The Development Of The Letterbox

From EjWiki

In the pre-post box era, there are two main means of delivering a letter; senders could be necessitated to get their mail to a Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting wall mounted post boxes (you can check here) from the community. In order to distinguish himself, also to make his presence known, the Bellman dons a uniform and sound familiar.
It is at 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were attached to Jersey to try out the modern system.
The success with the experiment triggered one more four being set up on Guernsey, one of which now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing for the mainland since 1853.
However, there was up to now no universal pillar box design with which we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, plus it was at 1859 that attempts were created to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits took over as the favoured option over vertical ones, and had become the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the original included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents from your elements.
As of 1859, this area would have been to be accessible 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 would not receive universal acclaim. It was up against the backdrop for these criticism 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 really a huge success and thus, an additional design started in 1879. This final design will be the one that we have been used to today. It was two years ahead of this how the iconic red colour in the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time around, the most preferred colour option was green to be able to blend in while using green British pastures. However, from a barrage of complaints that this structures were to challenging to locate due to their camouflage, it absolutely was agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for approximately decade.
For the populace at large, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access to a delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.