The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there have been two main methods for delivering instructions; senders can be necessitated to create their mail to a Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from your community. In order to distinguish himself, and to make his presence known, the Bellman would wear a uniform and sound familiar.
It is at 1852 that the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, which has a trial proposed for the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were attached to Jersey to understand the brand new system.
The success of the experiment resulted in yet another four being attached to Guernsey, info now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing about the mainland since 1853.
However, there is to date no universal pillar box design that we are currently familiar. Design and manufacture was with the discretion of local authorities, also it is at 1859 that attempts were made 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 initial included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents through the elements.
As of 1859, this area would have been to be around 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 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 was not only a huge success therefore, another design arrived 1879. This final design is the one in which we're familiar with today. It was 2 years before this the iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before on this occasion, preferred colour option was green as a way to blend in using the green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints how the structures were to tough to locate this can camouflage, it had been agreed that bright red was the best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for decade.
For the populace in particular, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the ability for sending and receiving mail without difficulty. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, people were afforded access to a delivery service nothing you've seen get more info prior witnessed in Great Britain.