The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main means of delivering instructions; senders will be necessitated to take their mail with a Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from your community. In order to distinguish himself, also to make his presence known, the Bellman has on a uniform and sounds familiar.
It was at 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, having a trial proposed for that Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were placed on Jersey to test out the new system.
The success in the experiment generated yet another four being attached to Guernsey, one of these now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland as of 1853.
However, there were to date no universal pillar box design that we're currently familiar. Design and manufacture was at the discretion of local authorities, and yes it was at 1859 that attempts were designed 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 main included the addition with the protruding cap to shield the contents in the elements.
As of 1859, the lamp ended up being be accessible in two sizes; a greater and wider size for highly populated areas, plus a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes did not receive universal acclaim. It was up against the backdrop for these criticism that the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to generate another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not only a huge success therefore, a further design started in 1879. This final design may be the one in which we're acquainted with today. It was 24 months before this how the iconic check here red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, the preferred colour option was green so that you can blend in with the green British pastures. However, after having a barrage of complaints that this structures were to tough to locate this can camouflage, it had been agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for approximately a decade.
For the population in particular, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the ability for sending and receiving mail with ease. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access with a delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.