IRISH POSTAL HISTORY

24.11.11

Filed Under: News

POST BOX BALLYCALLAN
History of the Pillarbox.
A pillar box is a free-standing post box, in  Great Britain & Ireland, and in most ex-British Empire or Commonwealth of Nations countries, such as Australia, India and Gibraltar, where mail is deposited to be collected by the Royal Mail, An Post or the appropriate postal operator and forwarded to the addressee. Pillar boxes have been in use since 1852, just 12 years after the introduction of the first adhesive postage stamps and uniform penny post.

Mail may also be deposited in lamp boxes or wall boxes that serve the same purpose as pillar boxes but are attached to a post or set into a wall. According to the Letter Box Study Group, there are more than 150 recognised designs and varieties of pillar boxes and wall boxes, not all of which have known surviving examples. Royal Mail estimates there are over 100,000 post boxes in the United Kingdom

FRESHFORD POST BOX

LOTS OF MORE INTERESTING DETAILS ON        www.irishpostalhistory.com

IRISHTOWN  1940

IRISHTOWN TODAY WITH THE POST BOX STILL IN THE SAME POSITION