The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there have been two main ways of delivering instructions; senders would be necessitated to take their mail to some 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 would wear a uniform and ring a bell.
It is at 1852 that 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 set up on Jersey to understand the newest system.
The success of the experiment triggered an additional four being set up on Guernsey, info now forms part of the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing about the mainland as of 1853.
However, there was confirmed no universal pillar box design that we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was in the discretion of local authorities, and yes it what food was in 1859 that attempts were made to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits had become the favoured option over vertical ones, and became the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the original included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents from your elements.
As of 1859, the therapy lamp ended up being be around in 2 sizes; a larger and wider size for highly populated areas, plus a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes didn't receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop of such criticism that this Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to generate another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this was not just a huge success and so, an additional design came in 1879. This final design may be the one in which we are used get more info to today. It was two years just before this how the iconic red colour with the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before on this occasion, the most well-liked colour option was green as a way to blend in with the green British pastures. However, following a barrage of complaints the structures were to difficult to locate because of the camouflage, it turned out agreed that bright red was your best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for about 10 years.
For people most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail easily. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, people were afforded access to your delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.