The Development of the Letterbox

· 2 min read
The Development of the Letterbox

In the pre-post box era, there were two main means of delivering correspondence; senders would be necessitated to get their mail with a Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post through the community. In order to distinguish himself, also to make his presence known, the Bellman has on a uniform and sound familiar.
It what food was in 1852 how the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, having a trial proposed for your Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were attached to Jersey to test out the brand new system.
The success in the experiment triggered an additional four being set up on Guernsey, one of these now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing around the mainland since 1853.
However, there were confirmed no universal pillar box design with which we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was in the discretion of local authorities, plus it what food was in 1859 that attempts were designed to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits took over as favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the main included the addition from the protruding cap to shield the contents from your elements.
As of 1859, the lamp was to be around in 2 sizes; a larger and wider size for highly populated areas, as well as a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes would not receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop of which criticism that this Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to generate another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not just a huge success and so, an extra design arrived 1879. This final design could be the one that were acquainted with today. It was two years ahead of this the iconic red colour in the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, the most preferred colour option was green so that you can blend in while using green British pastures. However, following a barrage of complaints the structures were to challenging to locate because of the camouflage, it turned out agreed that bright red was the best choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for 10 years.
For  this contact form , the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the ability for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access to some delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.