The Development of the Letterbox
In wall mounted letterbox -post box era, there were two main strategies to delivering instructions; senders would be necessitated to create their mail to your Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from your community. In order to distinguish himself, and to make his presence known, the Bellman has on a uniform and sounds familiar. It is at 1852 how the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, having a trial proposed for the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were set up on Jersey to understand the newest system. The success of the experiment generated yet another four being installed on Guernsey, one ofthese now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing around the mainland as of 1853. However, there were confirmed no universal pillar box design that were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, and yes it what food was in 1859 that attempts were made to standardise the structures. Horizontal slits took over as the favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the main included the addition of the protruding cap to shield the contents in the elements. As of 1859, the box ended up being be around by 50 % sizes; a bigger and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes would not receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop of such criticism the Liverpool Special was formulated. This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to create another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this was not a huge success therefore, another design arrived 1879. This final design is the one with which were familiar with today. It was 2 years ahead of this that the iconic red colour with the post boxes became a standard feature. Before this time, the most well-liked colour option was green in order to blend in using the green British pastures. However, following a barrage of complaints the structures were to tough to locate because of the camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for about ten years. For the population 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, individuals were afforded access to your delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.