The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main methods for delivering correspondence; senders would be necessitated to create 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 also to make his presence known, the Bellman has on a uniform and sound familiar.
It was in 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, using a trial proposed to the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were installed on Jersey to try out the newest system.
The success in the experiment led to one more four being attached to Guernsey, info now forms part in the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland by 1853.
However, there was clearly to date no universal pillar box design in which we are currently familiar. Design and manufacture was at the discretion of local authorities, also it was at 1859 that attempts were built to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits took over as the favoured option over vertical ones, and became the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the original included the addition from the protruding cap to shield the contents in the elements.
As of 1859, the therapy lamp ended up being be for sale by 50 % sizes; a larger and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes did not receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop of which criticism that the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to make another standard letter box read more in 1866. Again, this became not really 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 two 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 in while using green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints the structures were to difficult to locate this can camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was your best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for about a decade.
For people at large, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capacity for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access with a delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.