Notes

The Development of the Letterbox
In Letterbox Distribution -post box era, there are 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 also to make his presence known, the Bellman might wear a uniform and ring a bell.
It was in 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, having a trial proposed for the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were installed on Jersey to try out the modern system.
The success from the experiment triggered a different four being set up on Guernsey, one of which now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland as of 1853.
However, there was clearly to date no universal pillar box design that we are currently familiar. Design and manufacture was in the discretion of local authorities, and yes it was in 1859 that attempts were built to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits became the favoured option over vertical ones, and took over as the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the main included the addition of the protruding cap to shield the contents in the elements.
As of 1859, the box ended up being be available by 50 percent sizes; a larger and wider size for highly populated areas, and a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes would 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 generate another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not a huge success so, another design arrived 1879. This final design will be the one with which we're acquainted with today. It was 24 months just before this that this iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before on this occasion, the most preferred colour option was green as a way to blend in with the green British pastures. However, after having a barrage of complaints the structures were to difficult to locate due to their camouflage, it turned out agreed that bright red was the most suitable choice. The programme of re-painting lasted for as much as decade.
For people most importantly, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access with a delivery service never before witnessed in Great Britain.
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