The Development of the Letterbox

The Development of the Letterbox

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The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main means of delivering instructions; senders would be necessitated to get 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 make his presence known, the Bellman would wear a uniform and sound familiar.
It what food was in 1852 that the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, having a trial proposed for your Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were attached to Jersey to understand the modern system.
The success of the experiment triggered a different four being attached to Guernsey, info now forms part in the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland by 1853.
However, there were to date no universal pillar box design in which we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was in the discretion of local authorities, also it is at 1859 that attempts were made to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits had become the favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the original included the addition from the protruding cap to shield the contents from your elements.
As of 1859, the box was to be available by 50 percent sizes; a larger and wider size for highly populated areas, as well as a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes didn't receive universal acclaim. It was against the backdrop of these criticism that this Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to produce another standard letter more info box in 1866. Again, it was not only a huge success and so, an additional design were only available in 1879. This final design is the one that we have been acquainted with today. It was 2 years just before this the iconic red colour from the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, the most well-liked colour option was green so that you can blend in with all the green British pastures. However, from a barrage of complaints how the structures were to difficult to locate this can camouflage, it turned out agreed that bright red was the best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for as much as 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, people were afforded access to a delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.