Letter box
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This article describes door furniture item for the mail delivery. For alternative meanings see the following :
- For video processing technique see letterbox
- For places to post outward mail see Pillar box or Wall box.
Letterbox.jpg
A letter box is a slot in a wall or (more commonly) a door through which mail is delivered.
Almost all buildings in the United Kingdom feature letter boxes. They are commonly horizontal slots approximately 12 inches by 2, found in the middle or lower half of a front door. Most are covered by a flap on the outside to offer a degree of weatherproofing. The flap may by sprung to prevent it opening and closing noisily in the wind. Many letter boxes also have a second flap on the inside to offer further protection from the elements. There may also be a small wire cage mounted on the inside of the door to catch the delivered mail.
The British Post Office first encouraged people to install letter boxes to facilitate the delivery of mail in 1849. Before then, letter boxes of a similar design had been installed in the doors and walls of post offices for people to drop-off outgoing mail. An example of such a letter box (originally installed in the wall of the Wakefield Post Office) is dated 1809 and believed to be the oldest example in Britain.
A number of designs of letter boxes have been patented, particularly in the USA.
Front door away from street
To reduce the need for the postman to walk extra distances, when the front door is some distance from the street, letter boxes may be mounted on convenient posts at the property boundary. These boxes might have a slot to put the mail in, and a larger lockable door to take the mail out again.
In the U.S. letter boxes are fitted with a semaphore arm that is raised by the postman to indicate that the mail has arrived, and reset by the householder when the mail is taken out,
External links
- U.S. Patent #483525 for a design of letter box held by George Becket (http://patimg1.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00483525&idkey=B09D0A6C7D3E)de:Briefkasten