I like old postboxes. I recently bought one off of ebay and mounted it on a wooden post outside my house. I was originally going to place it the other side of the garden wall in the hope that people would mistake it for a public one and I'd receive an avalanche of envelopes stuffed with postal orders, record tokens and the like but my better instincts told me that would be fraudulent so it now has pride of place outside my front door.
Anyway, the topic of postboxes was the main talking point amongst the assembled throng at my local on Friday night as I'd casually mentioned that my closest postbox dates from the Victorian era and is marked "VR" accordingly.
Going round the table, it turned out that I was alone in having one of such antiquity as the most proximate postbox to where I live with 2 x EIIR, 1 x GVIR and 1 x GR in addition to my VR.
Of course, there are different types of postbox and when we made the distinction between the upright pillar box and the wall box, which is set into a wall, it turned out none of us lived close to the former.
Indeed, this raised the question as to whether or not the upright pillar box was even around in the Vicorian era or if it was an invention of a later time. A quick visit to the ladies to avail myself of the single bar of wifi coverage therein and I came bounding back to reveal that the first pillar box was introduced in 1852, just 12 years after the penny black. Maybe the wall box is a later innovation? Not to mention the type one sees mounted on a post.
While pondering this, the conversation moved on to a question that none of us could answer.
Six monarchs have reigned during the era of the postbox but what we couldn't establish was whether any postbox was ever commissioned during the 10 months of the reign of Edward VIII and, if so, where could one be seen one?
Has any of you seen one? - I'd be innerested to know its location. Fascinating stuff.....
Anyway, the topic of postboxes was the main talking point amongst the assembled throng at my local on Friday night as I'd casually mentioned that my closest postbox dates from the Victorian era and is marked "VR" accordingly.
Going round the table, it turned out that I was alone in having one of such antiquity as the most proximate postbox to where I live with 2 x EIIR, 1 x GVIR and 1 x GR in addition to my VR.
Of course, there are different types of postbox and when we made the distinction between the upright pillar box and the wall box, which is set into a wall, it turned out none of us lived close to the former.
Indeed, this raised the question as to whether or not the upright pillar box was even around in the Vicorian era or if it was an invention of a later time. A quick visit to the ladies to avail myself of the single bar of wifi coverage therein and I came bounding back to reveal that the first pillar box was introduced in 1852, just 12 years after the penny black. Maybe the wall box is a later innovation? Not to mention the type one sees mounted on a post.
While pondering this, the conversation moved on to a question that none of us could answer.
Six monarchs have reigned during the era of the postbox but what we couldn't establish was whether any postbox was ever commissioned during the 10 months of the reign of Edward VIII and, if so, where could one be seen one?
Has any of you seen one? - I'd be innerested to know its location. Fascinating stuff.....
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