The Development from the Letterbox

The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there were two main means of delivering instructions; senders would be necessitated to bring their mail to a 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 might wear a uniform and sound familiar.
It was in 1852 that this suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for your Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were installed on Jersey to test out the newest system.
The success of the experiment generated one more four being placed on Guernsey, info now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing for the mainland at the time of 1853.
However, there were as yet no universal pillar box design in which were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was at the discretion of local authorities, also it what food was in 1859 that attempts were designed to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits had become the favoured option over vertical ones, and took check here over as the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the initial included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents from the elements.
As of 1859, this area would have been to be accessible in two sizes; a greater and wider size for highly populated areas, along with a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes did not receive universal acclaim. It was contrary to the backdrop for these 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 only a huge success and thus, an extra design started in 1879. This final design will be the one with which were used to today. It was 2 years ahead of this how the iconic red colour with the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before on this occasion, the most preferred colour option was green as a way to blend in while using green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints the structures were to difficult to locate due to their camouflage, it had been agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for as much as 10 years.
For the populace most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the ability for sending and receiving mail with ease. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access to your delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.