The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main methods for delivering a letter; senders will be necessitated to bring their mail to your Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post in the community. In order to distinguish himself, and make his presence known, the Bellman dons a uniform and sound familiar.
It is at 1852 how the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for that Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were set up on Jersey to test out the newest system.
The success in the experiment led to yet another four being set up on Guernsey, one of which now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing about the mainland since 1853.
However, there was up to now no universal pillar box design that we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was with the discretion of local authorities, and yes it was in 1859 that attempts were made to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits took over as favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the main included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents through the elements.
As of 1859, the lamp ended up being to be accessible in 2 sizes; a bigger and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes did not receive universal acclaim. It was against the backdrop of such criticism that this Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to generate another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this is not mail boxes for flats really a huge success and so, a further design were only available in 1879. This final design will be the one with which we are acquainted with today. It was a couple of years just before this that the iconic red colour in the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time around, the most well-liked colour option was green in order to blend in with all the green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints that this structures were to tough to locate this can camouflage, it absolutely was agreed that bright red was your best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for approximately ten years.
For people in particular, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the ability for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access to your delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.