The Development of the Letterbox

The Development of the Letterbox

Blog Article

The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main methods for delivering a letter; senders will be necessitated to bring their mail to your Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from your community. In order to distinguish himself, and also to make his presence known, the Bellman has on a uniform and sound familiar.
It is at 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 new system.
The success in the experiment generated an additional four being installed on Guernsey, one of these now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing about the mainland at the time of 1853.
However, there is to date no universal pillar box design that we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, plus 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 with the protruding cap to shield the contents from the elements.
As of 1859, the box was to be around in 2 sizes; a greater and wider size for highly populated areas, along with a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the more info standardised pillar boxes would not receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop for these criticism that this Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to produce another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not just a huge success so, a further design arrived 1879. This final design could be the one in which were accustomed to today. It was two years before this that this iconic red colour in the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, preferred colour option was green as a way to blend in using the green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints that this structures were to tough to locate due to their camouflage, it turned out agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for about 10 years.
For the people at large, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail without difficulty. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, people were afforded access with a delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.