The Development in the Letterbox

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The Development of the Letterbox
In the pre-post box era, there have been two main methods for delivering a letter; senders would be necessitated to get their mail with a Receiving House, or would await the Bellman. The latter would patrol the streets, collecting post from your community. In order to distinguish himself, and to make his presence known, the Bellman would wear a uniform and sound familiar.
It was at 1852 the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, with a trial proposed for that Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were set up on Jersey to try out the modern system.
The success with the experiment triggered yet another four being attached to Guernsey, one of these now forms part from the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing around the mainland by 1853.
However, there is up to now no universal pillar box design in which we're currently familiar. Design and manufacture was at the discretion of local authorities, and it was in 1859 that attempts were designed to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits took over as the favoured option over vertical ones, and became the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the original included the addition here in the protruding cap to shield the contents through the elements.
As of 1859, the lamp was to be available by 50 % sizes; a larger and wider size for highly populated areas, along with a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes did not 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 make another standard letter box in 1866. Again, it was not only a huge success so, another design came in 1879. This final design is the one in which we have been acquainted with today. It was a couple of years ahead of this the iconic red colour in the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time around, the preferred colour option was green as a way to blend in with the green British pastures. However, after a barrage of complaints the structures were to difficult to locate this can camouflage, it turned out agreed that bright red was your best option. The programme of re-painting lasted for approximately a decade.
For the people at large, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail effortlessly. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, individuals were afforded access to a delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.