The event from the Letterbox
The Development of the LetterboxIn the pre-post box era, there was two main means of delivering instructions; senders can be necessitated to create their mail to a Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from your community. In order to distinguish himself, and make his presence known, the Bellman dons a uniform and sound familiar.
It is at 1852 how the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for that Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were set up on Jersey to test out the brand new system.
The success with the experiment led to one more four being attached to Guernsey, info now forms part of the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing around the mainland at the time of 1853.
However, there were up to now no universal pillar box design in which were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was at the discretion of local authorities, and it is at 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 website main included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents from the elements.
As of 1859, the box ended up being to be accessible in two 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 against the backdrop of which criticism that this Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to make another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not really a huge success and so, an extra design started in 1879. This final design may be the one with which we have been used to today. It was 24 months before this how the iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before on this occasion, the most preferred colour option was green to be able to blend in while using green British pastures. However, after having a barrage of complaints that 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 ten years.
For people at large, 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.