In the pre-post box era, there are two main methods for delivering instructions; senders would be necessitated to bring 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 also to make his presence known, the Bellman would wear a uniform and sounds familiar.
It what food was in 1852 that the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for the Channel Islands. letter boxes for sale -iron pillar boxes were attached to Jersey to understand the newest system.
The success in the experiment generated one more four being installed on Guernsey, info now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing about the mainland by 1853.
However, there is to date no universal pillar box design in which we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was with the discretion of local authorities, plus it was at 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 main included the addition in the protruding cap to shield the contents from your elements.
As of 1859, this area ended up being be around by 50 % sizes; a greater 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 of which criticism that this Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to create another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this is not a huge success therefore, another design started in 1879. This final design will be the one that we are accustomed to today. It was two years before this how the iconic red colour with the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before now, the most preferred colour option was green so that you can blend in with the green British pastures. However, from a barrage of complaints that the structures were to challenging to locate due to their camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for approximately decade.
For the population most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capacity for sending and receiving mail without difficulty. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, people were afforded access to some delivery service nothing you've seen prior witnessed in Great Britain.