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 create their mail to a 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 has on a uniform and ring a bell.
It was at 1852 that the suggestion of road-side boxes finally became a reality, which has a trial proposed for the Channel Islands. Three cast-iron pillar boxes were set up on Jersey to try out the new system.
The success with the experiment led to one more four being attached to Guernsey, one of which now forms part with the British Postal Museum & Archive collection. Letter boxes then began appearing on the mainland by 1853.
However, there is to date no universal pillar box design in which we're currently familiar. Design and manufacture was with the discretion of local authorities, and it was in 1859 that attempts were made to standardise the structures.
Horizontal slits became the favoured option over vertical ones, and became the norm in letterbox design. Further improvements upon the first included the addition from the protruding cap to shield the contents from your elements.
As of 1859, the therapy lamp would have been to be available in two sizes; a greater and wider size for highly populated areas, along with a smaller version for elsewhere. However, the standardised pillar boxes failed to receive universal acclaim. It was from the backdrop of which criticism the Liverpool Special was formulated.
This prompted the Post Office (opened in 1861) to create another standard letter box in 1866. Again, Resources is not just a huge success therefore, an additional design started in 1879. This final design could be the one with which we're acquainted with today. It was 24 months just before this the iconic red colour of the post boxes became a standard feature.
Before this time, preferred colour option was green in order to blend in with all the green British pastures. However, after having a barrage of complaints the 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 approximately a decade.
For people at large, the introduction and refinement of letter boxes enhanced the capability for sending and receiving mail with ease. With the exception of oversized parcel delivery, everyone was afforded access to some delivery service no time before witnessed in Great Britain.