Mailboxes That Made Me Look Twice (8 Photos)

A better reason to check the mail

A milk-can cow, a retired lawnmower and a Dalek are all on mail duty. These eight photographs from Australia show how much character can fit at the end of a driveway.

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🤖 Dalek Letterbox — New England Highway, Australia 🇦🇺

A Dalek stands at a rural entrance beside the New England Highway. The little flap on its front reveals its much less threatening job.

💡 TV History Fact: The Dalek was realized for Doctor Who by BBC staff designer Raymond Cusick, who put an operator on a seat inside the shell, moving it by pushing with their feet. As a staff designer, he never received royalties for his version of Terry Nation’s creation.

📷 Photo: Sheba_Also 43,000 photos / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Cropped.

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🐄 Milk-Can Cow — Victoria, Australia 🇦🇺

Milk cans get spots, an eye and a projecting snout. Another can forms the stand, so the whole mailbox joins in.

📷 Photo: cogdogblog / Alan Levine / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).

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🏍️ Minibike Mailbox — Dunoon, Australia 🇦🇺

An old minibike becomes a mailbox on a roadside near Dunoon in northern New South Wales, with both wheels still attached and a helmet hanging beneath the seat. It’s not going anywhere in a hurry.

📷 Photo: Annette Teng / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0).

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🐖 Pig Mailbox and Farmyard Figure — Derwent Bridge, Tasmania, Australia 🇦🇺

A pink pig shares its perch with a homemade figure in a broad hat. The pig’s round snout doubles as a door; its companion holds the tools. The pair stand by a paddock near Derwent Bridge in Tasmania’s Central Highlands.

📷 Photo: Annette Teng / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0).

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🛠️ Lawnmower Mailbox — Casino, Australia 🇦🇺

The red letterbox hangs from the lawnmower’s upright handle, above its wheels and engine. It joins a roadside lineup just outside Casino in northern New South Wales that is already far from uniform.

📷 Photo: Annette Teng / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0).

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🐎 Red Horse Mailbox — Tintenbar, Australia 🇦🇺

Tiny legs, upright ears and a curled tail give this bright red mailbox its horse shape. A small door is tucked into its round body. It stands by the road near Tintenbar, in the hills behind Ballina in northern New South Wales.

📷 Photo: Annette Teng / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) · Cropped.

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🛡️ Ned Kelly Mailbox — Australia 🇦🇺

The helmet’s narrow eye opening becomes the mail slot. Steel shoulders and a weathered surface keep the reference to Ned Kelly’s armor simple.

💡 History Fact: The real armor Ned Kelly wore at the siege of Glenrowan on June 28, 1880, was fashioned from plow moldboards and weighed around 45 kilograms (about 99 pounds). It is now on display at the State Library Victoria in Melbourne.

📷 Photo: Eva Rinaldi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

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🐦 Yellow Bird Letterbox — Coonabarabran, Australia 🇦🇺

A long yellow neck rises from a round metal body on Timor Road in Coonabarabran, New South Wales. A crescent-shaped wing marks its side, and a fence of old metal wheels continues behind it.

💡 Place Fact: Coonabarabran sits next to Warrumbungle National Park, which in 2016 became Australia’s first Dark Sky Park. The neighboring Siding Spring Observatory is part of the protected dark-sky area.

📷 Photo: Annette Teng / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0).

📷 Cover photos: Sheba_Also 43,000 photos (CC BY-SA 2.0) and Annette Teng (CC BY 3.0) / Wikimedia Commons, cropped and combined.