If the fridge could talk

By Gemma Deavin ·  2 min read · From Snapped: Letterboxes

Letters on top, groceries below.

That's how the fridge mailbox at Arlington Park station used to work.

ABC Open contributor David Freeman came across it on the road from Ilfracombe to Isisford in Western Queensland recently.

He wasn't sure if it was a letterbox but shared it with the Snapped project anyway.

Yesterday I published his photo on ABC Western Queensland's facebook page and heard back from a few people; one of whom was Kyle Jones (who is also coincidentally my neighbour)!

It was indeed a letterbox! David's intuitions were correct.

Kyle said his family used to own Arlington Park station and his uncle, Brendan Jones, painted the fridge and put it at the gate.

The first thing I noticed about the photo, as David pointed out in his caption, was the "typical outback humour". 

On a road with nothing more than the scrub, emus, kangaroos, careening birds and the big blue sky (which is admittedly very beautiful) a fridge with pies, cold drinks and ice cream painted on the front is a cheeky kind of cruel. 

I caught up with Brendan today and heard a bit more about how the fridge came to being.

He painted it for a laugh and set it by the gate in the early 1990s.

He used the side of the fridge to warn people off coming down his long 7 and a 1/2 mile driveway. It says, in clear red lettering, phone's broke, got no tools, the fridge is empty, golf course needs mowing, am out of fuel, am already saved.

"It was a bit of a dig at the people who, despite the distance to the house, would make the drive and turn up trying to spread the word of the Lord, sell you insurance or look for directions," he said.

There were a few catalysts for this playful but "to be heeded" warning.

The one that sticks in his mind was an ocassion when "two sheilas" from an unnamed government organisation got bogged driving a sedan onto the property. They ended up hitching a ride back to Isisford and were eventually pulled out by the police. Brendan is still scratching his head as to why they were out and about as it was during the 1990 flood and all the roads were closed. 

He hoped it might stop future ventures down the driveway.

On a lighter note, once the fridge was installed he found a six pack of beer delivered by someone who had obviously appreciated the humour!

Size wise, the fridge was a perfect choice for a letterbox.

When the mail stopped coming directly to the house, Brendan said he needed something that could be water tight, with enough room for groceries and other trinkets.

One time the then mail man, Shorty Rutledge, got the fright of his life when a brown snake fell out of the ice compartment.

Brendan and his family sold the property in 2000. It's uninhabited but the fridge still stands.

The only thing that has changed since the early 90s is its position. They moved it closer to the fence after a car ran into it.You'll see the 'injury' it sustained on the door.

"If the fridge could talk, it would have a few tales to tell," Brendan assured me. 

I believe him.

Published 20 Feb 2013.  Isisford QLD 4731

Gemma Deavin

Previous Open Producer

Cairns QLD 4870


  • Gemma Deavin

    Antonia, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Brendan has a great sense of humour, yes! Tricia, I love the story about Brendan hiding in the fridge. That would have been quite an achievement at 6ft!

  • Tricia Jones

    I am Brendans sister One night when we had lots of rain we got a call from brendan asking for somone to come out and get him from the gate. So My self and anfriend wnt out to find him. Got to the gate no sign of Brendee call out to him, when we herd a muffled sound \. Yes Brendan was in the fridge. My brother is around 6ft . what a laugh

  • Antonia Young

    I was so happy to come across this article, Brendan is also my uncle and Arlington was my first home. I have many happy memories of being there and remember the mail box being a talking point for many people, that's just Brendans great sense of humour.

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