Editing Post box (section)

===Europe===
[[File:VR Pillar box, Hull.JPG|A [[Queen Victoria|Victorian]] era Type B [[pillar box|pillar postbox]] in [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]]|thumb|upright]]
In 1653, the first post boxes are believed to have been installed in and around Paris.<ref>{{cite web | last = Lawrence | first = Ken | title = Before the Penny Black | publisher = Ken Lawrence | url = http://www.norbyhus.dk/btpb.html | access-date = 15 August 2008 }}</ref> By 1829, post boxes were in use throughout France.<ref>{{cite web | last = Batcow | first = Stan | title = The Post Boxes of Blackpool, England | date = 2 December 2001 | url = http://www.ausgang.com/collect/post.html | access-date = 15 August 2008 }}</ref> The first public post boxes in Poland were installed in [[Warsaw]] in 1842.<ref>{{cite book |title= Encyklopedia filatelistyki|last=Hampel|first=Tadeusz|year= 1993|publisher= Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN|location=Warszawa|isbn= 83-01-11373-1|page=509}}</ref>

A post box originally installed in the wall of the Wakefield Post Office is dated 1809 and is believed to be the oldest example in Britain.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/southwestwales/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8207000/8207489.stm |title=Putting history on an envelope |work=BBC NewsSouth West Wales |date=18 August 2009 |location=London |quote=The earliest known surviving posting slot was placed in the wall of Wakefield Post Office in Yorkshire in 1809 |access-date=8 August 2012}}</ref> It is now on display at the [[Wakefield Museum]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/content/articles/2009/08/18/slaithwaite_postbox_stamp_feature.shtml |title=BBC Slaithwaite gets the stamp of approval! |publisher=BBC |date=24 August 2012 |access-date=9 May 2014}}</ref>

In Britain, the first red [[Pillar box|pillar postboxes]] were erected in [[Guernsey]] in 1852.<ref>{{cite web|last=Barford |first=Vanessa |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21668477 |title=Are there places more British than the UK? |publisher=BBC |date=2 March 2012 |access-date=10 March 2013}}</ref> Roadside wall boxes first appeared in 1857 as a cheaper alternative to pillar boxes, especially in rural districts. In 1853 the first pillar box in the United Kingdom was installed at Botchergate, [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]]. In 1856, [[Richard Redgrave]] of the Department of Science and Art designed an ornate pillar box for use in London and other large cities. In 1859 the design was improved, and this became the first National Standard pillar box. Green was adopted as the standard colour for the early Victorian post boxes. Between 1866 and 1879 the hexagonal Penfold post box became the standard design for pillar boxes and it was during this period that red was first adopted as the standard colour. The first boxes to be painted red were in London in July 1874, although it would be nearly 10 years before all the boxes had been repainted.<ref>{{cite web | last = Wicks | first = Paul | title = History of British Letter Boxes – Part 1: Victorian Letter Boxes | publisher = Paul Wicks | year = 2002 | url = http://www.wicks.org/pulp/part1.html | access-date = 15 August 2008 }}</ref> In 2012, to celebrate [[2012 Summer Olympics|Olympic]] gold medals for [[Team GB]], [[2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics gold post boxes|selected boxes]] were painted gold.<ref name="royalmail2">{{cite web |date=24 July 2012 |title=Royal Mail goes Gold this summer |url=http://www.royalmailgroup.com/royal-mail-goes-gold-summer |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818043345/http://www.royalmailgroup.com/royal-mail-goes-gold-summer |archive-date=18 August 2012 |access-date=24 August 2012 |work=Royal Mail |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The first public letter boxes (post boxes) in Russia appeared in 1848 in St. Petersburg.{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}} They were made of wood and iron. Because these boxes were lightweight and easy to steal, they disappeared frequently; later boxes were made of cast iron and could weigh up to {{convert|45|kg|lb}}.{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}}

<gallery>
Paris musee de la poste c. 1850.jpg|First Paris Street letter box from c. 1850
Lamp_Box_2019.jpeg|A [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] Lamp Box post box of the circa-1954 pattern in [[Eaves, Lancashire]]
1977 pattern French wall box at the Colne Valley Postal History Museum, Essex.jpg|French wall box of the 1977 pattern now on display at the Colne Valley Postal History Museum, [[Essex]]
Brievenbussen Post-NL.jpg|A Dutch "''Post-NL''" postbox in orange at different heights
Mailbox Metropolin in Estonia.jpg|Modern postbox in [[Estonia]]
Mailbox in Ustroń, Poland.jpg|Modern postbox in [[Poland]]
Yaiza Playa Blanca - Plaza de la Marina 02 ies.jpg|Post box in [[Lanzarote]], ([[Canary Islands]]), [[Spain]]
Boîte aux lettres à Mons en Belgique - vrijstaande brievenbus in Mons België - Foto Wolfgang Pehlemann IMG 1684.jpg|Post box in [[Belgium]]
Priority Postbox for COVID-19 testing - 2020-11-25 - Andy Mabbett - 01.png|"Priority Postbox", designated for returning [[COVID-19]] home testing kits,<ref name="RMPP">{{cite web |title=Priority postboxes - Delivering coronavirus tests to NHS staff |url=https://www.royalmail.com/priority-postboxes |publisher=[[Royal Mail]] |access-date=25 November 2020}}</ref> Birmingham, England, November 2020
File:PrivatePOstBoxYork.jpg|A note attached to an old private posting box in St John University ([[York]])
File:Edward VII Pillar Box, Arran Quay, Dublin, Ireland - geograph.org.uk - 2566679.jpg|Edward VII Pillar Box, [[Dublin quays|Arran Quay]], [[Dublin]]
</gallery>