Decline of the blue box

bbc. ^ | 18 August 2009 | Claire Prentice

[JoeProBono]

They are icons of the American mail service, but they may be about to go the way of the Pony Express.

In villages, towns and cities across America, residents are waking up to find the familiar blue mailbox at the end of the road is gone.

In the past 20 years, more than half of America's mailboxes have been taken out of service, leaving just 175,000 nationwide.

It may make commercial sense, but it has dismayed letter-writing aficionados.

"Mailboxes are like phone booths, that part of the scenery that you take for granted until one day you need one and it is no longer there," said Nancy Pope, curator at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum...

[JoeProBono]

[VisualizeSmallerGovernment]

You want more mail? Take away the government’s monopoly on letter-carrying.

[hinckley buzzard]

Nah. Mail delivery is a service not a business. There is no profit in it, which is why FedEx and UPS don't try to do it. If they tried to make daily deliveries to every postbox and address in America every day they'd be bankrupt too, just like the USPS is.

Want FedEx to deliver a letter for you? They'l be glad to do it--for about twelve bucks apiece.

[Daveinyork]

This is what Obama envisions for health care

[Salgak]

I prefer to see THIS Blue Box, which is FAR rarer on local street-corners. . .

[strings6459]

This may be why FEDEX doesn’t deliver mail.

Article I, section 8, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution grants U.S. Congress the power to establish post offices and post roads. The Federal Government has interpreted this clause as granting a de facto Congressional monopoly over the delivery of mail. According to the government, no other system for delivering mail - public or private - can be established absent Congress’s consent. Congress has delegated to the Postal Service the power to decide whether others may compete with it, and the Postal Service has carved out an exception to its monopoly for extremely urgent letters.

[stylin_geek]

By law, only the USPS can deliver mail. Period.

[Chode]

we have two(local/outoftown) in front of the post office for drive thru, that's it...

[Tanniker Smith]

Do they get used much?
Or are they like the old fire alarm boxes?
(most of those have been removed from NYC streets, btw)

[Walmartian]

Luckily these blue boxes still have a future.

[OCC]

[naturalborn]

Do I have the right to board up my mailbox and refuse to accept mail?

[Larry Lucido]

No. Any more questions?

[goat granny]

You can take down your mail box, the the bills still have to be paid or no electricity, phone, computer, gas or Direct TV...If you don’t pay your mortgage you’ll love being a bag lady or man in Manhattan. They get no mail either..

[Clemenza]

They still get heavy use in NYC for the obvious reasons, but even I prefer to walk to the local post office. Typically saves a day of shipping time.

[naturalborn]

Now, I receive most of my bills through email and I pay most of my bills through the banks auto pay feature, so the only mail I get is junk mail. I could function completely without the postal service coming to my door. I admit I still have to mail a few things, I probably use one or two stamps per month.

[goat granny]

Have you asked the p o to stop delivery of mail to you...My son got a PO box at the local post office and he goes maybe once a week. He gets zero in his mail box...