I dislike e-cards for Christmas. They are impersonal and seem to say “we couldn’t be bothered.” I still send cards, sometimes handmade, but there is one part of that that always disappoints: dropping them in the mailbox. The USPS mailbox at the corner is a dismal affair, a cheap, ugly metal receptacle that reminds me of a trash can and always makes me feel as if I’m throwing my letters away. I grew up in England, and I still remember the pillar box, made of sturdy cast-iron, embossed with G VI R and a royal crown, and painted bright red. “Iconic” is a much over-used term, but the British pillar box is exactly that. According to Wiki it dates from 1852, when Anthony Trollope—yes, the novelist—then employed by the Post Office, recommended “letter-receiving pillars” as a way of collecting mail on the Channel Islands. Soon adopted on the mainland, the pillar box has undergone various iterations—there was a hexagonal design, and an unpopular sheet metal version). But it’s the traditional form that has endured: a round, cast-iron column painted red, five feet high, with a domed top, fluted sides, and a base. In other words, a little classical temple. If the Trump administration really wants to make federal buildings beautiful again, they could do worse than start here.
