his body.)

The mailman also had a problem with the windmill mailbox, which worked. He had to reach out and stop the spinning in order to deliver the mail.

Another problematic one was the furry dog – you had to pull on his tail and the mail goes inside his body.

He picks up most of the materials at flea markets or sales. Mr. Witles has only taken payment for his mailbox one time, for a neighbor who wanted one to look exactly like his car. He only charged him for the materials and 25 cents per hour in labor.

But he was so caught up in making it perfect that he didn’t enjoy it anymore.

He gives most of the mailboxes away, some to family and friends and others to the county Food Bank. They sell them and the profits go to the food bank, Mr. Witles said.

He gave a large windmill to his doctor, which she proudly displays on her yard. Mr. Witles has also created replicas of people’s houses to use as mailboxes or bird houses.

Besides the Taj Mahal, he’s working on a tree that’ll be covered with stuffed animals for Christmas. Whenever he runs out of ideas, someone suggests something, like when Ms. Bueche asked him to make a birdhouse to go with her wallpaper in the kitchen.

“It’s a challenge. It keeps me busy,” he said.

 

---

Published 09/29/07, Copyright © 2007 Maryland Gazette,
Glen Burnie, Md.

Retired electrician turns ordinary mailboxes into whimsical works of art

By Leah Bartos
Sentinel Correspondent

Villa Santa Cruz retirement park just may be home to the world’s largest collection of programmatic mailboxes — at least according to Jim Healy.

The Aptos resident is an enthusiast of programmatic architecture — structures resembling objects like food items, animals, or characters like Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.

“I’ve been all over the country,” Healey said, “and that little place, the Villa Santa Cruz, is loaded with programmatic architecture”

Mailboxes, to be precise.

Bill Layher, the mailboxes’ creator and a five-year resident of Villa Santa Cruz, was never looking for fame, though Healey is not the first to be drawn to unique mailboxes that adorn the park, including an oven, several lighthouses and a handful of birdhouses perched at the house fronts.

Layher says it’s no surprise to find strangers at his door inquiring about the mailboxes and some even wondering whether they can put in an order. Though Layher will accept an occasional order from the general population, the bulk of his creations reside in his own community.

“I don’t know how they find me,” he laughed, adding that he doesn’t advertise his services and builds the mailboxes out of the love for woodworking. Just a glance in the backyard reveals Layher’s hobby: a full set of handmade patio furniture, a new mailbox with the paint still drying, and the woodshop where Layher has worked on everything from cribs for his grandchildren to toys that he donates as part of his dues as a member of the nonprofit Santa Cruz Toymakers organization.

Layher began making mailboxes just before his retirement 18 years ago, but the trend at the park didn’t begin until a neighbor requested a mailbox in the shape of a black cat. Before he knew it, Layher’s neighbors were putting in orders for locomotive trains and pink Cadillacs. “And it just took off from there,” he said. “You don’t see too many just standard mailboxes here”

About 25 of Layher’s custom mailboxes now adorn the fronts of the homes at the Villa Santa Cruz, displaying the diverse interests and backgrounds of the residents. “Most of these mailboxes reflect something about the people that live there,” Layher said.

Layher, a lifelong resident of Santa Cruz, has his mailed delivered in a miniature of the Santa Cruz Lighthouse, with each brick carefully painted and the tower perfectly to scale.

“This is my fourth one,” he smiled, “because the wife gets tired of them” Previously, the Layhers have sported a log cabin and a church, which now have new homes with their neighbors.

Of the dozens of mailboxes Layher has made over the years, he tries to stay neutral about his opinions of the designs and the designers.

“I can’t really say I have a favorite. Might hurt someone’s feelings,” Layher chuckled.

Though Layher stays vigilant to this notion, as he passes some of his creations, he can’t help but slow down and admire the piece, such as a replica of a Delta airplane, just a few doors down from him, where the mother of two airplane pilots lives. Other pieces that stand out are collaborations, such as a piano, which Layher built and the owner painted, paying careful attention to each black and white key.

At present, Layher has a waiting list of four to five neighbors requesting an original mailbox. No doubt that fans of programmatic architecture, such as Jim Healey, will have new creations to look forward to.