Monday, December 26, 2011

Gone postal?

How many people have you met that can say that they have a post box in their bedroom? Two? Six? Twenty four? As far as I know, having a PO box in one's room is rather unheard of. But I have one! Yes! That's right! I have a PO BOX in my bedroom! Alright, it's not a working box, but it's a box door! And a vintage one at that! I've had this post box door in my bedroom for a year now and I've only just started thinking about where (and how.) to hang it! it weighs a solid few pounds and is made of some sort of heavy metal, so hanging it might get a bit complicated! I'll have to employ my father for that project.

Anyhow, here it is! beautiful, isn't it? Apologies for the image shadows! It's brass, maybe?


This is the post office is came from, I believe. Or at least that's what my grandmother said. She pulled it from her barn, which really isn't a barn. By now, it's sort of half fallen down and still full of err...'stuff'. We're pretty sure it is the original 'number 12' PO BOX and it was thrown out when they converted to new boxes!

Look how tiny the post office is! Note that the entire building is NOT the post office! Only the small little brick building towards the left!



Where is this teeny post office, you ask? TOIVOLA, MICHIGAN! For those of you who aren't familiar with the Upper Penninsula (Or 'The UP'.), it is that little finger of Michigan above Wisconsin that is situated on *Lake Superior! I spent summers from age 9 to 13 with my grandmother on her farm (no animals...except for 16 cats and a husky. Yes, i said SIXTEEN CATS.) riding ATV's, picking raspberries, and accidentally breaking things. It was fantastic! We were only 10 minutes or so from Lake Superior and loved to go there and explore Agate Beach. For those of you who don't know what agates are...Click me!. Lake Superior is also known for it's shipwrecks! 350 to be exact! And it's deepest point reaches 1300 feet!



How did I manage to find a teeny town like this? Well, someone in my family helped found it! That also means I'm related one way or another to...well, most of the town. It's a small town. A very small town. "Toivola" roughly translates to "Hope Town" in Finnish and was founded in 1892 by Finns. Okay, enough history, more pictures!

Look! The original combination papers! Just wait until you see the combo lock!



LETTERS!! Not numbers!


I also managed to get it open! I've always thought the 'G' on the combination paper was a 'D', so getting it open was a first for me, haha.


WELL! That's it for my random postal thing post! I can't wait for mail time tomorrow! Woohoo!

*I highly advise that you never, ever, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES go swimming in Lake Superior after a storm...I've almost drowned twice. Not fun.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I stumbled on your site from the European Paper Company blog and was surprised to see a picture of the Toivola post office. I live down the road in Trimountain. I had friends many years ago who lived in the green house next to the PO. Fun to randomly run into a post about the area. (I love swimming in Lake Superior, but never in choppy waters!)
Cari

Lady Kay said...

How funny is that?! What a coincidence! I've never known the people who lived next top the post office, myself, but it's interesting to 'meet' someone who has! And another person who agrees with me on not swimming in Lake Superior in choppy waters! :P haha.

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