A HOME-MADE TOY MAIL-BOX
Who wants to play at being Uncle Sam, and have a postal system right in the house, or out on the front porch where it will be convenient for the children next door to enjoy it, too? Every small boy and girl loves to play postman, collect mail from the toy mail-box, cancel the stamps, sort out the letters into the proper routes, and then deliver them to those whom they are addressed to.
The mail-box shown in [Figs. 325] and [326] is easily made, and with
The Working Material on hand can be completed in an evening. Two sheets of cardboard, a piece of muslin, some silver paper or paint, a piece of tape about 2 yards long, and a needle and thread, are required. The cardboard should be stiff enough to hold its shape, and yet be of light enough weight to cut and fold easily. Sheets 22 inches by 28 inches can be bought at any printing-shop, and at some stationery stores, and will not cost more than 10 cents a sheet at the most. If you have some large cardboard boxes, however, you can use them instead by so laying out the different parts that the corners of the boxes will come in the right places for the corners of the mail-box.
[Figure 327] shows the diagrams for
Fig. 327.—Diagram for Making Sides, Ends, and Bottom of Mail-box.
Fig. 328.—Diagram for Making Top.
Fig. 329.—Diagram for Making End Pieces of Letter-drop.
Fig. 330.—Diagram for Making Front Piece of Letter-drop.
Making the Sides, Ends, and Bottom of the mail-box, with the dimensions of every portion marked upon them. Use a ruler with which to guide your pencil in drawing the straight lines, and a compass or the rim of a 9-inch plate for describing the arcs for the round tops of the end pieces. You will see that the front, one end, and the bottom are made in one piece, and that the back, other end, and a second bottom (to make that portion doubly strong) are cut from another piece.
Fig. 325.—The Home-made Mail-box Strapped to the Face of a Door.
Fig. 326.—The Home-made Mail-box Strapped to a Chair Back.
Fig. 331.—The Sides, Ends, and Bottom folded ready to be put Together.
The dotted lines upon the diagram indicate where the cardboard should be folded. [Figure 331] shows the sides, ends, and bottom folded ready to be put together. Turn the flaps inside, and glue them to the end pieces, and glue the two bottom pieces together; also sew the cardboard with a double thread to make the joining doubly secure.
Fig. 332.—Top, showing how Portion is Bent up for Back of Letter-drop.
Fig. 333.—Ends of Letter-drop.
Fig. 334.—Front of Letter-drop.
Fig. 335.—Top, with Letter-drop Completed.
The Top of the Box—the diagram for the cutting of which is shown in [Fig. 328]—has a piece 3 by 7 inches cut out on all but one long side, and bent up to form the top of
The Letter-drop ([Fig. 332]). The diagram for the ends of the letter-drop is shown in [Fig. 329], and for the front in [Fig. 330]; [Fig. 333] shows how cloth flaps are glued to the end piece; and [Fig. 335] shows how the end pieces are fastened to the top of the box by means of these flaps. Glue a strip of cloth to each side of the lower edge of the letter-drop front piece for hinges ([Fig. 334]), and glue one to the inside and the other to the outside of the top of the box ([Fig. 335]). Attach rubber-bands to the front and ends of the drop to make it spring shut. Glue and sew the top of the box to the flaps provided on the front and back for the purpose.
Fig. 336.—Diagram for Making Collection-drop.
Fig. 337.—How the Collection-drop is Folded.
Fig. 338.—The Collection-drop Hinged in Place.
[Figure 336] shows the diagram for
The Collection-drop, and [Fig. 337] how it looks folded. Hinge the drop to the box with a cloth strip ([Fig. 338]).
Reinforcement. When the work has been finished thus far, cut a number of strips of muslin 1 inch wide and reinforce the corners with them. Then take the 2-yard length of tape, which you procured, and sew it to the back of the box to hang it up by.
Covering the Box. Silver paper makes the nicest finish for the mail-box, and can be bought of a stationer; but you may paint the cardboard with aluminum radiator paint instead if you prefer. If you use silver paper, stick it on with flour paste.
After the paper or paint has dried, paste
A Collection Schedule Card upon the front of the box. You will need, also, to
Letter the words, "Pull Down," "Letters," etc., where they are shown in the illustrations.
Hang up the Mail-box by means of its tape strap, within easy reach, upon the face of a door ([Fig. 325]), or to the back of a chair ([Fig. 36]).
For a Mail-bag use a school-book bag, or make one just like a real postman's out of brown denim or cambric. Letter "U. S. Mail" upon the bag with black paint, or cut the letters from black or white muslin and glue them in place. Provide a long strap to reach over the postman's shoulder.
The Way to Play Post-Office is for several children to attend to the writing of letters and wrapping of parcels, another to play mail clerk, who puts the post-marks on the mail and sorts it out into "routes" and another to play postman.
Canceled stamps from old letters may be re-used on the play letters, and a rubber-stamp dater such as they sell at the stationer's for 10 cents may be used for printing the post-marks.