The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there were two main means of delivering a letter; senders will be necessitated to bring their mail to some Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post through the community. In order to distinguish himself, and also to make his presence known, the Bellman has on a uniform and ring a bell.
It is at 1852 that this suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for your 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 one more four being attached to 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 were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was at the discretion of local authorities, and it is at 1859 that attempts were built to get more info standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits took over as the favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the original included the addition of the protruding cap to shield the contents in the elements.
As of 1859, this area would have been to be around by 50 percent sizes; a greater and wider size for highly populated areas, as well as 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 became not just a huge success therefore, another design started in 1879. This final design may be the one with which we are accustomed to today. It was 2 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 in order to blend in with the green British pastures. However, from a barrage of complaints how the structures were to tough to locate because of their camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for as much as ten years.
For the population most importantly, 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 to some delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.