Cutler Mail Chute.

The Cutler mail chutes flourished during the advent of the first multi-story buildings in the turn of the 20thcentury. The invention was fairly simple: glass chutes would run internally the height of the building, with a mailing slot on each floor. Rather than having to make the trek downstairs to find the nearest mail box or post office, you would simply pop your letter into the chute from whichever floored you worked on, and gravity would swiftly carry your letter to a mailbox in the lobby, for daily collection from the postman. In an era when people were sending handfuls of letters each day, the convenience of the Cutler mail chute was a godsend.
Remarkably today, the Cutler mail chute is still in use. In fact there are approximately 900 actively working in New York.

The mail chute system might have born out of functionality, but Cutler infused the mailboxes themselves with elegance. He had the foresight to collaborate with the leading architects of the day to allow the design of individual mail boxes that would match the grandeur of specific buildings. Through the Beaux Arts movement to Art Nouveau to Art Deco, Cutler’s mailboxes became increasingly beautiful and ornate. The Cutler Co. worked with architects such as Daniel Burnham (the Flatiron), Shreve, Lamb & Harmon (the Empire State), Sloan & Robertson (the St.Regis) and Cass Gilbert (the Woolworth).