The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there have been two main strategies to delivering correspondence; senders can be necessitated to get their mail to your Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post through the community. In order to distinguish himself, and make his presence known, the Bellman might wear a uniform and sound familiar.
It what food was in 1852 that this suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, which has a trial proposed to the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were set up on Jersey to understand the newest system.
The success with the experiment triggered yet another four being placed on Guernsey, one of these now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing around the mainland as of 1853.
However, there was as yet no universal pillar box design in which were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, plus it is at 1859 that attempts were designed to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits had become the favoured option over vertical ones, and became the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the original included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents through the elements.
As of 1859, the therapy lamp would have been to be accessible in 2 sizes; a larger 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 contrary to the backdrop of these criticism the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to produce another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this became not just a huge success therefore, an additional design came in 1879. This final design could be the one in which we're accustomed to more info today. It was 2 years before this how the iconic red colour from the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time, preferred colour option was green so that you can blend in using the green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints that this structures were to difficult to locate because of their camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for 10 years.
For people in particular, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capacity for sending and receiving mail without difficulty. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access to some delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.