Do all American homes have their Mailboxes outside?

[Fairy Dust]

We have a letterbox in our front door, so any mail/newspapers get dropped straight into our hallway.

I can't remember ever seeing an outside mailbox here.

 

[java]

When I lived in NY we had a mail slot. Drove my dog nuts! They also picked my garbage up from the back of my house- so that was an unusual place to live. Now we pay for our garbage to be picked up and mail at the street. (hmmmm what where we thinking?)

 

[diznygirl]

Is that an ailbox, or an alebox??? Cuz getting ale dropped right into your hallway is something I would believe of the Brits! (Oh - I see you caught the typo!!!!!!!!!!)

We used to have a door slot - stupid mailman would leave the mail on the mat in front of the door.

Now we have a mailbox on the curb.

 

[Daxx]

We have a slot for our mail on the front door and mail gets dropped right into the front entryway!

However, most of our neighbors have a small mailbox attached to the front of their house or they use their old milkbox (a hole on the outside of your house w/a small door that opens to a small cubby area. The cubby area has a door on the back of it that opens to the inside of the house). Back in the days of milk delivery, it's where the milkman would leave your milk bottles. We have a milkbox on the back of our house, but it's more convenient for the mailman to use the front mail slot.

No curbside mailboxes in our village!

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

It all depends on what your city requires. We used to live in a place where the mailbox was mounted to the outside of our house b/c the mail man walked.

THen I also used to live where they were at the street (same with where we are now) because the mail person is in a truck.

My MIL has one on her door and it goes into a little basket inside her home

 

[minnieandme]

I do, mine is at the end of the driveway. I think it all depends on where you live. My friends in NY have a mailslot in their door, but everyone down here has an actual mailbox.

 

[caitycaity]

every house i have ever lived in has had a mailbox.

 

[helenabear]

My dad had a slot in his door. He got rid of it when he fixed up his door. With the way our door is (3/4 oval) there is no way we could have a slot. I have seen some homes with it built into the side of the house next to the front door as well. Most around here though have small boxes on the outside to catch them. Not mail box by the street here.

 

[freckles and boo]

It depends. In rural areas and some suburban areas most mailboxes are by the roadside. Private vehicles or little postal trucks with steering wheels on the right (like in the UK) stop at each box along the road. When I lived in an apartment there were banks of boxes in the foyer. Where I live now we have a box just outside the front door on the porch and our mail carrier walks the route. Some of my neighbors have vertical slots that aren't in their doors but go directly into their homes. My mother lives in an area where she has to drive to a center to get her mail. My dad's mailbox is on the curb across the street from his house. There is very little rhyme or reason to it.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I'd never seen a mailslot until I visited my aunt in the Midwest. Their mailman delivered mail on foot, walking up to each house's front door.

Our mailman always drove up to the mailbox at the curb in front of the house. Now we live in a neighborhood where every 8 or so boxes are in a stand together. Seems much easier for the mailperson, and I like not worrying about a visitor or neighbor parking in front of my mailbox. (If that happens, the mailperson will refuse to deliver, and leave a note warning you not to block access.)

 

[java]

Oh I remember what I didn't like about the slot- KIDS! We would get the kids looking through the slot and then yelling for my son.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I live in the suburbs of New York and we all have mailboxes.
My mother lives in Queens, outside Manhatten and most have mail slots.

 

[Fionasmommy]

We do. When I lived in Ireland I loved having the mailslot in the front door - but not having to go to the post office to post anything.

 

[RadioNate]

Oh I remember what I didn't like about the slot- KIDS! We would get the kids looking through the slot and then yelling for my son.

A friend of my mother's had a great aunt who's house had a mail slot. She was in her 80's. A few Halloween's ago some kids threw fireworks in the mail slot, the house burnt to the ground and she ended up dying several days later from her burns and smoke inhalation. The kids, ranging from 12-15 got nothing more than a 'slap on the wrist.'

I don't like mail slots.

My mail is put into a locked bank of boxes at the end of my street. I'd guess 15 houses pick up their mail there.


Our previous house had a box at the curb that the mailman would just drive up to. It was sometimes problematic because if he couldn't' get to the box (cars, snow) we didn't get mail.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Most neighborhoods here have the box at the street at the end of the driveway.
Some areas have a big mail drop box every 10-12 houses. Every house has a key and you walk down and get the mail out of the box. ( I hated this)

 

[Steffi]

Most of the houses in my neighborhood have the mailboxes outside, mounted on the wall by the front door. That's unusual in this town, though; most places outside of my neighborhood have curbside mailboxes.

I hate it when our regular mailman is on vacation, because the other mail carriers just drive on through our neighborhood without getting out of their trucks to deliver the mail. Grr.

 

[cccm]

We have rural route mailboxes (that is what someone told me they are called). At the end of a street there is a structure with individual mailboxes on it. You need a key to open it. You have your own box until you move. The small one at the end of our street is full so we have to go over to the next block/development/street for our mail. About 1/4 to 1/2 mile away from house.

Needless to say I am challenged and can't open the darn mailbox. So when DH is away there is no mail delivery. If something happened to him, I would be in big trouble. I can't get the key in the hole.

I always dreamed of owning a house with a mailbox on it. DSis who lives on another street,same town, has one at end of her driveway.

 

[OK!]

I always thought it'd be kind of cool to have a mail slot, but I can totally see where, security-wise, it might not be a good thing. Every house I've lived in has had a mailbox at the street; at my apartment, there's a locked bank of boxes for each building. Thankfully, the one for my building is about a foot and a half from my front door. Makes it much easier to check the mail in my PJs if necessary.

 

[disneynutt1225]

We have a mail slot in our front door. Drives my dog absolutely insane! Some people have installed regular mailboxes, but most of the people in the neighborhood have slots in some way or form. My neighbor across the street has a slot in his garage door! It's a little weird, but garages aren't really used to house cars around here.

 

[storzo]

I have a mail slot in the door and I love it, everything stays dry and secure and I don't have to go outside to get the mail.