Victorian Mailboxes

As a design element Victorian mailboxes lend a lot of substance and character. Interestingly, and unlike much from that era, they mix well with other architectural and design motifs. The quintessential material is wrought iron, whether black or painted. Period metal work was not only solid but intricate, whether in floral patterns or curvilinear geometric. You'll find the same in Victorian-style mailboxes today.

More often that not, today's Victorian mailboxes are manufactured from cast aluminum rather than wrought iron. As far as durability and weathering the elements is concerned, however, this is a good thing. For one, cast aluminum is usually powder-coated and thus most resistant to severe conditions. You'll enjoy whatever mailbox style you choose for a great many years.

Victorian Mailboxes: Typical Features

Think of Alfred Hitchcock's movie Psycho. Remember the Victorian-style house with its mansard roof standing high on the hill overlooking Bates Motel? If it had had a typical mailbox of the era, it would have been a post-mount model of heavy cast iron at the base of that long flight of steps to the motel. The mailbox itself would have featured a bas-relief floral or medallion design. It probably would have been shaped like a box, with a roof-shaped lid. Many were black, but just as many painted, for example, in white or red.

Wall-mount Victorian mailboxes are doubtless the most recognizable. The bas-relief design might include horses or other animals. The lid might again resemble the roof of a house. Verdigris is an especially effective finish over the complexity of the Victorian design. Whatever way you describe the Victorian era and artistic style, it won't be with the word "simple" or "linear."