The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main methods for delivering correspondence; senders could be necessitated to take 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 what food was in 1852 that the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for that Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were placed on Jersey to try out the newest system.
The success with the experiment generated a different four being set up on Guernsey, info now forms part in the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing for the mainland since 1853.
However, there were confirmed no universal pillar box design in which we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, also it is at 1859 that attempts were made 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 in the multiple mailboxes Melbourne Australia elements.
As of 1859, the box was to be for sale by 50 percent sizes; a bigger and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes failed to receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop of such criticism how 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 really a huge success therefore, a further design started in 1879. This final design is the one that we are used to today. It was 2 years just before this that this iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, the preferred colour option was green so that you can blend in while using green British pastures. However, following a barrage of complaints how the structures were to challenging to locate due to their camouflage, it had been agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for approximately 10 years.
For the populace in particular, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail without difficulty. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access to a delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.