Many houses in Monterey Hills have mailboxes just like this one. It's as if the entire development got a deal back in the late 60s on these old-fashioned metal homages to the Pony Express-- an odd choice, considering the prevailing mid-century modern architecture of the area. I just love them. They're charming, kind of corny and completely unexpected.
18 comments:
I have seen at least one mail box like this, made of iron and looks like it could hold a 100# letter and all of my junk mail. The Pony Express folks could even tie their horses to it.
I'm so envious of anyone who has mail delivery to their house. We have to walk down the block to a cluster box and use a key. Another downfall of urban blight.
Something about the horse and rider made out of iron just screams charm. I'm with you on that and really love it too. :~)
I like those old-timey mailboxes too. Our neighborhood requires you to purchase a certain type, but it's actually quite nice looking, although not as charming as this one.
I like it too! We never had a version of the Pony Express, but I'd love to have an iron mailbox like this.
It would appear that the birds also like this mailbox.
Hi Laurie. It's been way too long since I had a surf through your blog. I've always been a fan but it seems to me that your work has quietly moved on up to the next level. Bravo!
I want to give them the "Cool Hand Luke" treatment. Does that make me a bad person?
wv: rearbism
Thanks for posting these pics and thoughts of South Pasadena. I posted a couple of them on my website and pointed people back to your site. Great photographs!
I've always kind of liked these mailboxes...until I saw a multitude of them in front of the houses up on the hill behind us...ugliest tract of currently "modern" homes ever, definitely no historic charm to them...in fact...no charm at all!!!
Funny you should say that. I just passed one yestereday that was painted colbalt blue, from tip to toe. (I'm sort of with pasadena adjacent on this one.)
wow, must have been over off Camino Verde or Via del Rey, certainly wasn't over near Camino del Sol when I was growing up.
Years ago the box at my father's house was knocked down by an out of control vehicle. The process for just REPLACING the broken box with what had been there before was painful, I can't imagine getting one of these approved, especially in cobalt blue!
SoPas is one of the few places you could have your mail delivered to your own on site mailbox AND backyard trash pickup. The first time I took my spouse home to visit the wide-eyed glare out the window made me laugh...had never seen the "little ants" zip out from the big truck, to a yard, dump stuff into the mini truck and back to the home base.
SoPas IS unique.
What's the cool hand Luke treatment?
Just a note to Eric -- thanks for the kind words, but in the future please ask all photographers for permission before lifting images and reposting them!
Margaret: Cool Hand Luke was cutting parking meters off their polls with a pipe cutter when he was arrested. In Stand By Me, some boys were bashing mail boxes with a baseball bat as they drove down the road. So really, it would be more the Stand By Me Treatment.
Anyone remember when mailboxes were army green - the color of jeeps? This resulted from a surplus of paint after WWII.
Poles
These mailboxes in the Altos are more a reaction to the baseball bat treatment versus decorative reasons... have you seen the mailboxes made by "Rubbermaid"? same reasons.....
Thanks, everyone! I'm bleary-eyed tonight, so I'll catch up with everyone tomorrow. I have a feeling I'll be dreaming of Cool Hand Luke. (Too funny ... and now I'll never be able to look at those mailboxes the same way again!)
Until next time, all...
Post a Comment