The Development of your Letterbox

The Development of your Letterbox

Blog Article

The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main means of delivering a letter; senders will be necessitated to get their mail to some Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post through the community. In order to distinguish himself, and to make his presence known, the Bellman dons a uniform and sounds familiar.
It was at 1852 how the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, using a trial proposed to the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were placed on Jersey to understand the modern system.
The success in the experiment led to an additional four being placed on Guernsey, one ofthese now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland by 1853.
However, there was confirmed no universal pillar box design in which we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was with the discretion of local authorities, and it is at 1859 that attempts were created to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits took over as favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the first included the addition of the protruding cap to shield the contents through the elements.
As of 1859, this area was to be accessible by 50 % sizes; a more substantial and wider size for highly populated areas, along with a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes did not receive universal acclaim. It was against the backdrop for these criticism the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to create another check here standard letter box in 1866. Again, this was not only a huge success and so, an additional design came in 1879. This final design may be the one in which we are familiar with today. It was 24 months before this how the iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before on this occasion, the most well-liked colour option was green so that you can blend in while using green British pastures. However, following a barrage of complaints that this structures were to difficult to locate because of the camouflage, it absolutely was agreed that bright red was the best choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for 10 years.
For the populace 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 never before witnessed in Great Britain.