The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main strategies to delivering instructions; senders would be necessitated to get their mail with a 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 has on a uniform and ring a bell.
It what food was in 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for your Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were installed on Jersey to understand the brand new system.
The success in the experiment triggered an additional four being attached to Guernsey, one of these now forms part in the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing around the mainland since 1853.
However, there is confirmed no universal pillar box design that were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was in the discretion of local authorities, and yes it is at 1859 that attempts were created to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits had become the favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the initial included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents from the elements.
As of 1859, the therapy lamp was to be around in two sizes; a bigger and wider size for highly populated areas, as well as a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes didn't receive universal acclaim. It was contrary to the backdrop of such criticism the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to generate another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this was not just a huge success so, a further design started in 1879. This final design could be the one with which we're used to today. It was 2 years just before this how the iconic red colour in the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time, the most well-liked colour option was green so that you can blend here in while using green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints the structures were to difficult to locate because of the camouflage, it turned out agreed that bright red was the best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for about a decade.
For the people most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the ability for sending and receiving mail with ease. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, people were afforded access to some delivery service nothing you've seen prior witnessed in Great Britain.