Pop it in the Post: Your world at the end of the street

The Victorian era was a time of great change in Britain. Many revolutions took place that would change society forever. One of these was the communications revolution. With the introduction of penny postage, stamps and later pillar boxes, the post was opened up to more people than ever before.

The introduction of the Penny Black meant that more people could afford to use the postal system – and they did. What was missing however was somewhere for them to post their letters. Going to a receiving house, or waiting for the bellman, wasn’t always convenient especially in isolated areas. In 1852 the renowned Victorian writer Anthony Trollope was working as a surveyor in the Post Office where he suggested ‘iron posts’ on the side of the road for people to put their letters into at any time of day, as a way to solve this problem. 

Today we know pillar boxes as being a uniform red (with a splash of gold for special occasions), but many early boxes were actually green so they blended into their surroundings. This however often made them difficult to find, especially in the countryside, so in 1874 red became the permanent colour.

Letter carriers, later known by the more familiar term postmen, delivered thousands of letters every day across the country. In a time before cars and bicycles letter carriers would walk their long routes, in all weather. Many had to provide their own work clothes, as uniform wasn’t given out in all areas. This meant they weren’t always well protected against the elements.

The introduction of stamps and pillar boxes changed the way we communicated forever. There are now almost 116,000 pillar boxes, wall boxes and lamp boxes of all shapes and sizes in Britain. It has also come to be more than just somewhere to post letters. It was voted the tenth most iconic British design, being beaten to the top spot by another Post Office creation – the telephone box.