The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there were two main means of 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 how the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, using 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 from the experiment led to an additional four being placed on Guernsey, one of these now forms part of the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland as of 1853.
However, there were confirmed no universal pillar box design in which we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, also it is at 1859 that attempts were made to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits became the favoured option over vertical ones, and became the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the main included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents from your elements.
As of 1859, the therapy lamp ended up being to be accessible in two sizes; a greater and wider size for highly populated areas, as well as a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes failed to receive universal acclaim. It was contrary to the backdrop of 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, this became not just a huge success and thus, a further design were only available in 1879. This final design could be the one that we're accustomed to today. It was two years ahead of this the iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before on this occasion, preferred colour option was green so that you can blend in using the green British pastures. However, from a barrage of complaints how the structures were to tough to locate due to their camouflage, it turned out agreed get more info that bright red was the best choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for about 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 a delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.