Arago: Postal Collection Mailboxes

This mailbox was manufactured in the early 1880s by Orr & Painter, iron manufacturers from Reading, Pennsylvania. This cast iron box was designed to be hung anywhere, from telegraph poles to the sides of buildings. The U.S. Post Office introduced street letter boxes in selected eastern cities in the late 1850s. The red and blue paint scheme indicates that this mailbox was used through the 1950s or 1960s.