Pillar Box Maker

UK's The Press and Journal reports, "John Cooper, 69, has been making pillar and lamp boxes - those on lamp poles - for Royal Mail since he was 16.The grandfather of four has made thousands over the decades and his handiwork has ended up all over the globe."

John (shown above) is quoted as saying, "Usually it says the maker of the pillar box on the back so any time I’m out and about I have a look to see where it was made and whether I can say we made that. I’ve definitely posted letters in boxes I’ve made."

According to the piece...

- There are about 100,000 post boxes of all kinds across the UK, of which about 10,000 are in Scotland.

- Queen Elizabeth II does not appear on post boxes north of the border because of protests in the 1950s when post boxes were set on fire as she is technically only the first Queen Elizabeth of Scotland. It was replaced by the Scottish crown, in sympathy with Scots who did not recognise Elizabeth I.

- Before 1859 there was no standard colour.

- In 1859, a bronze green colour became standard until 1874 when red became the standard colour.

- The earliest known post box was installed in 1809.

To read the entire article, click here.