The Development of the Letterbox

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The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there were two main means of delivering instructions; senders will be necessitated to get their mail to your Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post through the community. In order to distinguish himself, and make his presence known, the Bellman might wear a uniform and sound familiar.
It what food was in 1852 that this suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, which has a trial proposed to the 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 placed on Guernsey, one of these now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland as of 1853.
However, there was as yet no universal pillar box design with which we are currently familiar. Design and manufacture was with the discretion of local authorities, and yes it was at 1859 that attempts were built to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits took over as favoured option over vertical ones, and had become the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the initial included the addition of the protruding cap to shield the contents from the elements.
As of 1859, the lamp ended up being be for sale by 50 percent sizes; a more substantial and wider size for highly populated areas, along with a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes didn't receive universal acclaim. It was against the backdrop of which criticism that this Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to generate another standard letter box in 1866. Again, this is not really a huge here success and so, a further design were only available in 1879. This final design could be the one that we're accustomed to 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 turned out agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for ten years.
For the population most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail with ease. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access to some delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.