Related Articles
Philatelic Foreword by Jay Bigalke
Big things, small town. That’s what the town of Casey, Ill., is using to promote itself and get people to exit Interstate 70 while going across the state.
And it worked on me. Signs leading up to the exit indicate many “World’s Largest …” items, and one of them was a mailbox.
As a fan of the mails, how could I not stop? I didn’t have any postcards with me, but luckily the local gas station near the exit had some Illinois postcards, so I bought a couple.
I had stamps with me as I had just come from the Mighty Mississippi forever stamp event in Memphis, Tenn., so I was set on that front.
The mailbox and the downtown are only a couple of miles from the exit, which was very convenient. And it wasn’t hard to spot. The two-story white rural mailbox structure stood out with the blue sky behind it.
After climbing the steel grate stairs inside, you see a slot for dropping mail in. The mail falling in the slot triggers a set of pulleys that make the red flag go up. Pretty cool for those watching below.
The added surprise came a couple of days later when I received the postcard I sent to myself, shown here. A handstamp indicating it was sent from the “World’s Largest Mailbox” was privately added before the card was turned over to the U.S. Postal Service.
For more information on the other big things in Casey, which there are many, visit online at www.bigthingssmalltown.com.
Connect with Linn’s Stamp News:
Sign up for our newsletter
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
