Letter box

From Free net encyclopedia

For video processing technique see Letterbox.

For places to post outward mail see Post box.

A letter box, letterbox or mailbox is a private box or slot for incoming mail. Two primary designs exist:

a slot in a wall or door through which mail is delivered
a box mounted near the street

Slot

Image:Black door.jpg 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 wall 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.

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Box

To reduce the need for the postworker 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. This design is popular where the distance between houses is larger, in countries like the United States and Australia.

In the U.S. letter boxes are fitted with a semaphore arm that is raised to indicate to the postman that there is outgoing mail in the letter box.