The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there have been two main methods for delivering correspondence; senders would be necessitated to take their mail to your Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from the community. In order to distinguish himself, and also to make his presence known, the Bellman has on a uniform and sound familiar.
It what food was in 1852 that the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for that Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were placed on Jersey to try out the newest system.
The success with the experiment generated a different four being installed on Guernsey, info now forms part in the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing about the mainland since 1853.
However, there was confirmed no universal pillar box design in which we're currently familiar. Design and manufacture was with the discretion of local authorities, and it was at 1859 that attempts were created to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits took over as the favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the first included the addition from the protruding cap to shield the contents in the elements.
As of 1859, this area ended up being to be for sale by 50 percent sizes; a bigger and wider size for highly populated areas, plus a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes didn't receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop of which criticism that the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to create another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not really a huge success therefore, an extra design started in 1879. This final design is the one with which were used to today. It was 24 months before this how the iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time around, the most well-liked colour option was green in order to blend in using the green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints the structures were to challenging to locate because of their camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for about 10 years.
For people most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capacity for sending and more info receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access with a delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.