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HAB911

(10,417 posts)
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 07:41 PM Mar 3

How many are old enough to remember

an old school newspaper box? My neighbor who lived here since the 1940's had one and asked me to remove it years ago. I saw the potential, and it has been the home of many Carolina Wren families. This year, a Carolina Chickadee family to be, beat them to it!



21 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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How many are old enough to remember (Original Post) HAB911 Mar 3 OP
Nice adaptation. We had some that were cylindrical. For the paper I eventually went to work for us an adult. Walleye Mar 3 #1
Great Beringia Mar 3 #2
Now *that's* how you recycle! Deuxcents Mar 3 #3
How cool is that??? I remember back in the day, the mailbox and newspaper box under it. niyad Mar 3 #4
I still have that combo..but the local newspaper is no more,alas. BattleRow Mar 3 #6
Alas, the daily fishwrap here is still extant. niyad Mar 3 #10
Yep! Those boxes used to be everywhere. Diamond_Dog Mar 3 #5
what a great use for that paper tube! RainCaster Mar 3 #7
I hadn't thought of those in years Auggie Mar 3 #8
Our paperboy would drop it inside the screen/storm door. BidenRocks Mar 3 #9
I hope that your parents gave him a tip Squaredeal Mar 3 #16
Have one next to my mailbox. Still gets used occasionally for larger envelopes orders Cheezoholic Mar 3 #11
We had the paperboy on a bike hurling the paper up to the porch... Beartracks Mar 3 #12
I hope your paperboy's aim was good enough for close enough! I had a route growing up. George McGovern Mar 3 #17
I recall it was almost always on the sidewalk. Not bad at all. Beartracks Mar 4 #20
Ha Ha! Well, if it was I didn't know at the time. But I suppose I learned responsibility. Thank You! George McGovern Mar 4 #21
cool! Kali Mar 3 #13
Love the remodeling into a bird condo! debsy Mar 3 #14
The HOA where my now wife once lived was told newspaper boxes weren't allowed. Squaredeal Mar 3 #15
OMG, a woman after my heart HAB911 Mar 4 #19
Excellent job HAB911. Nowadays your project would be called "repurposing and rehoming". But you fixed it up nicely. George McGovern Mar 3 #18

Walleye

(44,591 posts)
1. Nice adaptation. We had some that were cylindrical. For the paper I eventually went to work for us an adult.
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 07:44 PM
Mar 3

Diamond_Dog

(40,381 posts)
5. Yep! Those boxes used to be everywhere.
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 09:15 PM
Mar 3

What a great idea to recycle them into birdhouses!

I wonder how much longer before mailboxes disappear ………

BidenRocks

(3,183 posts)
9. Our paperboy would drop it inside the screen/storm door.
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 09:55 PM
Mar 3

The Milwaukee Journal and The Milwaukee Sentinel.
Our neighbor liked the horses in Illinois, so they had a paper box for The Chicago Tribune.
About 1963. I was 8.

Squaredeal

(720 posts)
16. I hope that your parents gave him a tip
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 11:26 PM
Mar 3

That took extra time to that of just putting the paper in a box on the street or tossing it on a porch. At that time, newspaper boys earned 2 to 2-1/2 cents per delivery (5 cents for each Sunday paper) plus collecting weekly and being responsible for paying for the deadbeats.

Cheezoholic

(3,683 posts)
11. Have one next to my mailbox. Still gets used occasionally for larger envelopes orders
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 10:09 PM
Mar 3

I've learned to check it for yellow jackets frequently lol

Beartracks

(14,544 posts)
12. We had the paperboy on a bike hurling the paper up to the porch...
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 10:39 PM
Mar 3

... or close enough.

====================

George McGovern

(11,665 posts)
17. I hope your paperboy's aim was good enough for close enough! I had a route growing up.
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 11:50 PM
Mar 3

Small section of a small town. Papers were dropped off around 4-4:30 am. I'd walk my bicycle down the driveway to the newspaper box right around the corner. Load up the delivery bag, sling it over my shoulder and pedal off. I was taught by the previous paperboy to walk up to a customer's door, open the storm door and slip the paper between the doors. I imagine a larger route would have required hurling the paper toward, if not onto, a porch.

Complete the schedule, get home, eat breakfast, go to school. The route was year 'round, no mornings off. Fond memories, except for snowfallen cold winter mornings. Those were not so fond.

Beartracks

(14,544 posts)
20. I recall it was almost always on the sidewalk. Not bad at all.
Wed Mar 4, 2026, 09:27 PM
Mar 4

I did paper distribution while in college, but it was just a stroll in the quiet predawn hours to drop and unbundle them in the dormitory lobbies. Small campus, three dorms. I think I hauled them in a wagon. Your experience sounds much more character-building.

===========

George McGovern

(11,665 posts)
21. Ha Ha! Well, if it was I didn't know at the time. But I suppose I learned responsibility. Thank You!
Wed Mar 4, 2026, 09:45 PM
Mar 4

Kali

(56,814 posts)
13. cool!
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 10:42 PM
Mar 3

we still have one up at the end of our road. I have been using it to leave things for people to pick up when I don't have time to actually meet them up there.

debsy

(900 posts)
14. Love the remodeling into a bird condo!
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 10:57 PM
Mar 3

My mother always asked me to get the paper for her. We would sit down together, she in her rocking chair, and we’re would do the crossword together.

Squaredeal

(720 posts)
15. The HOA where my now wife once lived was told newspaper boxes weren't allowed.
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 11:12 PM
Mar 3

As a young woman, she worked for a taxi cab company and drove one of the secondhand vehicles to and from work, which the firm would buy at auction to convert into cabs. She had one of the shop employees bolt her box onto the car’s trunk and she parked it at the end of her driveway, which wasn’t against the rules, and she then drove another future cab between home and work. She wasn’t about to let her daily paper get wet whenever it rained.

George McGovern

(11,665 posts)
18. Excellent job HAB911. Nowadays your project would be called "repurposing and rehoming". But you fixed it up nicely.
Tue Mar 3, 2026, 11:55 PM
Mar 3
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