The Post Box

Letter boxes are part of life, and are often something we take for granted. They are, however, one of the ways we communicate with the outside world, as mail delivered to our property can be important – though a lot of junk mail is delivered as well!

We do not often give a thought about our letter box, what it is made of or what style or colour it is. All we think about is receiving our mail. However, there is a wide range of colours of letter boxes on the market and if the letter box is fixed to your front door, you might want to consider how aesthetically pleasing it is. When developers are building new properties, they will not often consider the style of letter box required, but install a standard front door with a slot design. In new buildings, the letter box will be of a colour to complement the colour of the front door. This can of course be changed at a later date.

There are four basic designs of letter boxes - a simple slot in the door, a box attached directly on to your house, a Post Box on the street and a unit which is designed for multi occupancy buildings which provides letter boxes for individual residents. The letter Boxes can be made from stainless steel, aluminium, cast iron, uPVC and even plastic. Within the basic four designs, there are different styles of letter boxes to suit the style of your home.

The simple slot in the door design of letter box is generally a standard size of 30cm by 5cm (12 inches by 2 inches) to accept the standard A4 envelope. These letter boxes are available in uPVC, steel and aluminium to suit the style of your front door. There are also different colours of letter boxes. A slot design of Letterbox is often pre-fitted into a new door, whether it is uPVC or of timber construction. However, you may at some stage want to change the letter box, due to it becoming damaged or has started to rattle. It is relatively easy to amend the size of a timber door, should the new letter box be slightly larger, but it is not so easy to resize a uPVC door, and you may need to call in a professional to get his advice.

Letter boxes which are attached to the wall beside the door can be of many styles and colours and you will have more choice. There is also a wider range of materials used in constructing the letter box and of course it will be much easier to change. There are letter boxes available with newspaper holders built in, large capacity newspaper letter boxes, letter boxes which are more stylish made from non corrosive plastic, and letter boxes made from decorative cast aluminium which is more suitable for an older style property.

All letter boxes should be weather proof. If you live by the coast you may want to consider a letter box made from non corrosive materials so that your letter box does not rust and allow water in which will damage your mail.

The usage of letter boxes has developed differently in other parts of the world, but in Britain the Post Office introduced the letter box in 1849. Prior to that, outgoing mail was taken to the Post Office and dropped through letter boxes which had been made available in the walls and doors of the Post Office buildings. As the mail delivery system to homes and businesses was established, people were encouraged to make facilities available so that the postman could deliver mail quickly and easily. Letter boxes, or mail slots as they are known in the United States, started to appear in front doors and office buildings started to have multiple occupancy letter boxes which were allocated to businesses who occupied the building. This also applied to multiple occupancy residential properties with each resident being allocated a personal letter box.

In Europe, personal letter boxes did not become popular until the mid to late nineteenth century. In North America, the first letter box was set up in 1863. The Free City Delivery service was established and postal services were improved by the delivery of mail to individual addresses. Prior to that, the postman was obliged to knock on the door of a property and wait for a response. This meant that a lot of time was wasted if people were not at home or were slow in answering the door. For incoming mail, the advent of the letter box made the postman’s life easier and less time consuming. For outgoing mail, it is common practice in the US for mail boxes to be located at the side of the street to save the postman time in having to physically walk up each path individually to deliver the mail. This method is used in rural areas and mail boxes are mounted on posts at the end of a road or track. Mail boxes are often fitted with a flag to indicate that mail has been delivered.

Typical sizes of letter boxes are 30cm by 5cm (12 inches by 2 inches) and the slot is usually cut horizontally in the middle or lower half of the front door. A weatherproof flap is placed on the outside over the slot and this can be made of brass, chrome or other material to complement the style of your door. The inside of the letter box can be fitted with another flap to exclude draughts as well as a cage to catch the mail so it does not drop on the floor. The cage is often known as an indoor post box and catches the mail as it is pushed through the letter box. Both letter boxes and indoor post boxes are designed to accept A4 envelopes, but larger capacity letter boxes and newspaper boxes are also available.

The basic design of the standard letter box used in the majority of houses in urban Britain has changed little since its inception in 1849. The availability of a letter box improves efficiency for the postman which in turn cuts costs to the consumer by keeping the price of postage at an economic level.

Even with the advent of the digital age, it is thought that the Royal Mail delivers 72 million letters every day. Having a letter box to receive incoming mail is still an important part of life. At Christmas, there is a phenomenal growth in the numbers of letters, cards and parcels delivered our letter boxes, and the mail service is stretched to the limit. Temporary postmen are employed and the site of your letter box is even more important to make it easy for the postman to find your letter box. If your letter box is easy to find and accessible, it will speed up the postman’s job of delivering the mail and allow him to get home early.

Where you live will in the main dictate where the letter box is located, and the type of letter box you will have. If you live in an urban area with terraced housing, the majority of letter boxes are in the front doors or on the wall adjacent to the door. The post box should not be at the rear of the property, unless that is the door facing the road and other houses in the road have their post boxes at the back door. Make it easy for the postman by locating the post box at the same side of the building as your neighbours.

Houses with gates and gardens may have the letter box on the gate post or in the garden to make it quicker and more convenient for the postman to deliver your mail. In rural areas, especially farms, there may not be a letter box at all, but the postman knows by experience where to put the mail. You can make it easier for the postman by putting a post box at the end of your track so that he does not have to physically drive up to the house to deliver your mail, unless there is a package to be signed for. If you live in an apartment block, you will not have a choice about where to locate the letter box as this will have been decided by the developers and the management committee when the block was built. This will also apply to office blocks.

The most important point to take into account when deciding on a site for your letter box is that is convenient and easy to access, but also it must be visible to the postman who may not be familiar with the area. You will also want to take into account security of your mail by having a lockable or arson proof post box.

The provision of a letter box in which your mail can be placed safely and securely allows the postman to fulfil his duties efficiently. If the letter box is easy to find and sympathetically sited, it will make his job easier, especially in the winter on days when the weather is bad and the postman just wants to get home. Think about the postman when deciding on the location for your new letter box, and if you have a choice of places it might be sited, make sure it is easy to use.

There are many styles of Letter Boxes on the market, and it will depend on whether you live in a house which is an individual dwelling or a multi occupancy building as to which type of Letter Box suits your requirements. Multi occupancy buildings such as apartments and office blocks will often have a Mail Box with individual compartments either inside or outside the building. This will make the postman’s job much easier, as he will not have to visit every individual apartment or office in the building to distribute the post, unless he has to deliver a package which must be signed for.

As with Post Boxes for individual residences and businesses, there are many styles and designs of multi occupancy Mail Boxes on the market. These can be horizontal or vertical, mounted on supports or fixed to a wall inside or outside the building. When a new apartment or office block is commissioned, the style and location of the multi occupancy Mail Box will often have been decided by the developer. Security of the mail should be taken into account, and each individual Mail Box will have a key so that the recipient can retrieve the delivered mail. Each box will be labelled with the name of the person or the office or apartment number to ensure that the mail goes to the correct addressee. The Mail Boxes are usually made of stainless steel or steel and are fire resistant.

The sizes of the Mail Boxes will depend on whether the building is a residential or commercial premises, and there are multi occupancy Mail Boxes which are of a larger capacity than the standard A4 and will accept bigger C4 mail without bending as well as more post.

Communal Mail Boxes in large apartment blocks are often the target of vandals, so they must be fire proof so that a fire started in a Post Box will not spread to other parts of the building. Some Mail Boxes are specifically designed to extinguish fires and are fitted with fire extinguishers which detects the fire and puts it out before it can spread to other parts of the building. It is always important to protect the important documents which are delivered to your premises, so investing in a Mail Box with the additional feature of being anti arson is money well spent. If you are moving to new premises which already has a multi occupancy Mail Box you can ask whether it is fireproof, and if it does not have this feature, it would be worth lobbying the other occupants of the building to agree to a new Mail Box for the building. If the building is still under development and are considering a lease for an apartment or office within the block, you can request the management company to negotiate with the builders to agree the style of the multi occupancy Mail Box which is fire proof. Often these details are overlooked in the rush to finalise and commission a building.

Even in these days of emails and other electronic transmission of correspondence, the humble Letter Box is of paramount importance for your communications.   There are four main designs of Letter Boxes for incoming mail – a simple slot in the door,  a box attached directly on to your house, a Post Box on the street and a unit which is designed for multi occupancy buildings which provides Letter Boxes for individual residents.

The simple slot in the door style of Letter Box by far the most commonly used in the United Kingdom, especially in urban areas.   It is convenient for the postman as he can simply deliver the mail without having to open individual receptacles.  The Letter Boxes are often pre-fitted into new doors and can be made of aluminium, chrome, brass, uVPC or stainless steel.  The design of the Letter Box allows weather proofing by having an interior draught excluder.  Many Letter Boxes have spring loaded flaps to ensure that they close automatically and are weatherproof.   The slots in the door are usually horizontal, but can be vertical, and measure 30 cm by 5cm (12inches by 2 inches).

Letter boxes which are directly attached to your property  may be more beneficial if you regularly receive larger envelopes which will not fit through the standard slots.  .  The Letter Boxes can be mounted on the door and be made of stainless steel, cast aluminium, uVPC or wood.  Security of your mail may be an issue with this style of letter box and the slot should be small enough so that the mail cannot be retrieved once it has been delivered.  The front of the box usually has an aperture which can be opened with a key by the owner of the letter box.

Standard letter boxes on the street in North America consist of a metal box mounted on a post, usually with a tag which can be reset to indicate that mail has been delivered.  In the UK,  there is a selection of letter boxes which can be mounted by the roadside on posts or on walls for the convenience of the postman.  If you have a dog who does not like the postman, this may be an option for you as you can mount the post box outside the gate so that the postman does not have to come into the garden.  To keep your mail safe, the post box will have a key so that mail can be retrieved only by the owner.

Letter boxes for multi occupancy buildings usually consist of a bank of individual boxes with keys.  This style of letter box can be located either inside or outside the building with the numbers on the boxes corresponding to that of the apartment or office.   The Letter Boxes can be constructed to suit each building, with the same number of individual boxes made available for each company or residence.

All in all, Letter Boxes continue to be an important part of any communications, despite the phenomenal rise in the usage of email and electronic messaging.

As more and more people work from home, a Letter Box which can accommodate larger envelopes and even small parcels has become more important. It may be that, even though you are lucky enough to work remotely that you are not at home for much of the day and the postman will need a Letterbox in which to place documents of all sizes from the main office if you are working for an organisation as opposed to being self employed. Important documents which need to be signed for cannot of course be put in the Letterbox and you will need to collect them from the sorting office. The next day delivery postal service promises that documents sent by this method will be delivered by noon the following day so you can plan to be at home to receive the document to save you travelling to the sorting office which may be on the other side of town.

It will depend on the nature of your business as to the quantity of mail you receive through the post. If you buy and sell on web sites such as E-bay or are a mail order company, you may receive regular packages and your Post Box should be big enough to be able to accommodate them. Not all post is delivered by the post office, and you may use a courier company, in which case the size of your Letter Box may not be so important as every package will require a signature. If on the other hand, most of your work is done by email and is a service industry, you will not need such a large Letter Box.

The location of your home office will also be a factor in deciding the type and size of your Letter Box. If you live in an apartment block or other residential property where there is a common entrance, you may want to consider purchasing a large lockable Post Box so that your mail is secure and can only be retrieved by the addressee.

There are many companies which supply a wide range of styles and types of Letter Boxes. Whether you live in a remote area and require a US style Mail Box which can be mounted on a post or in an apartment block which has a multi occupancy Post Box system you will be able to find a Letter Box to suit your requirements. You will have a wide selection of colours and materials to choose from, so whether you require an indoor or outdoor Letter Box, a Letter Box made of aluminium, stainless steel or cast aluminium, you will be spoilt for choice. Where security of your mail is important, there are many types of lockable Post Boxes on the market and there are even Post Boxes available which are specifically for newspapers. The size, style and type of your Post Box will depend on your individual circumstances and the amount of mail you receive.

Looking for a new letter box?  Firstly, consider capacity. Think about how much post you get, and the size of envelopes which come through the door.

Generally speaking, the larger the letter box, the safer it tends to be. With smaller ones, post can be ‘fished’ from the slot.

When it comes to choosing the style of mail box, there are several to pick from. Fence mount postboxes, for example, have a mail slot at the back so you can mount on the inside of a fence or gate.

Door mount postboxes are ideal if you want to install and keep a letter plate on your front door. They are rear collection and have an open aperture rather than a mailslot.

You can also buy a mail box specially designed to be arson or weatherproof. The latter for example could be good if you live in a coastal area.

Top loader postboxes have mail inserted via the top of the box, and these can accept larger items more easily than their front loading counterparts.

Front loading boxes are perfect if there is little headroom above its location, and some are designed for side by side installation in blocks of flats.

At Mailbox Mania, we have loads of designs whether you are a business, property developer or homeowner, made from high quality steel. Want multi-occupancy, extra large post boxes or ones with newspaper holders? We can help! Prices include VAT, and there’s free delivery on orders over £100.

There are thought to be over 100,000 letterboxes across the UK, and the Royal Mail delivers 68 million items daily. But where did it all begin?

The first postboxes are believed to have been installed in Paris in 1653. In the UK the first pillar postboxes were put in place much later, in Jersey in 1852. Roadside wall boxes first appeared five years later as cheaper alternatives to pillar boxes, particularly in rural areas.

In 1853, the very first pillar box in mainland Britain was erected at Botchergate, in Carlisle. Three years later Richard Redgrave designed an ornate pillar box to be used in London and other urban locations. In 1859 the design was enhanced, and it became the first National Standard pillar box.

The standard colour for early Victorian post boxes was green. Between 1866 and 1879, the hexagonal Penfold post box became the standard design for pillar boxes and it was during this time that red became the regulation colour. The first boxes to be painted red were in London in July 1874.

Today, the post is part of our daily lives, and we all need letterboxes for our homes and businesses. Like the boxes in the street, these have also evolved over time.

At Mailbox Mania, we are a leading UK retailer of quality letterboxes to private, consumer, residential and business customers. We only sell the highest graded galvanised and stainless steel products around – at competitive prices. There’s more information on our website.

The letter box could be considered one of the unsung heroes of the front of your home. You and your postman interact with it daily, and it probably sees more use than the expensive outdoor umbrella stand Aunt Maud gave you for Christmas in 1993!

Our mail boxes are designed do one of two things, either perform the basic function of a secure, simple post box, or make a stylish statement to the front of your home that you can rely on 100% in terms of security and durability.

Statement Mail Boxes
In the current financial climate, most folks don’t have the resources to get the brickwork of their house re-pointed and have a Groundforce-like garden makeover on the front garden. That said, there are still thrifty little ways to make a difference; re-painting the fence, re-painting the front door, clearing weeds and defining pathways using large stones/bedding fences etc. can have a huge effect on the frontage of your house. Item number two – statement mail boxes! When all the other bits and bobs of your front area facelift are to do with simplifying and generally tidying up a bit, something cheap and cheerful like a statement letter box could be just the finishing touch!

Simple Mail Boxes
Simple and stylish needn’t be mutually exclusive. Many of our simple mail box designs are ideally suited to nestle harmoniously with the frontage of your property, adding that little extra subtle final touch to your own makeover elbow grease!

These days, a great deal of the correspondence your company deals with will probably come through cyberspace. Indeed, emails and messages sent through networking sites are now a major part of business.

However, it is still vital that you have an attractive and functional letter box. Traditional post remains a highly important part of trading and without it, you might struggle to function.

When you are seeking a new mail box, you will no doubt be looking not only for great value but also for an object that looks attractive and is durable. This is where we come in here at Mailbox Mania. We are specialists in the field and know exactly what makes a great product.

That is why we provide a huge selection of offerings. For example, you might need an extra large capacity letter box to cope with the volume of mail you deal with. Also, we stock a parcel safe option, which can come in handy.

Meanwhile, you can be certain of the quality of the products we supply. We use the highest grade steel to ensure that the items you buy last longer. Not only does this save you hassle in the long run, it can also save you cash.

To ensure that your mail box looks the part, we produce offerings in a range of styles and colours, so you will be able to find something that matches your company perfectly.

If you are eager to find out more, simply have a look around our website.