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by **khardy** on Thu Apr 11, 2013 6:53 pm

Hi Folks,

We took a break from the house this morning and drove across town to an estate sale.

We came across this little jewel in the rough.....

Letter box is all cast iron and weighs at least 35lbs. Manufactured by The Wehrle Co. Newark, Ohio. Date on the bottom is 1936.

The mail box is intact with the exception of the locking mechanism. All the moving parts operate as designed.

This is the inside of the bottom door showing the location of the locking mechanism. Does anyone know where we can find a replacement lock?

We plan to blast and repaint this cool old letter box.

Cheers!

by **Troy** on Thu Apr 11, 2013 6:57 pm

khardy wrote:This is the inside of the bottom door showing the location of the locking mechanism. Does anyone know where we can find a replacement lock?

Check page 11 for some lock info viewtopic.php?f=34&t=4323&start=100

Does it have the two-piece mounting bracket on the back??

by **mcha9797** on Thu Apr 11, 2013 7:13 pm

I guess my "what's the next project" question has been answered.

Cool find, :thumbsup:

your going to have to assign a "City" name to your back yard....traffic lights, mail box...etc. :crazy:

by **Old-Timer** on Thu Apr 11, 2013 7:22 pm

I'm workin' on three of those cast iron beasts!!!

by **EdT.** on Thu Apr 11, 2013 7:48 pm

by **khardy** on Thu Apr 11, 2013 8:06 pm

Hi Troy,

The back of the box has one part of the mounting bracket.

If I can't find the other piece that mounts to a wall or pole, I will make something to fit the bracket on the box.

Did look at the thread you pointed out with a link to the company that makes keyed latches to possibly fit this letter box. Will check into it if I can not find something a little more original.

Cheers!

by **Old-Timer** on Thu Apr 11, 2013 8:27 pm

Here are the two pieces...the original Arrow lock and the mounting bracket. Its fairly easy to find both of these BUT getting a key is next to impossible and from what the locksmiths I talked to, illegal.

Malcolms solution is what we need.

by **khardy** on Fri Apr 12, 2013 6:40 am

Hiya Old-Timer,

Will be on the lookout for some of the track material for the mounting hardware. Thank you for providing the photos of the track and lock. Do you have any suggestions on where to acquire the track?

Have not decided if we will put a locking mechanism in the lower door or fabricate a handle with latch for easy accessibility. Our mail is brought to our doorstep and have thought of replacing our existing mailbox with the letter box. We have kept most of our toys in the house or backyard. The neighbors already know we are a little different from them so it would be nice to have the box out front where it is actually in use.

Side note and correction to earlier statement: weighed the Letter Box and it is 58 lbs. Underestimated the weight because of excitement once money changed hands and I knew it was ours! :grin:

Cheers!

by **SirMarbelot** on Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:18 am

Ohhhhh, I love, love, love those!!! Great find! :drool:

I actually really like them with the red over blue scheme, despite that not being original.

by **khardy** on Fri Apr 12, 2013 8:30 am

SirMarbelot wrote:Ohhhhh, I love, love, love those!!! Great find!

I actually really like them with the red over blue scheme, despite that not being original.

One of the things I enjoy about finding new projects is learning things I didn't know before. So what was the original paint configuration on these old Letter Boxes? In particular 1936?

Cheers!

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