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Cluster Mailboxes - More than Meets the Eye

When Benjamin Franklin founded the first post office there was no such thing as a mailbox. Before the 19th century and really the 20th century, mail carriers delivered mail directly to the recipient. So if they were delivering a letter to a person's house they would knock on the front door and wait until someone answered to hand the letters. A study was done and it showed that the average mail carrier lost around 90 minutes a day because of this. Therefore in 1923 the Post Office Department mandated that all households must have a letter slot or mailbox to receive mail. While this worked there was no regulation on mailbox shapes. As America suburbanized more curbside mailboxes popped up.