The Development of the Letterbox

The Development of the Letterbox

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The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there were two main methods for delivering correspondence; senders would be necessitated to create 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 might wear a uniform and ring a bell.
It is at 1852 how the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, which has a trial proposed for the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were placed on Jersey to understand the brand new system.
The success with the experiment generated one more four being set up on Guernsey, one of these now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing for the mainland as of 1853.
However, there was clearly confirmed no universal pillar box design with which we're currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, and it is at 1859 that attempts were created to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits had become the favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the main included the addition of the protruding cap to shield the contents in the elements.
As of 1859, the therapy lamp ended up being to be around in two sizes; a more substantial and wider size for highly populated areas, as well as a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes didn't receive universal acclaim. It was up against the backdrop of these criticism how the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to generate another standard letter box in 1866. Again, website this was not really a huge success therefore, an extra design came in 1879. This final design may be the one with which we're familiar with today. It was a couple of years before this that this iconic red colour in the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time, the preferred colour option was green in order to blend in with the green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints that the structures were to hard to locate because of their camouflage, it had been agreed that bright red was your best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for about 10 years.
For the populace in particular, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, people were afforded access to your delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.