The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there were two main means of delivering correspondence; senders can be necessitated to bring their mail to some Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from your community. In order to distinguish himself, also to make his presence known, the Bellman might wear a uniform and sound familiar.
It was in 1852 that the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, having a trial proposed for that Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were attached to Jersey to try out the newest system.
The success in the experiment led to an additional four being installed on Guernsey, one of these now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing around the mainland by 1853.
However, there was clearly to date no universal pillar box design in which we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was with the discretion of local authorities, and yes it what food was in 1859 that attempts were created 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 original included the addition of the protruding cap to shield the contents from the elements.
As of 1859, the box was to be available in two sizes; a larger and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes would not receive universal acclaim. It was up against the backdrop of which 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 just a huge success more info therefore, another design arrived 1879. This final design may be the one with which we are accustomed to today. It was two years before this how the iconic red colour with the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time around, 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 this structures were to difficult to locate because of the camouflage, it had been agreed that bright red was your best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for approximately decade.
For people in particular, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail with ease. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access with a delivery service nothing you've seen prior witnessed in Great Britain.