What is it?

[steve-norrell]

OK, I was able to figure out that it is a post box, as indicated by the wording on the front.

But the real question is about its 'heritage' -- when was it made?. It came from the front of the LOML's grandparents home in Central Illinois. Its known to be at least 90 years old, and certainly older because it was on the house when it was bought by the grandparents.

As seen in the second picture, there are three numbers stamped on the back -- a "3", a "5" and a "4", in that order. None of the relatives have the slightest idea as to the significance, if any, of those numbers. Model number? Date Stamp?

It had somewhat more than 1/8 inch of paint, in at least three colors, which was removed with paint remover and treated with "Naval Jelly" to remove most of the rust. As can be seen, it is well pitted and still has some rust.

I want to repaint it and mount it on a nice piece of wood as a family keepsake.

If anyone knows anything about these old mail boxes and can offer some clues about its origin and age please respond.

Thanks, Steve

[Tom Slick]

The fact that it says "post box" instead of "mail box" might indicate it's from the UK.

[Uncle Cracker]

I'll opine that the "354" is a mold number from the original casting.

[herb fellows]

+ 1 on Uncle Crackers 'opine'.

While it's true that post box might indicate British today, they were referred to as post boxes here also, probably well into the 1930's or 1940's. It's like mailman is to letter carrier, just changed over the years.

[RayintheUK]

My opinion is that it's definitely NOT British. Our letter-boxes have always been "landscape" format, not vertical, or "portrait" as this one is. Also, the slight bow front and lock option are not British.

Ray

[steve-norrell]

Thanks for the input.

Here is some additional information:

The top-most flap has the number 9 with a small "+" sign superscripted just to the upper right of the number (that's why I think its a "9" and not a "6"). See photo. Unfortunately, that's about as clear as I can get it with my camera.

Also, all the numbers appear punched into the box -- that is, they are indented as would be the case of a punch and not raised as they would be if the numbers were pressed into the mold used for casting. The lighting in the first photos gives the impression that the numbers are raised, but they are not.

One of the LOML's relatives came up with a photo known to have been taken in 1955 that shows a different mail box on the house. They suggested that the box shown in the photos was replaced before or during 1955.

Thanks again for the comments. Still looking for more.

Regards, Steve

[Alex Franke]

Curiously (in fact almost prophetically) the number "354" is the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) code that a receiving server sends to indicate to the sender that it should start sending the content of an email message.

Spooky.

Edit: Just so you know I'm not bluffing here, I found it referenced here in RFC 5321, which is the most recent update of the SMTP spec from the early 80's:

If accepted, the SMTP server returns a 354 Intermediate reply and considers all succeeding lines up to but not including the end of mail data indicator to be the message text. When the end of text is successfully received and stored, the SMTP-receiver sends a "250 OK" reply.

Your mail box is clearly telling the letter carrier that it's ready to receive the message!

[jking]

Also, all the numbers appear punched into the box -- that is, they are indented as would be the case of a punch and not raised as they would be if the numbers were pressed into the mold used for casting. The lighting in the first photos gives the impression that the numbers are raised, but they are not.

I can't provide much insight on the origins of this box, but, the numbers on the back could have been cast in. The mold would have had two halves, so, there easily could have been numbers added to the back. If they were intended to track a lot number or something similar, it could have been numbers applied to the sand after removing the mold. The placement & spacing of the numbers does appear to be a bit irregular, so, the numbers would have been applied individually. It's still entirely possible the numbers were stamped on later, too. You might look at the appearance of the texture. The casting process leaves some bumps as can be seen in the picture; if the bumps appear to be knocked down or flattened at the numbers, it would probably be stamped.

It's an interesting piece of history. Good luck on your search for information.

[Hoover]

Even if you left it unpainted the patina adds to an aged look. Nice find.

[sscherin]

Curiously (in fact almost prophetically) the number "354" is the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) code that a receiving server sends to indicate to the sender that it should start sending the content of an email message.

Spooky.

Edit: Just so you know I'm not bluffing here, I found it referenced here in RFC 5321, which is the most recent update of the SMTP spec from the early 80's:



Your mail box is clearly telling the letter carrier that it's ready to receive the message!

Cool I'm going to start writing "550 5.7.1 Unable to relay" on mail delivered to the wrong address and "550 5.5.0 No such user here" on mail for the old resident.
I bet the postman just give me a funny look.


I found something close to that mailbox

http://www.ioffer.com/i/EARLY-1900%2...06-A-139194009

Here's an identical one..
http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/anti...utside-anymore

[LCHIEN]

Curiously (in fact almost prophetically) the number "354" is the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) code that a receiving server sends to indicate to the sender that it should start sending the content of an email message.

Spooky.

Edit: Just so you know I'm not bluffing here, I found it referenced here in RFC 5321, which is the most recent update of the SMTP spec from the early 80's:



Your mail box is clearly telling the letter carrier that it's ready to receive the message!

Hilarious... or spooky, depending upon how you think about it.
Are we in a circular time warp???

[crybdr]

If the numbers are depressions - they could have been added after the piece was cast. (scribing the mold would result in 'raised' letters in the casting).

However, the 'master' (the form used to create the molds) may have been scribed with the numbers, resulting in the depressed numbering you see in the casting. It really depends upon how the mold was made.....Many molds can be created from a single master - but there can be many masters as well. Hard to tell.....

This is a very cool piece of old hardware - I'd hang it proudly on my wall.

[phi1l]

From the texture of the casting surface it looks like it is a sand casting and the numbers are depressions. So, those numbers are probably ID numbers for the "master mold" used to form the sacrificial positive used to create the Sand mold cavity.