The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there were two main methods for 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 ring a bell.
It was in 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 attached to Jersey to understand the modern system.
The success of the experiment resulted in yet another four being set up 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 was as yet no universal pillar box design that were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was with the discretion of local authorities, and it was in 1859 that attempts were made to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits had become the favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the main included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents through the elements.
As of 1859, the here lamp ended up being be available in two sizes; a bigger and wider size for highly populated areas, along with a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes failed to receive universal acclaim. It was contrary to the backdrop of which 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, a further design came in 1879. This final design is the one with which we are used to today. It was two years prior to this that the iconic red colour from the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, preferred colour option was green to be able to blend in using the green British pastures. However, after having a barrage of complaints that this structures were to challenging to locate this can camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for approximately decade.
For people most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail easily. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access to your delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.