Is this a mailbox?

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#1

I’m working on a project, and trying to figure out what this is, and more importantly, what color it is.

3rd Army on 12-12-44 near the Saar front, in Germany.

Is it a mailbox? Trash can? Something else? I’m leaning towards mail dropbox, mainly because it has what looks to be a door at the bottom for collection, some sort of emblem above that, and a door at the top to drop letters in.

I’ve spent a few hours looking through Google, trying all sorts of terms, even German “postkasten” for mailbox. Also looking through the photos n this website, which I just found btw and looking forward to being a part of (I have many B&W photos but none in color yet).

Thanks for any help!

#2

I admit I don’t know what it is but to me it looks like one of these old-fashioned cast-iron stoves.

#3

Hmmm could be. He is sitting next to it, and it is very cold… he is wearing mittens and such. I’ll research that for a bit, see what I get.

#4

I thought stove too. Importantly, there appears to be wood panelling in the background suggesting he’s actually indoors.

#5

Its a stove.

#6

Yep, stove. I don’t think the Germans had the resources to use massive iron-cast mail boxes, especially not by Winter '44/'45 ^^

#7

Stove or oven. Put your mail in this and all it will do is heat your dog up a bit.

#8

If he put the dog in it, he’d get a hot dog.

#9

It’s actually one of Hitler’s late war wonder weapons. It’s a Krupp robot called Rolf432 sneaking up behind an unsuspecting GI while the dog, Gunter (who is actually an Abwehr agent) distracts him.

#10

Its definitely a stove. When I went to Highschool in the early fifties in NL we had exactly the same stoves in all our classes. All students had to take weekly turns to service the stoves, which in adddition to cleaning the ashes included to fill the stoves with coal every night, set for a minimum burn, but giving enough heat to have a warm class-room in the morning. BTW, the Sergeant in the picture would not have sat that close had the stove been burning.

#11

Something like this:

#12

Thanks for all the help guys! I found some other stove pics:


I think I’ll paint mine like the latter one.

This is why I was thinking mailbox:



Hahaha! I bet the robot was designed by Porsche though.

#13

An early form of Hotmail perhaps :mrgreen:

Sorry - I’ll get my coat.

Richie

#14

In France this wood stove is known as a ‘Poele du Bois’. One of the most famous makes in France is ‘GODIN’.

#15

no its a robot designed to sneak up on unsuspecting G.I.s lulling them into a false sence of warmth putting them into a relaxed and unsuspecting state then allowing the undercover agent dog to steal their rations and any important information so that the germans and their secret weapons could win the war I belive the program was called snallahundenkamph?
=) LOL

#16

It makes a good mailbox for bills…