This first-class collection of images capture the fun designs created by residents who’ve put a personal stamp on their mailboxes.
The weird and wonderful creations are handcrafted by homeowners who have gone to extraordinary lengths to brighten up their postal deliveries.
Among the offerings are an 8ft-tall flamingo, a huge revolver and a colourful tropical fish – all ready to be loaded with letters.
Joanna Pickford has photographed many of the quirky ideas while travelling round the US and Australia.
She said: “I take photos whenever I see something odd quirky or totally ridiculous, or what I would call novelty.
“I love them all from the plastic Olive jar nailed to the wooden gate to the elaborately mosaiced pillar.
“In the USA they paint and decorate and sculpt them but in Australia they will use just about anything from a petrol tank or a lawn mower to a paint bucket.”
Other clever designs captured in people’s front yards are a clapped-out microwave, a manicured hand clutching a cigarette and a selection of farmyard animals.
One creative resident designed a miniature version of their lime-green VW camper van outside his home – right in view of the larger brightly-coloured vehicle.
And another kept it simple by placing a pot marked ‘mail’ on top of a metal pole – with one labelled ‘bills’ a further three foot in the air.
Joanna said: “I usually come across them by chance as I travel around.
“You’d be amazed how many in just a small area where I live. Sometimes I take a different route home to see if I can find any, sometimes I take a wrong turn and find some and some days I go looking if I feel like a drive.
“Just the other day I went to my doctor on the same route I’ve used for years and there was a satchel letterbox I had never seen before.
“They can go from the sublime to the ridiculous.”
Joanne now uploads her finds to Instagram, where many other letterbox lovers from around the world also share quirky designs they see.