GEORGE VI TYPE B PILLAR BOX

This shape of the Type B pillar box can be traced back as far as 1879. Since then the basic design has remained unchanged, other than an increase in the height of the door to include the aperture in 1904, and various increases in the width of the posting aperture through the years as envelope sizes increased. The box illustrated carries the cipher of King George VI, and dates from the start of his reign.

Particulars

  • Name: Type B Pillar Box
  • Manufacturer: Carron Company
  • Introduced: 1937
  • Construction: cast iron
  • Height: 64 inches
  • Circumference: 48 inches
  • LBSG type number: PB1035
  • Total in LBSG records: 3,250
Type B GVIR

KINDS OF LETTER BOX

The following types of letter box can be found on British streets. Click to display pictures of a particular type.

Pillar Box

Found in built-up areas, especially outside Post Offices

Wall Box

Usually installed in a convenient wall where a large pillar box is not required. Only the front of the box is visible.

Lamp Box

Small box found in large numbers in rural areas. Sometimes attached to a lamp post (hence the name), on a metal pole or installed in a wall, as per a wall box. Pedestal boxes are included here.

Ciphers

Six ciphers can be found on British letter boxes. Click here to display a gallery of all of the cipher images

VARIETY

The British post box is usually red. Accidents of history mean some retain the green colour of early post box history. There are a few blue Airmail boxes erected in the 1930s. There are also 110 gold boxes, painted to celebrate the 2012 British Olympic and Paralympic champions.

Disused boxes are usually painted black. Privately owned boxes are found in a variety of colours, including white and brown. Boxes in the walls of local Post Offices are often made of local materials and may be bronze, brown or silver. Guernsey Post boxes are blue. Republic of Ireland uses various shades of green.

Most pillar boxes are cylindrical though some are rectangular, oval and hexagonal. Oval boxes with two apertures are often found in towns and cities where there is large demand for mail. Hexagonal boxes were installed during the 1860s and 1870s and one can be seen in the LBSG logo. This type of letter box is a favourite of many members and was produced in around 20 variations, including a replica casting of 1988.

The majority of post boxes are cast iron. However, sheet steel has been used, and is used in new boxes, although it has proved vulnerable to weathering in the past. Wood was used particularly at smaller local Post Offices. So-called ‘Ludlow’ boxes use enamel for a part of its facade. Concrete has also been used and recently, plastic boxes have been erected for siting indoors in shopping centres, airports and other similar locations.

Overseas

Although the main interest of the Letter Box Study Group is in the history and development of the British post box, some members chose to study boxes overseas.

The Group’s photo archives include many slides and photographs of overseas boxes and examples from most countries in the world are now held. Many boxes studied are a legacy of the British Empire. Some early-design British boxes are found in India, Pakistan, and New Zealand, for instance.

Some countries are well covered. Australia has been visited by many members over the years resulting in photos of the vast variety of styles and their uses. We have good records from Portugal, which was of particular interest to one member, most countries in Europe and Hong Kong. One member photographed every box in use in Hong Kong in the years leading up to the handover of the colony to China. This has resulted in a set of about 900 photographs, together with details of every location.

This collection of photos of overseas boxes gives an excellent overall view of the standard of the various postal services and the care and maintenance of their post boxes. It also shows the preferences for different colours as one travels around the world, from the most common red or yellow to the greens of Ireland and China, blue of Vatican City and the various degrees of rust of some of the more remote areas. There are cast iron boxes, sheet metal ones, those made of concrete and others of wood.