The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there are two main means of delivering a letter; senders will be necessitated to get 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 has on a uniform and sound familiar.
It was in 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, using a trial proposed to the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were placed on Jersey to try out the newest system.
The success in the experiment resulted in a different four being installed on Guernsey, one ofthese now forms part in the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland by 1853.
However, there were as yet no universal pillar box design with which we're currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, plus it what food was in 1859 that attempts were made to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits became the favoured option over vertical ones, and had become the norm in letterbox design. Further click here improvements upon the first included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents from the elements.
As of 1859, the therapy lamp ended up being be available in 2 sizes; a more substantial and wider size for highly populated areas, as well as a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes did not receive universal acclaim. It was contrary to the backdrop for these criticism that this Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to create another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this is not only a huge success and so, a further design arrived 1879. This final design may be the one that we have been acquainted with today. It was two years prior to this that this iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time around, the most well-liked colour option was green to be able to blend in with all the green British pastures. However, after having a barrage of complaints how the structures were to challenging to locate this can camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for about ten years.
For the populace at large, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capacity for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access to some delivery service nothing you've seen prior witnessed in Great Britain.