One of the best things about being a Realtor is every now and then, history reaches out from an older Twin Cities duplex or house to remind me we aren’t so very different from those who lived there 100 years ago.
My most recent example? The Receivador.
I ran into this 1920’s modern convenience for the first time last week in a South Minneapolis duplex.
What was it?
Imagine if Amazon lockers, Ring doorbells, and porch-pirate-proof drop boxes on each house. But in the 1920’s.
With a tagline of “Your Automatic Servant”, this metal, insulated, through-the-wall or door delivery cabinet was manufactured by the Receivador Sales Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Later, an Upper Midwest distributor — the Hardwood Products Company of Neenah, Wisconsin — put out its own catalog for it too. These things were the real deal.
The setup:
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A small built-in cabinet in your exterior wall or door
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One locked door outside
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One locked door inside
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A mechanical interlock that made it physically impossible for both doors to be open at the same time
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Enough space for milk, meat, groceries, prescriptions, parcels, and “better class household needs,” as the catalog bragged
Sound familiar?
Before refrigeration was universal, before the USPS delivered packages daily, before “porch pirates” had a name, people depended on daily deliveries for:
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Milk
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Drugs (the pharmacy kind!)
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Laundry
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Meat and groceries
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Ice
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Catalog orders (Sears was the Amazon of its day)
So if you’re lucky enough to have a duplex with one of these rarities, should you keep it or restore it?
I always vote for keep it. It’s proof that convenience wasn’t invented in 2025.
It was invented in 1920.
And the Receivador — the Automatic Servant — is one of my new favorite reminders of that.