The event of the Letterbox

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The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there were two main strategies to delivering correspondence; senders can be necessitated to bring their mail to a Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from 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 for your Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were attached to Jersey to understand the newest system.
The success with the experiment triggered yet another four being attached to Guernsey, one ofthese now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing about the mainland at the time of 1853.
However, there was clearly to date no universal pillar box design that we're currently familiar. Design and manufacture was in the discretion of local authorities, also it was in 1859 that attempts were made to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits became the favoured option over vertical ones, and became the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the main included click here the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents through the elements.
As of 1859, the therapy lamp would have been to be around in 2 sizes; a bigger and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes did not receive universal acclaim. It was up against the backdrop of which criticism how the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to make another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not a huge success and so, an extra design started in 1879. This final design will be the one that we are acquainted with today. It was two years ahead of this the iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time, preferred colour option was green so that you can blend in using the green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints that this structures were to difficult to locate because of their camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for as much as a decade.
For the populace most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the ability for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, people were afforded access to your delivery service nothing you've seen prior witnessed in Great Britain.