The Development on the Letterbox

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The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there were two main methods for delivering instructions; senders can be necessitated to bring their mail to some Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post in the community. In order to distinguish himself, and make his presence known, the Bellman would wear a uniform and ring a bell.
It is at 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, using a trial proposed for your Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were set up on Jersey to understand the new system.
The success of the experiment led to one more four being placed on Guernsey, one of these now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing around the mainland at the time of 1853.
However, there was clearly to date no universal pillar box design that we have been currently familiar. Design and manufacture was on the discretion of local authorities, also it is at 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 initial included the addition from the protruding cap to shield the contents from the elements.
As of 1859, the box was to be for sale by 50 % sizes; a more substantial and wider size for highly populated areas, plus a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes didn't receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop of such criticism that this 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 here so, another design arrived 1879. This final design may be the one with which were used to today. It was 24 months before this how the iconic red colour from the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before on this occasion, preferred colour option was green to be able to blend in with the green British pastures. However, after having a barrage of complaints the structures were to challenging to locate because of the camouflage, it was agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for about decade.
For the populace most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail without difficulty. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access to your delivery service nothing you've seen prior witnessed in Great Britain.

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