The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there have been two main ways of delivering correspondence; senders could be necessitated to create their mail to a 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 has on a uniform and sounds familiar.
It was at 1852 how the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, which has a trial proposed for the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were attached to Jersey to understand the new system.
The success of the experiment resulted in yet another four being set up on Guernsey, one of which now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland as of 1853.
However, there was up to now no universal pillar box design that we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, also it what food was in 1859 that attempts were designed to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits took over as the favoured option over vertical ones, and became the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the main included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents in the elements.
As of 1859, this area would have been to be around in 2 sizes; a more substantial and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes failed to receive universal acclaim. It was contrary to the backdrop for these criticism the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to make another standard letter box check here in 1866. Again, it was not really a huge success and thus, a further design came in 1879. This final design will be the one that we have been familiar with today. It was two years ahead of this that this iconic red colour with the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time, the most well-liked colour option was green to be able to blend in with the green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints that the structures were to hard to locate because of their camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for as much as a decade.
For the population most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capacity for sending and receiving mail without difficulty. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, people were afforded access to your delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.