Editing Letter box (section)

==History==
[[File:Wormgate letterbox - geograph.org.uk - 977402.jpg|thumb|A 19th-century slot letterbox in the town of Wormgate, Lincolnshire, UK]]

===Europe===
Private letterboxes or mail slots did not become popular in most of Europe until the mid to late 19th century, although they were used in [[Paris]] from the late 18th century.

In 1849, the [[Royal Mail]] first encouraged people to install letterboxes to facilitate the delivery of mail. Before then, letterboxes 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. It is now on display at the new [[Wakefield Museum]].

===North America===
[[File:Rural Free Delivery early vehicle.JPG|thumb|left|US Rural Free Mail Delivery to curbside mailbox, circa 1905]]

In 1863, with the creation of Free City Delivery, the [[US Post Office Department]] began delivering mail to home addresses.

Until 1916, mail carriers knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.<ref name="NPM">[http://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2b1b3_mailboxes.html Household Mailboxes], National Postal Museum, retrieved 8 February 2012 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104032443/http://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2b1b3_mailboxes.html |date=November 4, 2012 }}</ref> Efficiency experts estimated that each mailman lost over 1.5 hours each day just waiting for patrons to come to the door.<ref name="arago.si.edu">Marsh, Allison, [http://www.arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&mode=&tid=2032074 Household Mailboxes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104032454/http://www.arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&mode=&tid=2032074 |date=2012-11-04 }}, National Postal Museum</ref> To correct this problem, the Post Office Department ordered that every household must have a mail box or letter slot in order to receive mail.<ref name="NPM"/> This requirement was phased in, starting with new delivery locations, around 1912.<ref name="USPS-100">{{cite book|title=The United States Postal Service: An American History 1775-2006|date=May 2007|publisher=United States Postal Service|url=https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100.pdf|quote=Publication 100|access-date=2017-03-31}}</ref>{{rp|20}} Slowly, homeowners and businesses began to install mail slots or attached mailboxes to receive mail when they were either not at home or unable to answer the door. The requirement was made mandatory in 1923.<ref name="USPS-100" />{{rp|21}}

As early as the 1880s, the Post Office had begun to encourage homeowners to attach wall-mounted mailboxes to the outside of their houses in lieu of mail slots. Mounted at the height of a standing man, attached mailboxes did not require the mail carrier to lean over to deposit the mail. They also allowed the homeowner to keep outgoing mail dry while awaiting pickup by the mail carrier.<ref name="NPM"/>

To reduce the time required for the mail carrier to complete delivery when the front door of a home was located some distance from the street, it was proposed that individual mail boxes for residential or business customers be mounted curbside on [[fence]]-posts, [[lamp (electrical component)|lamp]]-posts, or other supports. While this idea was rejected for city mail delivery, it was adopted for rural areas. Curbside mailboxes located on a rural route or road and sited at the intersection of the road with each recipient's [[carriageway]] or [[private drive]] allowed limited numbers of mail carriers to deliver mail to many widely scattered farms and ranches in a single day using [[horse-drawn wagon]]s or later on, motor vehicles.

Before the introduction of [[rural free delivery]] (RFD) by the Post Office in 1896,<ref name="BRUN">{{cite web|url=http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/resources/6a2m_soapboxes.html|title=Soap boxes won't do|last1=Bruns|first1=James H.| date=July–September 1996|work=EnRoute|publisher=National Postal Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030528200109/http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/resources/6a2m_soapboxes.html|archive-date=2003-05-28|access-date=2014-09-23}}</ref> and in Canada in 1908,<ref>A Chronology of Canadian Postal History, ''Rural Free Delivery'', [http://www.civilization.ca/cpm/chrono/ch1908ae.html civilization.ca]{{dead link|date=June 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> many rural residents had no access to the mail unless they collected it at a post office located many miles from their homes or hired a private express company to deliver it to them. For this reason, mailboxes did not become popular in rural North America until curbside RFD mail delivery by the Post Office was an established service. Even then, farmers and rural homeowners at first resisted the purchase of dedicated mailboxes, preferring to leave empty [[bushel]] baskets, [[tin box]]es, or [[wooden crate]]s at the roadside for the postman to deposit their mail.<ref name="arago.si.edu"/><ref name="BRUN"/> Not until 1923 did the Post Office finally mandate that every household install a mailbox or mail slot in order to receive home delivery of mail.<ref name="arago.si.edu"/>

Originally designed only for incoming mail delivery, curbside mailboxes were soon fitted with a [[semaphore]] or signal flag mounted on an attached arm to signal the postman to pickup outgoing mail.<ref name="BRUN"/> Originally, this flag was raised not only by the resident of the property to signal the postman of outgoing mail, but also by the postman to inform the recipient that incoming mail had been delivered - a convenience to all during periods of freezing or inclement weather.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bluemoundhistory.com/postoffices.htm |title=''Blue Mound, Missouri Postal History'' |publisher=Bluemoundhistory.com |access-date=2012-09-19}}</ref><ref>[https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/reaching-rural-america-past-exhibits/rural-mailboxes Rural Mailboxes], National Postal Museum {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509083101/http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2b2c_ruralmailbox.html|date=May 9, 2008}}</ref>

Since 1923, in order to promote uniformity, as well as the convenient and rapid delivery of the mail, the United States Post Office Department (later the USPS) has continued to retain authority to approve the size and other characteristics of all mail receptacles, whether mailboxes or mail slots, for use in delivery of the mails. The USPS continues to issue specifications for curbside mailbox construction for use by manufacturers. Approved mailboxes from the latter are always stamped "U.S. Mail" and "Approved by the Postmaster General". These standards have resulted in limitations on product diversity and design, though new materials, shapes, and features have appeared in recent years.<ref name="Reference7A"/><ref name="BERN"/><ref name="USPS-curb" /><ref name="USPS-wall" />

After World War II, postwar suburban home construction expanded dramatically in the United States, along with mail volume. By the 1960s, many new suburban homes were considerably larger and located on larger lots, yet most still used mail slots or attached wall-mounted mailboxes. This development caused a substantial increase in distances walked by the mail carrier, slowing mail delivery while increasing labor costs. In order to reduce delivery times and increase efficiency, the Post Office began requiring all new suburban developments to install curbside mailboxes in place of door-to-door delivery, allowing mail carriers to remain in the vehicle while delivering the mail. In 1978, the USPS (successor to the Post Office) declared that every new development must have either curbside delivery or centralized mail delivery.

====Joroleman mailbox====
In 1915, the '''Joroleman mailbox''', named after its designer, Post Office employee Roy J. Joroleman, was approved by the U.S. Post Office.<ref name="BRUN"/> Joroleman, who held a degree in mechanical engineering, designed his mailbox with an unusual dome-rectangular shape, incorporating a curved, tunnel-shaped roof, [[latch (hardware)|latching]] door, and rotating semaphore flag.<ref name="BRUN"/><ref name="BERN">Bernstein, Fred, ''[https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/25/garden/public-eye-the-mailbox-as-fortress.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm Public Eye; The Mailbox As Fortress]'', ''[[The New York Times]]'', 25 February 1999, retrieved 24 January 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.nbnnews.com/NBN/issues/2006-07-24/Multifamily/ Multifamily], [[NBNnews]], 24 July 2006</ref> The Joroleman mailbox has been praised as a manifestation of American [[Functionalism (architecture)|functionalist]] [[industrial design]].{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

Constructed of light-gauge painted [[sheet steel]], Joroleman designed his mailbox with an arched, tunnel-shape roof, which prevented excessive accumulation of rainwater or snow while resisting [[deformation (engineering)|deformation]]. The tunnel top also simplified the process of mass production by eliminating the need for precise sheet metal bends. Stamped and formed metal straps [[rivet]]ed to the arched opening and the mailbox door served as a door latching mechanism, while a rotating red semaphore flag mounted on a shaft attached to the side of the mailbox served to signal the approaching mailman if there was outgoing mail inside. Fitted with a crimped or braze-on rear steel panel and a false floor to keep its contents dry in inclement or humid weather, the Joroleman mailbox required only two rivets, three [[axle bolt]]s, and four [[screw]]s and [[nut (mechanical)|nuts]] for completion. Durable and inexpensive, the popularity of the Joroleman mailbox was further enhanced by a decision not to patent the design, but to make its specifications known to all potential manufacturers for competitive sale.<ref name="BRUN"/> Adopted across the United States, it has remained the top-selling mailbox since its introduction, and was also widely used in Canada prior to that country's decision to eliminate individual curbside delivery to rural residents.

The Joroleman mailbox was originally approved for manufacture in one size, the No. 1, which could accommodate letter mail, periodicals, newspapers, catalogs, and small parcels.<ref name="BRUN"/> After July 1, 1916, the Joroleman mailbox would be the only design approved by the Post Office for new curbside mailbox installations. In July 1929, the Post Office approved specifications for a larger Joroleman mailbox known as the No. 2.<ref name="BRUN"/> The No. 2 mailbox, soon followed by the still-larger No. 3, could accept larger parcels and packages sent via [[Parcel Post]]; these large boxes proved particularly popular with rural mail recipients, who could order manufactured goods by mail for delivery to the farm or ranch.<ref name="BRUN"/>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:IceStorm08.jpg|Joroleman curbside mailbox with red [[wikt:semaphore|semaphore]] flag. When raised, the flag indicates outgoing mail.
File:Mailbox.JPG|An oversize rural Joroleman mailbox in southern [[Nebraska]], featuring a red [[wikt:semaphore|semaphore]] arm
File:Mailbox US in the shade.jpg|Close up of a Joroleman mailbox door with latch in Washington State
</gallery>