The Development of the Letterbox

In  modern letter boxes -post box era, there were two main methods for delivering instructions; senders could be necessitated to bring their mail to some Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from your community. In order to distinguish himself, and make his presence known, the Bellman has on a uniform and sound familiar.
It what food was in 1852 that this suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for that Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were installed on Jersey to try out the new system.
The success of the experiment led to yet another four being installed on Guernsey, one ofthese now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland at the time of 1853.
However, there was clearly to date no universal pillar box design in which were currently familiar. Design and manufacture was at the discretion of local authorities, plus it is at 1859 that attempts were designed to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits had become the favoured option over vertical ones, and became the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the first included the addition of the protruding cap to shield the contents from your elements.
As of 1859, this area ended up being 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 would not receive universal acclaim. It was contrary to 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, this became not really a huge success and thus, an additional design came in 1879. This final design could be the one in which we are familiar with today. It was a couple of years before this how the iconic red colour from the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time, preferred colour option was green in order to blend in with the green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints that this structures were to challenging to locate this can camouflage, it had been agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for about decade.
For people 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 never before witnessed in Great Britain.