# Do I have to get my mail? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219 "2009-08-30T01:21:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/21 "2009-08-30T16:22:04Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The mailboxes were certainly metal. Of course they were metal. But probably not tin, at least in my era. Thin steel was more likely. Even thick steel. Mailboxes got banged up a lot. People drove cars into them and teenagers loved to go through streets with a baseball bat and knock them all off their posts. Good ones could be brass or copper. Aluminum started replacing steel many years ago, before plastic became ubiquitous. Tin might have been a possibility in earlier decades. That might be an interesting topic to research. But I don’t think I saw many by the 70s. And unless Dahu is much older than me, the odds are low that the majority of the mailboxes seen were tin. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/22 "2009-08-30T16:34:40Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > Anybody can post their flyers through the post slot. For instance once a week we get a guy from the local Chinese restaurant delivering his menu and special offer leaflet. The distinction here, as I understand it (and there’s one Doper woman whose husband is a Postal Inspector, whom I hope will comment), is that what is deposited in a mailbox must be postpaid – advertizing circulars, the U.P.S. and FedEzx, etc., may not make use of it. On the other hand, houses with mail slots simply permit the mail to fall (onto the floor, into a homeowner-supplied bin, etc.) somewhere behind the slot, not into a U.S.P.S.-approved mailbox. The Chinese takeout place, the candidate for Alderman, etc., may hire someone to stuff mail slots in an older neighborhood which still has them – but he/she will be breaking the law if they stuff mailboxes with them. Rural mail delivery often will not deliver on private roads; the folks we’re staying with, and a trailer park about four miles away, have mailbox arrays at the public road, which the residents wlk to to get their mail. Also, occupants of apartment buildings may have mailbox arrays much like those at post offices in the lobby of the building, to which they go to get their mail. +++++++ One legal point regarding the question in the O.P. is that many jurisdictions have what is termed “constructive notice” – if it is required that you be given legal notice of something, that requirement may be fulfilled by the expedient of placing the notice in an envelope and sending it by mail (maybe first class, maybe registered or certified, depending on the statute) to your last known address – it being presumed that you will read your mail when you receive it and that it is your obligation to have your mail forwarded and notify those who might wish to contact you as and when you move. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/23 "2009-08-30T16:36:13Z")
> [@Dahu](#): > > Slight hijack, but this thread reminds me of something I’ve always wondered. > > In the US, it seems to me that most mail is delivered to those tin mailboxes you see at the end of the drive or by the side of the road. > > When I was in Colorado once, I learned that home deliveries didn’t happen, everyone who wanted mail had to rent a box at the post office and pick it up themselves. So not only did they have to travel to pick it up, but they had to pay for the privilege as well. Why is this? Cities get mail delivery on the front range in Colorado get mail delivery. Mountain communities not so much. I don’t get delivery. I think a lot of it has to do with the weather. Frankly, I don’t want some poor letter carrier trying to drive up my road in the dead of winter. I mean two years ago we had 30 feet of snow. 30 feet. In town, it’s a little different, and they could deliver mail. Not really sure why they don’t. It’s a contentious subject around here. And I would at least like to have a good facility to pick up my mail. But that’s a whole ‘nother kettle o fish. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/24 "2009-08-30T16:38:56Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > Anybody can post their flyers through the post slot. For instance once a week we get a guy from the local Chinese restaurant delivering his menu and special offer leaflet. This is true. It’s only the actual boxes which are exclusive for USPS use. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/25 "2009-08-30T16:43:59Z")
enipla, do you have to pay for the mailbox where you pick up your mail? In my apartment complex, the mail is put into a set of mailboxes in each building. The mailman has a key that opens the box as a whole. We each have a key opening just our own box. The people who deliver Chinese restaurant menus put them rolled up between the door handle and the door frame where they will stay put until somebody opens the door. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/26 "2009-08-30T20:05:05Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > …Now, the whole point of the Post Office and now the USPS is that it will deliver a letter to you, no matter where you live, for 44 cents. That’s what the privateers who want FedEx or UPS to take over the mail forget. Everybody, rich, poor, city, rural, other, gets the same service for the same price. That’s truly not a bug, but a feature… I forget which comedian said, “You don’t like the Postal Service? Walk up to anyone in New York City and see if you can get him to take a letter to L.A. for you for 44 cents.” ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/27 "2009-08-30T20:16:05Z")
**dahu** , in places where snow or ice will make delivery impractical during the winter, the USPS will often require residents to get a mailbox at a post office, or at a sub-station, at which their mail gets delivered. I had this situation when living in South Lake Tahoe, CA. **Exapno** , in many places, including some cities, mail is STILL delivered the way you describe, by people who are driving regular cars from the right-hand seat. You can find websites where vehicles are offered for sale that are easier to drive this way, so that postal carriers can more easily purchase them. And, of course, some end up purchasing right-hand drive vehicles, though that’s an expensive route in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/28 "2009-08-30T20:29:53Z")
The house that I grew up in didn’t have a street address or a mailbox although we did have a post box at the post office. It was P.O. Box #9 which lots of people from out of town assumed was a joke but my family had it since some time in the early 20th century. I also lived in a farmhouse in Vermont 1996-1997 that had no street address, no mailbox, no phone, no internet, and only one reliable TV channel that went off the air at midnight. I never got any sort of post box at all even at the post office. I just paid for everything in cash and that was the end of it. You don’t have to have one and I even have a couple of books with chapters devoted to this sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/29 "2009-08-30T20:35:56Z")
DSYoungEsq, Exapno Mapcase wasn’t claiming that such mailboxes and mail delivery trucks don’t exist anymore. He was just saying that they used to be a larger proportion of the mailboxes and mail delivery methods in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/30 "2009-08-30T20:48:16Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Cities get mail delivery on the front range in Colorado get mail delivery. Mountain communities not so much. I don’t get delivery. > I think a lot of it has to do with the weather. Frankly, I don’t want some poor letter carrier trying to drive up my road in the dead of winter. I mean two years ago we had 30 feet of snow. 30 feet. > In town, it’s a little different, and they could deliver mail. Not really sure why they don’t. It’s a contentious subject around here. And I would at least like to have a good facility to pick up my mail. But that’s a whole ‘nother kettle o fish. Just got back from a trip (Amtrak) that went through some sparsely populated areas of Utah, Nevada, and Colorado. Occasionally I’d see a home in the middle of nowhere and wonder how they got their mail and package deliveries, whether it was delivered or if the homeowner had to have a mailbox somewhere, and how long the post office would hold something before sending it back. It had to be **miles** to the nearest town and there have to be times when snow keeps people from getting around. On another note, I signed up at OptOut a year or so ago, and the credit card offers stopped almost immediately. I like not having to shred stuff. The site is [here](https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t) if you want to sign up. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/31 "2009-08-31T03:04:26Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > DSYoungEsq, Exapno Mapcase wasn’t claiming that such mailboxes and mail delivery trucks don’t exist anymore. He was just saying that they used to be a larger proportion of the mailboxes and mail delivery methods in the U.S. Right hand drive mail trucks certainly exist, and in several sizes. In fact, they were first being phased in while I was working and I had to pass a special test in order to drive one. They are a far larger percent than before. DSYoungEsq said that regular cars are being used this way. I find this incredible, both because of safety concerns and the fact that most cars don’t have bench seats and the peddles can’t be reached from the passenger seat. I finally found [one website that seemed to confirm this](http://community.federalsoup.com/4/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=4944011921&f=7604055441&m=7071048171), although it also seems from that thread that the official position banned it a few years ago. I’m staggered by this, although that thread also seems to confirm that it is dangerous, ruinous to cars, and allowed only by supervisors turning a blind eye to the practice. What bench seat cars are still available these days? Or is this just a case of very old used cars surviving in the non-rust belt? ---
**Author:** ![Gcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gcat)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/32 "2009-08-31T06:49:32Z")
In the US, Jury Duty summons comes through the mail. Anyone know what they would do if someone doesn’t have a mail box? ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/33 "2009-08-31T10:33:46Z")
WAG they would do whatever they do to people who throw them away and say they never got them. I’m not sure what that is, but I imagine it involves either an angry phone call or police showing up at your door and possibly a fine of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/34 "2009-08-31T12:25:54Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > When I put a vacation hold on my mail, the good folks at the post office throws away “Penny Saver”-type flyers and the like. It’s kind of bizarre when I go in to pick up 2 weeks worth of mail and there are only 5 or 6 envelopes. in the USA that would be illegal to dispose of any mail without delivering it. you are free to throw it out the second they hand it to you at the post office. if you ask them to throw it away before that point they should refuse to do so. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/35 "2009-08-31T12:36:03Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The mailboxes were certainly metal. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Of course they were metal. But probably not tin, at least in my era. Thin steel was more likely. Even thick steel. > > Tin might have been a possibility in earlier decades. That might be an interesting topic to research. But I don’t think I saw many by the 70s. And unless Dahu is much older than me, the odds are low that the majority of the mailboxes seen were tin. when people say tin they often are referring to: tin coated steel which is done for corrosion protection as in tin food can. thin sheet steel which is not coated, painted, tin coated, zinc coated, metal building siding get refereed to as tin siding can be painted or galvanized. tin is a weak metal by itself. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/36 "2009-08-31T15:01:14Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > in the USA that would be illegal to dispose of any mail without delivering it. you are free to throw it out the second they hand it to you at the post office. if you ask them to throw it away before that point they should refuse to do so. Nope. blondebear is right. When you do a vacation hold, only first class and other protected classes of mail (registered, magazines, packages, etc.) are held. Bulk rate mail is not saved and is thrown away, totally legally, by the post office. Bulk rate mail is often date sensitive and so is wasted if it is held beyond its useful date, but that’s not really the point. They know when they pay the cheaper rate that is has restrictions to it and one of the restrictions is that it doesn’t get held. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/37 "2009-08-31T16:02:52Z")
I grew up in a town without home mail delivery. It still doesn’t have it. People go to the post office to pick up their mail. That’s pretty common in small towns. They often have only one or two postal employees – not enough to deliver door-to-door. You could rent a post office box, but all post offices have a “general delivery” service where mail can be sent and you call at the P.O. window. Thus mail sent to Joe Smith, General Delivery, Schenectady, NY 12305 would be at the main post office waiting for you. (I see that General Delivery is still offered, BTW.) ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219/38 "2009-08-31T21:27:41Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > [Aside: I worked for the the Post Office in the 70s summers during college. Except for a few sports cars, all autos had bench seats in those days. I was required to use my own car while delivering these routes. Yes, I sat in the passenger seat, used my left foot on the gas pedal and my left hand on the wheel, and rode down a street stuffing mail into the boxes with my right hand. On child-heavy suburban tract home streets. Can you imagine the lawsuits if anyone did that today? Yet the regular mailmen (and they were almost all men) did that every single day, summer and winter. Unbelievable.] [QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Exapno, in many places, including some cities, mail is STILL delivered the way you describe, by people who are driving regular cars from the right-hand seat. You can find websites where vehicles are offered for sale that are easier to drive this way, so that postal carriers can more easily purchase them. And, of course, some end up purchasing right-hand drive vehicles, though that’s an expensive route in this country. [/QUOTE] I don’t know if they’re reaching across the seats while driving, or are just moving over at every box, but there are places in northern Michigan were the mailmen (or mailwomen) still use their own cars. Once in a while, you’ll see two people in the car, one driving, one putting the mail in boxes, but not all the time. > [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > I find this incredible, both because of safety concerns and the fact that most cars don’t have bench seats and the peddles can’t be reached from the passenger seat. You don’t necessarily need bench seats, just a car without a center console between the driver and passenger seats. I don’t know about now, but at least as recently as the early 2000’s you could certainly get Buicks which you could do something like this in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-get-my-mail/508219.md?page=1)