A post box (British English and others, also written postbox), or mailbox (North American English and others) is a physical box used to collect outgoing mail (mail sent to a destination). Post box can also refer to a letter box for incoming mail. Varieties of post boxes (for outgoing mail) include:
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Types of post boxes
Some postal authorities have different types of post boxes for different types of post. For instance, there may be separate boxes for regular post, air mail and express post, for local addresses (defined by a range of postal codes) and out-of-town addresses, or for post bearing postage stamps and post bearing postage meter indicator. Some countries have different coloured postboxes, in most countries like Australia, Portugal, and Russia, it exists to tell people which type of mail it is to be used for, such 1st and 2nd class post. However, in Germany and parts of Sweden, because they have postal liberalisation, the different colours are for the different postal services. For example in Germany, yellow is for Deutsche Post (the incumbent) and blue for the private companies, like Morgenpost Briefservice.
Clearance
Post boxes are emptied ("cleared") at times usually listed on the box in a TOC, Times of Collection, plate affixed to the box. In metropolitan areas, this might be once or twice a day. Busy boxes might be cleared at other times to avoid overflowing, and also to spread the work for the sorters. Extra clearances are made in the period leading up to Christmas, to prevent boxes becoming clogged with mail. Since 2005, most Royal Mail post boxes have had the time of only the last collection of the day listed on the box, with no indication of whether the box is cleared at other times earlier in the day. The reason given for this by the Royal Mail is that they needed to increase the font size of the wording on the "plate" listing the collection times to improve legibility for those with poor sight and that consequently there was insufficient room for listing all collection times throughout the day. Some post boxes may indicate the next collection time by a metal 'tab'[1] or dial that can be changed while the box is open. The tab displays a day or number, each number corresponding to a different time shown on the plate.
Terrorism
During 1939 a number of bombs were put in postboxes by the IRA as part of their S-Plan campaign. When the IRA bombed the Arndale shopping centre in Manchester, UK in 1996 just about the only thing that survived unscathed was a Victorian pillar box dating from 1887 (A type A Jubilee pillar).
Colours
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Red
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Yellow
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Blue
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Green
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Orange
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Symbols
- Australia — a styled red letter "P" on a white circle, "P" standing for "Post"
- Canada — a combination of a bird wing and an aircraft wing in a red circle and flanked by the words Canada Post / Poste Canada. Previously the words Canada, Canada Post, or Canada Post Corporation) were used on mail boxes.
- Continental Europe — most designs include a Post horn, like those used by postmen to announce their arrival. In Germany the post horn is the only element indicating post services.
- Ireland — From 1922 the Irish harp entwined with the letters "SE" for Saorstát Éireann, then "P7T" Gaelic script for Post & Telegraphs and from 1984 An Post with their wavy lines logo, often on the door as a raised casting.
- Russia — logo of Russian Post (Почта России) written white on blue and black on yellow 1st class mail boxes.
- Japan — a "T" with another bar above it (〒)
- United Kingdom All post boxes for use in the United Kingdom display the Royal Cipher of the reigning monarch at the time of manufacture. Exceptions are the Anonymous pillar boxes of 1879–87, where the cipher was omitted, and all boxes for use in Scotland manufactured after 1952 (including replicas of the 1866 Penfold design) which show the Queen's Crown of Scotland instead of the English/Welsh cipher for Elizabeth II. Private boxes emptied by Royal Mail do not have to carry a cipher. Royal Mail postboxes manufactured since 1994 carry the wording "Royal Mail", normally above the aperture (lamp boxes) or on the door (pillar boxes). Before this date all post boxes, with the exception of the Anonymous pillar boxes, carried the wording "Post Office".
- United States — the United States Postal Service eagle logo, except that boxes for Express Mail use the USPS Express Mail logo
Gallery of Post Boxes from around the world
 British Edward VII Type A pillar box of 1902 by A.Handyside of Derby in front of Mansfield College, Oxford |
 French Post Box at Ile de Bréhat |
 Icelandic Post Box |
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 Post Box of Indian Postal Service |
 Italian domestic Post Box |
 Japanese Post Box at the Osaka Central Post Office |
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 U.S. Post Box in front of the Post Office in Conneaut, Ohio |
 Post box incorporated into a Type K4 telephone kiosk, introduced in 1927. 10 survive in the UK of this design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott which also incorporates two stamp vending machines. This red telephone box is in Warrington, Cheshire, England |
 A standard British lamp letter box mounted on a post in Menai Bridge, Anglesey, Wales |
 A Victorian wall box of the Second National Standard type dating from 1859, in Brough, Derbyshire, England |
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 A Guernsey Post Type C double aperture pillar box |
 A Victorian hexagonal red post box of the Penfold type manufactured in 1866 outside King's College, Cambridge(not the original location for this box). |
 One of the 150 post boxes erected during the uncrowned reign of Edward VIII |
 Self-Automated Machine and Postboxes of Singapore Post outside the Westmall Branch |
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 German mail box with an old Post horn with Flashs from the Deutsche Bundespost, up the new Post horn from Deutsche Post AG |
 A Polish Post Box |
 Swedish post box |
 A post box in Funningur, Faroe Islands |
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 Singapore AA style sheet metal mail box in Hong Kong |
 A Ukrainian post box in the city of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine |
 A Czech post box |
 A R2-D2 themed post box in Boston, Massachusetts as part of the celebration for Star Wars' 30th anniversary |
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See also
- Post Office box, used for incoming mail
- Stamp vending machine, often attached to post boxes
References
- ^ Has the last post gone? (retrieved 18 September 2007)
- ^ All Royal Mail / GPO post boxes were painted BS 538 Post Office Red between 1874 and 1969. With the introduction of the K8 Telephone kiosk in 1969, a new "red" colour was adopted for GPO street furniture, designated B.S. 539 Post Haste Red. After British Telecom and Royal Mail were split by the British Government, BT continued to use BS539 exclusively, whilst Royal Mail use both BS538 and BS539 in a seemingly random way. Prior to 1859 there was no standard colour although there is a document in the BPMA archive indicating that optionally, the lettering and Royal cypher could be picked out in white or black. In 1859, a bronze green colour became standard until 1874. It took ten years for every box to be repainted during this period).
- ^ PIN MAIL AG
