The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there are two main methods for delivering correspondence; senders will be necessitated to bring 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 might wear a uniform and ring a bell.
It what food was in 1852 how the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, having a trial proposed for your Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were installed on Jersey to test out the modern system.
The success in the experiment led to one more four being installed on Guernsey, one of which now forms part of the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing for the mainland as of 1853.
However, there was as yet no universal pillar box design with which we're currently familiar. Design and manufacture was in the discretion of local authorities, also it was at 1859 that attempts were created to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits became the favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the main included the addition with the protruding cap to shield the contents from your elements.
As of 1859, this area ended up being multi letter boxes Melbourne Australia to be accessible in two sizes; a more substantial 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 against the backdrop for these criticism that the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to generate another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not just a huge success so, a further design started in 1879. This final design could be the one with which were accustomed to today. It was a couple of years before this that this iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, the preferred colour option was green so that you can blend in while using green British pastures. However, after having a barrage of complaints the structures were to difficult to locate due to their camouflage, it absolutely was agreed that bright red was your best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for approximately a decade.
For people in particular, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capacity for sending and receiving mail with ease. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access with a delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.