Post Boxes Painted Black
Four red postboxes have been painted black to celebrate and honour black Britons - both past and present.
The postboxes are in London, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast - and are Royal Mail's way of marking Black History Month in October.
Each of the special edition postboxes have been painted black with a gold trim, and feature a social media link and a significant figure in the British black community.
Post 2 years ago. Post 2 years ago. Post 2 years ago. Post 2 years ago. Post 2 years ago. The box braids hairstyles have actually been a norm for the black women forever now. Here are some of the best box braids styles for your hair. Type post boxes presently being produced reflect the design and engineering patterns that have now served the posting public for upwards of 150 years. E2R 1990s pillar box and decommissioned GR wall box. Boxes should be painted black and sealed if they are taken out of service but remain in situ, as this one near Bury St Edmunds.
A QR code on the postboxes can be scanned to bring up a full list of all the black Britons who have appeared on special stamps across the years.
Peter De Norville, Royal Mail's head of diversity and inclusion, said Black History Month is 'a great opportunity to celebrate the contributions that black people have made to this country over generations'.
He added: 'We are also using it as an opportunity to celebrate the vital work that our black employees do throughout the nation, from the mail bag to the meeting room.'
Footballer and British Army officer Walter Tull, the first black player for Rangers, appears on the Glasgow postbox.
More from Black History Month
Tull featured in a set of stamps in 2018 which marked the centenary of the end of the First World War.
He was the first black Army officer to command troops in a regular unit.
Celebrity and co-founder of the Comic Relief charity, Sir Lenny Henry, has been honoured in Belfast.
Mary Seacole, who nursed wounded British soldiers back to health during the Crimean War, features on a postbox in Cardiff.
The London postbox is in Acre Lane in Brixton, which is near to Black Cultural Archives, a leading museum for the British black community.
This postbox features the image Queuing at the RA by Yinka Shonibare.
Post Boxes Painted Black Images
The artist was one of six who were commissioned by Royal Mail to produce original artworks for a set of special stamps issued to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Academy (RA).
When you next post a letter, take a look at the letter box (or post box). We’ve recently been in Gibraltar, where they are instantly recognisable to visitors from Britain, being of cast iron, painted red and bearing a royal cipher. British letter boxes are so traditional that they are commonly depicted on Christmas cards, adorned with seasonal snow and a festive robin or two.
A rare pillar box near Main Street, Gibraltar, of Edward VIII,
who abdicated. The cipher reads ER VIII
Post box variety
From Victorian times, letter boxes or post boxes were set up in streets and lanes for posting mail, and they comprise secure freestanding pillar boxes, wall boxes and lamp boxes. A pillar box is shaped like a short pillar, while smaller wall boxes are set in walls, with just the front face showing. Pillar boxes in particular were exported to British Overseas Territories like Gibraltar. Small lamp boxes were first introduced in London in 1896, fixed to lamp posts. Today, they are mainly located in rural areas in Britain, attached to posts, such as wooden telegraph poles, as well as embedded in walls. Ideal for smaller quantities of mail, this type of letter box was once a familiar sight in the countryside, but their numbers are diminishing, and they are rarely found in urban areas.
The Letter Box Study Group has a website. See also our newsletter 15 on the Carron Company and letter boxes, as well as newsletter 33 on posting letters in Jane Austen’s time.
Delivery…
Before 1857, mail to Gibraltar was brought by a monthly packet ship service that sailed from Falmouth in Cornwall. There was also an overland postal service run by a separate agency, and so Gibraltar had two post offices. In January 1857 the two services combined to form the Gibraltar Post Office, under the control of the Postmaster General in London. Mail had to be collected from the Post Office in Gibraltar, though local delivery was introduced from October 1858. In 2005 the Gibraltar Post Office was granted the title of ‘Royal’ by Queen Elizabeth II, the only overseas territory to be honoured in this way.
A George V pillar box on Main Street (left) and a rare George V lamp box (right)
set in a wall in Gibraltar. The ‘V’ (for 5th) is not shown on either box
Painted Wood Boxes
…and a collection
Post Boxes Painted Black
The Royal Gibraltar Post Office has acquired and brought together some historic examples of pillar boxes, sited in or very close to Main Street, making this a unique collection – one from the reign of every British monarch since their introduction in Victorian times. They differ from those in Britain by having their tops painted black. The boxes date to the reigns of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), King Edward VII (1901–10), George V (1910–36), Edward VIII (1936), George VI (1936–52) and the present Queen Elizabeth II (1952–). Other examples of historic letter boxes on Gibraltar include a rare George V lamp box. This collection helps to give Gibraltar a nostalgic feel for many British visitors.