In 2000 I was walking through Takayama, a town in the Japanese Alps and was thinking what could I buy as a souvenir that I would also be able to buy anywhere else in the world, but would be localized. There would be a local version of whatever I bought in Japan for that country. I was looking in the shops when I saw three coin post boxes of different sizes. The small was too small, the large, far too large for me to carry home, so I bought the middle-sized post box.

This began my collection of post boxes. First thing after buying was to create a rule to stop over indulgence. I decided to only buy post boxes from countries I had visited, first trying to find in that country, but then if I had to, to find elsewhere. Since I have usually bought in the country I have visited, the ones from China were purchased from Hong Kong Post’s souvenir store. As much as possible, attempts are made to purchase from the local post office, but often they do not sell or even understand, in several cases, what I am asking for.

One technical point, post boxes from countries visited are only eligible since I started to collect and in-transit countries do not count. So Germany, France, and the US I have not started to collect yet. Even though you may find photos other countries on my website, I was in-transit at the time, so it doesn’t count.

The countries I have:

Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Britain, Taiwan, Thailand & China.

The countries I do not have:

South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico & The Netherlands.

I will attempt to find these by alternative methods. Was told I can buy at the main post office in Seoul, but it was closed for renovations, so will have to try next visit.

A new project is to photograph the post boxes that are on the streets of the places I visit. In some cases, these are the only boxes I have been able to obtain, as the local post office does not make replicas. A cheat to increase the number of post boxes was the posting of dozens of post boxes I saw at the Taiwan Postal Museum in Taipei.

Most of the boxes are around 14 to 20 cm high, the smallest, from Canada Post, is 7 cm, though I also have a larger version of this one. Almost all are coin banks, though one is a stamp dispenser and another is a paper-clip holder. I have multiple versions from several countries, so while the list is relatively small, I actually have more than 40 so far. Not all have been photographed and posted, as of yet. I have five of the seven Thailand has issued. The initial thought that countries only have one post box, was slightly flawed, they also issue replicas of old post boxes as well.

There are more photos of the Taiwanese Postal Museum at:

https://pbase.com/richardfarmer/taiwan_postoffice_museum

Any questions, please email.