Editing Letter box (section)

==Styles and usage==
A "letter box", or "mail slot" in American and Canadian usage, is a slot, usually horizontal but sometimes vertical, about {{convert|30|by|5|cm|in|abbr=on}}, cut through the middle or lower half of a front [[door]]. This style is almost universal in British homes and offices, but in the US is limited primarily to urban areas. Most are covered by a [[wikt:flap|flap]] or [[seal (mechanical)|seal]] on the outside for [[weatherproofing]]. The flap may be closed by gravity, or [[spring (mechanical)|sprung]] to prevent it opening and closing noisily in the wind. Some letterboxes also have a second flap on the inside to provide further protection from the elements. There may also be a small [[cage (enclosure)|cage]] or box mounted on the inside of the door to receive the delivered mail. Mail slots are limited to receiving incoming mail, as most have no provision for securing and protecting outgoing mail for pickup by the mail carrier. Sending mail from private addresses is possible in the UK, but Royal Mail usually charge an extra per-item fee for this service.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Parcel Collect |url=https://www.royalmail.com/collection |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=Royal Mail}}</ref>

[[File:Mailbox.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A black rectangular mailbox attached to the outside of a house. There is a [[doorbell]] above and to the left of the mailbox.|An attached or wall-mount letterbox, with a hook underneath for newspapers]]

'''Wall-mounted''' or '''attached mailboxes''' may also be used in place of mail slots, usually located close to the front door of the residence. They are known as "full-service" mailboxes when they have provisions for securing outgoing as well as incoming mail. Attached wall-mounted mailboxes are still used in older [[Urban area|urban]] and [[suburban]] neighbourhoods in North America. They are especially common in urban and suburban areas of [[Canada]], where the curbside mailbox is rarely seen except in [[rural]] areas. Attached mailboxes are less common in newer urban and suburban developments and in rural areas of the United States, where curbside delivery or delivery to a community mail station ([[#Recent developments|cluster mailbox]], known as a bank of post boxes in the UK) is generally used.

Rural and some suburban areas of North America may utilize '''curbside mailboxes''', also known as '''rural mailboxes'''. These receptacles generally consist of a large [[metal]] box mounted on a [[support (structure)|support]] designed primarily to receive large quantities of incoming mail, often with an attached [[flag]] to signal the presence of outgoing mail to the mail carrier. In the US and Canada, rural curbside mailboxes may be found grouped together at property boundaries or road/driveway intersections, depending upon conditions. Although the [[United States Postal Service]] (USPS) has general regulations stating the distance a letter box may be from the road surface, these requirements may be changed by the local [[postmaster]] according to local environment and road conditions.<ref name="Reference7A">Postal Service, Code of Federal Regulations 39 CFR Part 111, Standard 7A, ''Mailboxes, City and Rural Curbside'', February 8, 2001</ref>

At one time, nearly 843,000 rural Canadian residents used rural (curbside) mailboxes for private mail delivery, though [[Canada Post]] has since required the installation of community mailbox stations for many rural residents.<ref name="DEN">Denley, Randall, "[http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=d75f323a-337c-4ee2-babf-6da5db2bab95 Canada Post set to deliver fatal blow to rural mail service]" ({{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214123658/http://www2.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=d75f323a-337c-4ee2-babf-6da5db2bab95 |date=2009-02-14 }}), ''The Ottawa Citizen'', 3 May 2008, retrieved 26 January 2012 from Canada.com</ref>

In the US, wall-mounted or curbside mailboxes that are only designed for receiving incoming mail are known as "limited-service" mailboxes, while mailboxes equipped with a mechanism for notifying the postman to collect outgoing mail from the mailbox are known as "full service" mailboxes.

A number of designs of letterboxes and mailboxes have been [[patent]]ed, particularly in the United States. One design was the '''visible mailbox''' (because it was made of transparent [[glass]]) with a flip-up [[aluminium]] [[lid (container)|lid]] produced during the first part of the 20th century by George F. Collins of the Barlet-Collins Glass Company in [[Sapulpa, Oklahoma]].<ref>[http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=2&cmd=1&id=17344 City Free Delivery mailbox], [[National Postal Museum]] (retrieved 13 February 2012)</ref><ref>[http://www.antiqueperfection.com/products/Visible-Mail-Box-circa-1935.html Visible Mail Box] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112070004/http://www.antiqueperfection.com/products/Visible-Mail-Box-circa-1935.html |date=2012-01-12 }}, Antique Perfection (retrieved 13 February 2012)</ref>