The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there was two main ways of delivering instructions; senders could be necessitated to get their mail to your Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from the community. In order to distinguish himself, and make his presence known, the Bellman would wear a uniform and ring a bell.
It what food was in 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, having a trial proposed to the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were placed on Jersey to try out the modern system.
The success from the experiment triggered one more four being placed on Guernsey, info now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland since 1853.
However, there were as yet no universal pillar box design in which we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, plus it what food was in 1859 that attempts were designed 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 main included the addition with the protruding cap to shield the contents from the elements.
As of 1859, the therapy lamp would have been to be available in two sizes; a more substantial and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes didn't 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 generate another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not just a huge success and so, an additional design arrived 1879. This final design could be the one with which we have been acquainted with today. It was a couple of years before this how the iconic red colour from the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, the preferred 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 read more hard to locate because of their camouflage, it had been agreed that bright red was the best choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for a decade.
For the people at large, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capacity for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access to some delivery service nothing you've seen prior witnessed in Great Britain.