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 were two main methods for delivering correspondence; senders could be necessitated to get 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, also to make his presence known, the Bellman would wear a uniform and sounds familiar.
It what food was in 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, which has a trial proposed for the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were attached to Jersey to understand the new system.
The success with the experiment generated 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 as yet no universal pillar box design with which we're currently familiar. Design and manufacture was in the discretion of local authorities, plus it was at 1859 that attempts were created to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits became the favoured option over vertical ones, and became the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the initial included the addition from the protruding cap to shield the contents in the elements.
As of 1859, this area ended up being be for sale by 50 % sizes; a more substantial and wider size for highly populated areas, plus a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes failed to receive universal acclaim. It was contrary to the backdrop for these 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 only a huge success therefore, another design arrived 1879. This final design is the one in which we're familiar with today. It was 2 years ahead of this the iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, the most preferred colour option was green in order to blend in while using green British pastures. However, following a barrage of complaints that this structures were to tough to locate due to their camouflage, it absolutely was agreed that bright red was your best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for as much as ten years.
For people at large, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending click here and receiving mail without difficulty. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, people were afforded access with a delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.