Magnificent mailboxes from New Mexico

Magical, memorable, marvellous mailboxes, in fact. They are clearly American because the back of the card says:

H7599- Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico

But the card is equally clearly French, printed by Aquarupella, Imprimerie de l'Ouest, La Rochelle. It was sent to me on 30 October 2009, from Paris, with a stamp showing the Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux. the postmark though, doesn't show a place, just the date and a code number.

That is a disappointment to me. When we lived in Paris, I noticed that each arrondissement had its own postmark and my ambition at the time was to have an example of every one of the twenty. Needless to say, I never did manage a full set, and those that I did collect haven't survived the several moves we've made since then. It looks as though that particular ambition will be impossible to fulfil.

The oldest working British letter box

I found this card at an auction inside a box of other postcards issued by the Royal Mail.  I was looking for kitchen chairs at the time - I bought no chairs but I did buy the box of postcards.

From the back of the card:
Great Britain's oldest letter box still in regular use is at Barnes Cross, Holwell, near Sherbourne, Dorset.  The box was made between 1853 and 1856 and is octagonal with a vertical letter slot.  Local postman Stephen Whittle wears a uniform of the 1850s.
Photography by Murray King.

The vertical slot was apparently used to deter thieves, though why this should be so, I'm really not sure.  The slot is very much smaller than the standard today so I would think that has more bearing on keeping out thieving hands!

PFF - Letter boxes in the snow

I've been saving this card for an appropriate moment, and the moment has arrived! It was sent to me from Finland at the end of October but as often happens with cards from Finland, it has missed the franking machine so there is no postmark on the stamp.

The sender says this is a very common view in Finland every winter. It looks very attractive but as the sender also says, the mailmen won't be too happy if there's too much snow around the mailboxes.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday.