Rural Free Delivery Mailbox, 1900-1916
Add to SetSummary
In the early years of rural mail delivery, farmers could use whatever was at hand as a mailbox -- pails, cans, or wooden crates. When rural free delivery became permanent and universal in 1902, the United States Post Office required rural customers to have regulation mailboxes in order to receive their mail.
In the early years of rural mail delivery, farmers could use whatever was at hand as a mailbox -- pails, cans, or wooden crates. When rural free delivery became permanent and universal in 1902, the United States Post Office required rural customers to have regulation mailboxes in order to receive their mail.
Artifact
Mailbox
Date Made
1900-1916
Creators
Place of Creation
United States, Illinois, Joliet
Creator Notes
Patent held by William G. Hawley of the Bate Hawley Postal Box Signal Company in San Jose, California; this particular mailbox manufactured by the Signal Mail Box Company in Joliet, Illinois.
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
2014.0.17.95
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Metal
Sheet Steel
Color
Gray (Color)
White (Color)
Dimensions
Height: 12 in
Width: 7 in
Length: 19.25 in
Inscriptions
On front: BATES-HAWLEY/ PATENT/ JUNE 27 1899/ U.S./ MAIL/ STYLE 3A/ SIGNAL MAIL BOX CO./ JOLIET ILLINOIS On side: 20 On side: APPROVED BY THE/ POSTMASTER GENERAL
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