The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main ways of delivering a letter; senders could be necessitated to create their mail to some Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post in the community. In order to distinguish himself, and also to make his presence known, the Bellman dons a uniform and ring a bell.
It was in 1852 that the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were installed on Jersey to test out the brand new system.
The success in the experiment triggered yet another four being attached to Guernsey, one ofthese now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing around the mainland by 1853.
However, there is as yet no universal pillar box design with which were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was with the discretion of local authorities, plus it was at 1859 that attempts were built to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits had become the favoured option over vertical ones, and had become the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the original included the addition of the protruding cap to shield the contents through the elements.
As of 1859, the lamp would have been to be around in 2 sizes; a bigger and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes would not receive universal acclaim. It was up against the backdrop for these criticism the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to create another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this was not only a huge success therefore, get more info an additional design arrived 1879. This final design is the one in which we have been familiar with today. It was 2 years before this how the iconic red colour from the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time, the preferred colour option was green as a way to blend in with all the green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints that this structures were to difficult to locate because of their camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for ten years.
For the population most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail with ease. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access to some delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.