The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main means of delivering a letter; senders can be necessitated to create their mail to your 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 dons a uniform and sound familiar.
It is at 1852 how the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for that Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were set up on Jersey to test out the brand new system.
The success with the experiment generated one more four being attached to Guernsey, info now forms part of the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing around the mainland at the time of 1853.
However, there were confirmed no universal pillar box design with which we are currently familiar. Design and manufacture was in the discretion of local authorities, also it was at 1859 that attempts were built to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits became 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 ended up being to be accessible in 2 sizes; a bigger and wider size for highly populated areas, along with a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes did not receive universal acclaim. It was against the backdrop of which criticism that this Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to make another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not a huge success and so, another design started in 1879. This final design may be the one in which we have been familiar with today. It was 2 years commercial letterboxes ahead of this the iconic red colour in the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, the most well-liked colour option was green in order to blend in with all the green British pastures. However, following a barrage of complaints that this structures were to tough to locate this can camouflage, it had been agreed that bright red was the best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for 10 years.
For the populace most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the ability for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access to a delivery service nothing you've seen prior witnessed in Great Britain.