The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there are two main methods for delivering instructions; senders will be necessitated to get their mail to your Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from the community. In order to distinguish himself, and to make his presence known, the Bellman dons a uniform and ring a bell.
It is at 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, using a trial proposed for your Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were attached to Jersey to understand the modern system.
The success in the experiment generated a different four being set up on Guernsey, info now forms part of the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland as of 1853.
However, there was as yet no universal pillar box design with which we are currently familiar. Design and manufacture was at the discretion of local authorities, and it was in 1859 that attempts were created to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits became the favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as the 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 lamp ended up being be for sale by 50 percent sizes; a more substantial and wider size for highly populated areas, plus a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes didn't receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop of these 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 became not only a huge success so, another design started in 1879. This final design may be the one with which we are acquainted with today. It was two years ahead of this how the iconic red colour from the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time, the preferred colour option was green as a way to blend in with all the green British pastures. However, after having a barrage of complaints the structures were to hard to locate this can camouflage, it absolutely was agreed that bright red was the best choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for about 10 years.
For people in particular, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes here enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail with ease. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access with a delivery service nothing you've seen prior witnessed in Great Britain.