I think being a mail carrier has to be one of the most dull professions there is. I mean, you drive around by yourself with stacks of other people?s mail. Stop at the mailbox, open the flap, put in the mail, close the flap, drive off, and repeat. I think I'd go crazy after only one day!

So it makes me wonder, is that why some people put up bazaar mailbox for sale? Don?t misunderstand me I?m all for customised mailboxes. I have on more than one occasion put my last name and house number on my box. And I have anonymously longed for one of those fancy brick numbers that are not only lovely to have a look at, but also very functional. I mean they are virtually indestructible!

Personalization is one thing. I'll handle the family name mounted or painted in a pretty font. I will even tolerate some decorative elements such as birds, flowers, or maybe a fave sports team. But I draw the line at bigger than life animal statues that make you stop and wonder, ?What were they thinking?!?

as an example, in a near by city there is very nice house located on the gulf of Mexico, and stationed prominently by the road sits an almost-life-sized mummy manatee holding a stainless steel mailboxes. Now this in itself is bad enough, but it just doesn?t stop there. Down toward the mummy manatee?s tail there ?swims? A sweet tiny baby manatee. But it?s not swimming with momma, no it seems like it is nursing! Now I'm sure that it is not actually nursing, because manatees nurse their babies from a gland under their armpits. But if you didn?t know this small tidbit of useless minutiae, you would potentially think that this interesting mailbox features a nursing baby manatee! I'm wondering what goes through the post carriers head!

This isn't the only artistic mailbox out there. There are websites dedicated to nothing apart from ghastly mailboxes. I found footage of mailboxes featuring sculpted pelicans, ketchup bottles, swimming fish, and even Mickey Mouse. The artistic endeavors didn?t end with the mailbox, some home owners got creative with the mailbox post, using anything from rims, to lose metal, to old tree limbs.