The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there are two main methods for 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 try out the brand new system.
The success of the experiment led to an additional four being installed on Guernsey, info now forms part in the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on 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, and yes it was at 1859 that attempts were built to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits took over as favoured option over vertical ones, and had become the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the initial included the addition of the protruding cap to shield the contents through the elements.
As of 1859, the lamp ended here up being 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 produce another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this was not only a huge success therefore, an additional design came in 1879. This final design could be 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, preferred colour option was green so that you can blend in using 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 10 years.
For people in particular, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capacity for sending and receiving mail without difficulty. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access to some delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.