THE FIRST PILLAR-BOX.
Before the postal pillar box was known in England, it was known in France, in Germany and in the Channel Islands. During the reign of Louis XIV. street letter boxes attached to buildings were placed in the streets of Paris. Who first brought the pillar box to London ? The credit has been claimed for Anthony Trollope, who was a prominent official at the General Poet Office at that time. At all events, the first pillar box ever seen in England was at the junction of Fleet Street and Farringdon Street in March, 1855. It "was marked "No. 1." It is' described by the "Illustrated London News" of that period as of a "stove-like design, reminding one of the latest of the London conduits." City men were shy of the pillar box for some time. Eather than entrust their letters to it they preferred to walk with them to the Ceneral Post Office at St. Martin's-le-Grand.
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Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 19, 23 January 1936, Page 18
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158THE FIRST PILLAR-BOX. Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 19, 23 January 1936, Page 18
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