In the US low post volumes are leading to the decline of traditional blue mailboxes.

Over on the other side of the Atlantic, blue mailboxes are as familiar as red pillar boxes are in the UK, however it seems that the icons of mail service are in decline.

According to a report from the BBC, the number of American mailboxes has halved in the past two decades, with just 175,000 remaining across the nation.

While many nostalgic individuals are critical of the mailbox's decline, it comes as the volume of mail delivered in the US is anticipated to decline by some 20 million pieces this year.

These declines are expected to accelerate in the coming years, with total mail volume predicted to drop to 170 billion pieces in 2010.

"Mailboxes are like phone booths, that part of the scenery that you take for granted until one day you need one and it is no longer there," Nancy Pope, curator at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, told the news provider.

The loss of the mailboxes is proving problematic for many communities in which groups such as elderly people rely on them.

President Barack Obama recently criticised the US Postal Service, telling a town hall meeting that it cannot keep up with competitors.

A union representing postal supervisors, managers and postmasters sent a letter to the White House late last week asking him to reconsider the remark, the Washington Post reports.

Written by Laura Rathbone

Article Added: 21/08/2009 09:12:52