The Development on the Letterbox

The Development on the Letterbox

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The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main methods for delivering a letter; senders will be necessitated to bring their mail to some 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 might wear a uniform and sound familiar.
It is at 1852 how the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, having a trial proposed to the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were installed on Jersey to test out the brand new system.
The success with the experiment generated an additional four being attached to Guernsey, one ofthese now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing for the mainland by 1853.
However, there is to date no universal pillar box design with which we're currently familiar. Design and manufacture was in the discretion of local authorities, plus it what food was in 1859 that attempts were created to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits had become the favoured option over vertical ones, and had become 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 would have been to be around by 50 percent sizes; a more substantial and wider size for highly populated areas, as well as a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes did not receive universal acclaim. It was against the backdrop of such criticism that the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to create another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this became not a huge success and so, a further design came in 1879. This final design is the one with which we are accustomed to today. It was two years before this the iconic red colour from the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time, the preferred colour option was green in order to blend in while using green British pastures. However, after having a barrage of complaints the structures were to tough to locate due to their camouflage, it turned out agreed that bright red was the best choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for about 10 years.
For people 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, everyone was afforded access with a delivery service never more info before witnessed in Great Britain.