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 with a Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from the community. In order to distinguish himself, also to make his presence known, the Bellman might wear a uniform and ring a bell.
It was at 1852 that the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, using a trial proposed to the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were placed on Jersey to try out the modern system.
The success of the experiment triggered a different four being installed on Guernsey, one of these now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing for the mainland as of 1853.
However, there is to date no universal pillar box design in which we are currently familiar. Design and manufacture was in the discretion of local authorities, also it was at 1859 that attempts were created read more to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits became the favoured option over vertical ones, and had become the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the first included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents through the elements.
As of 1859, the box would have been to be for sale by 50 % sizes; a greater 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 the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to produce another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this was not a huge success and so, an additional design started in 1879. This final design will be the one that we're familiar with today. It was 24 months prior to this that the iconic red colour in the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before on this occasion, preferred colour option was green so that you can blend in using the green British pastures. However, following a barrage of complaints that the structures were to challenging to locate this can camouflage, it absolutely was agreed that bright red was your best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for approximately decade.
For the people at large, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the ability for sending and receiving mail easily. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, people were afforded access to your delivery service nothing you've seen prior witnessed in Great Britain.