The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main ways of delivering instructions; senders would be necessitated to create their mail with 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 also to make his presence known, the Bellman dons a uniform and sound familiar.
It what food was in 1852 that this suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were placed on Jersey to try out the newest system.
The success with the experiment triggered a different four being set up on Guernsey, info now forms part in the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing for the mainland since 1853.
However, there was as yet no universal pillar box design in which were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was at the discretion of local authorities, and yes it was in 1859 that attempts were made 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 first included the addition with the protruding cap to shield the contents from your elements.
As of 1859, this area ended up being be available by 50 % sizes; a bigger and wider size for highly populated areas, along with a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes didn't receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop of such criticism that the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to make another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this was not a huge success and thus, an extra design were only available in 1879. This final design could be the one in which were acquainted with today. It was 2 years prior to this that this iconic red colour with 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, following a barrage of complaints the structures were to difficult to locate this can camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was your best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for as much as 10 years.
For the population at large, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail easily. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access to a delivery service nothing here you've seen prior witnessed in Great Britain.