The event of the Letterbox

The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main methods for delivering correspondence; senders would be necessitated to create 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, 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 installed on Jersey to test out the brand new system.
The success with the experiment generated an additional four being placed on Guernsey, one ofthese now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing for the mainland as of 1853.
However, there is up to now no universal pillar box design that were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was with the discretion of local authorities, and it 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 in the elements.
As of 1859, the therapy lamp ended up being be for sale by 50 % sizes; a larger and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes did not receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop of these criticism the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to create another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not just a huge success therefore, another design started in 1879. This final design will be the one that we have been used to today. It was a couple more info of years ahead of this how the iconic red colour with the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, the most preferred colour option was green so that you can blend in using the green British pastures. However, following a barrage of complaints the structures were to tough to locate due to their camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for approximately decade.
For people most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access to a delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.