مرجعنا: أكتوبر 2016

الأحد، 30 أكتوبر 2016

Mailbox: Research Question

Mailbox

Research Question

Walking through my neighborhood I noticed a number of mailboxes with various designs and shapes

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Mailbox: Background information (2)

Mailbox

Background information (2)

By late 20^th centaury, pressure had amounted on the United States Postal Services and other postal service providers such as the British Post

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السبت، 29 أكتوبر 2016

Mailbox: Background information (1)

Mailbox

Background information

Mailboxes have a vast history dating back to the mid 19^th centaury. For instance, in Europe, mailboxes were first used in Paris, France. The country had a slightly advanced postal service as compared to other nations. However, by 1849 the British Post Office made a huge advancement in their services by encouraging their subscribers to set up letterboxes in which mailmen could drop their incoming letters. The idea was welcomed by majority. People were guided on the design of the mailboxes (then called letterboxes) and as such, most mailboxes installed in this early stage had similar designs, colors and shapes. It is said that the British Post Office was in charge of all installation processes and therefore used a common design for all its customers.

In America, the idea of mailboxes came in the late 18^th centaury with the setting up of the East Quogue, NY mailbox. The letterbox went into history as the oldest mailbox in the United States. Before the introduction of mailboxes, postal officials under the formation of Free City Delivery services, distributed letters to people in their homes. This involved knocking on the doors of the recipients and waiting patiently for somebody to answer then physically handing over the mail (Hamel, 2000). It was a tedious exercise for the mailmen as researches carried out then showed that in a single day, a mailman lost up to a total of two hours just waiting for the doors of the mail recipients to be answered. In addition, mailmen were forced to visit particular homes again later on in instances where they got nobody in the homes. This become tricky in cases where residents travelled and had to be away for days. As such, there was need for a more effective way of delivering mail.

The whole idea of mailbox started with people making slots on their doors or walls through which the mailmen could slide the mails through in case they visited when nobody was at home. In fact, some residents preferred it that way as they found the mailmen’s knockings disturbing. Some feared for their security as mailmen walked all the way in their compounds to their doors. So, together with the efforts of decreasing the time used by mailmen in cases where houses were far from the gate, the U.S. postal carries suggested that people install boxes in strategic locations where they felt would be ok for mailmen to drop their incoming letters and pick outgoing mails for posting (Hamel, 2000). Another factor that fuelled the need for these boxes was the reduced number of mailmen. The ones present, who rode on horse-drawn wagons, were not enough to go knocking on each subscriber’s door. And so the idea of mailbox was borne. It was welcomed by the majority as they had been relieved of the burden of having to travel all the way to the post office to physically pick up their mails (Bernstein, 1999).

In Canada, it is reported that a number of people especially farmers and rural residents were unwilling to take up the idea of dedicated letterboxes. Most of them chose to use wooden boxes and baskets. One reason given for this is the high cost that came with installing a dedicated mailbox. However, by 1923, the government mandated that any family willing to receive home delivery letters should install a mailbox or better still a mail slot. This was a major boost in the creation of mailboxes as known today.

Upon their establishment mailboxes had similar designs and shapes. This is mainly because the concept was new. In addition, the British Post Office and the U.S. Post Office were in charge of the mailboxes. As such, the design and the shape of the mailboxes at this early stage were determined by the Post Offices. Among the first designs include the curbside Joroleman mailbox (Rucker, 2007). The mailbox was named after its designer, Roy J. Joroleman. Roy had a degree in mechanical engineering enabling him get the opportunity to design the mailbox for U.S. Post Office where he was an employee. This early mailbox was characterized by a design with a curved roof, a door and a moveable signal flag.

Figure 1: Joroleman Mailbox

The tunnel-shaped top was essential so as to prevent collection of water and snow during bad weather. When it rained, water trickled down the curved surface thus prevented licking of water that could have resulted from the stagnant water on the roof. The mailbox had a slot big enough for the envelope size C4 (229 mm × 324 mm) mails to be slid through without being bent. The door of the mailbox was made of metal straps riveted facing downwards so as to prevent rainwater from entering the mailbox. The mailbox was also mounted with a rotating arm and flag. Upon delivering mails, the mailman could raise the arm as a signal to the property owner that he had received a new letter in his mailbox. The case was same for the post box as the owner lifted the arm to alert the mailman that it had a letter that should be taken for posting.

The Joroleman mailbox design has lived on to be the most common design for letterboxes. This has been due to various reasons. For instance, the design only needs metal straps, two rivets, three axle bolts and four screws/nuts, thus making it inexpensive. In addition, being made of metal, the design is durable and strong. As such, most people prefer the design to date. Another reason for the dominancy of the design is that the United States Postal Service (USPS) approved and recommended the design. In fact, USPS retained the rights of approving all mail receptacles including letterboxes, mail slots and postboxes in terms of size and other dimensions and characteristics. It was believed that this would promote uniformity and easiness of mail delivering (Rucker, 2007). USPS issued particular specifications of the mail receptacles to the owners and manufacturers. Mailboxes manufactured according to the specification and approved by USPS could then be stamped and given its unique postal address (the postal address of the owner) before being functional. At one point the monopoly of United States Postal Services was viewed as a major hindrance to diversity of the mail receptacle designs, shapes and sizes.

At this point most people did not have control over the design, shape and size of the mailbox they preferred. For this reason, the mailbox a homestead had could not essentially be used to guess the personality of the owner in terms of his/her passion, feelings, desires and hobbies among others. It is true that people liked the Joroleman design due to its simplicity and inexpensiveness. However, not everyone was for the design. Researches show that some people had altered the design a little bit to reflect their favorite colors. Some had made some drawing and writings on the mailboxes about various things that they felt they could make them known through writing or drawing them on the letterboxes. The urge to express their feelings was father noticed in the way some people kept the area around the mailboxes. For instance, some people maintained some certain type of vegetation pruned in shapes they desired. Others maintained flower gardens.