What black inventor invented the letter box aka mail box?
Question:
Answer:
Paul L. Downing received patent Number 483,525 in 1892 for his version of the house door hinged letterbox.
Who invented the mailbox and when?
The Answer:
First, some background. In the early 1800's, most letters in the U.S. were taken to the post office to be mailed, and recipients had to retrieve their mail from the post office. It wasn't until 1863 that mail was delivered to homes of people who lived in cities without additional charge. By 1890, hundreds of cities delivered mail to residents' homes, thus leading to a need for mailboxes.
While not the earliest, in 1892, George E. Becket, of Providence, R.I., was granted a patent for his "house-door letter-box," an improved mail slot that was permanently mounted on the front door of a house.
The first letter box (where the public could leave its letters) sanctioned by the United States Postal Service was patented on March 9, 1858 by Albert Potts. His design incorporated the lampposts that his company made with a letter box. His receptacle was rather small and required frequent emptying. It was not the first in history, however; that honor goes to Renouard De Valayer. In 1653, he set up a short-lived postal system using collection boxes on street corners around Paris.
—The Editors
The first mailbox look alike appeared in 1780's in Russia, to count Ivan Shuvalov. Because many people asked him questions and came to him to solve problems, he made a green box with a slot and put it outside his main door so people could write their questions and problems and put them in the box. The box was afterwards seen by the future Imperator of Russia Pavel Petrovich and he put a "Tsar box" wall box outside his Winter mansion with a "For visitors needs" banner on it. The box however, was taken off in year or so, because most messages were not suitable for the ruler. First public mailboxes in Russia appeared in 13'th December 1848, they were made of wood and iron. But because these boxes were lightweight and easy to steal, they disappeared frequently. Because of that, future mailboxes were made of cast iron and weight 40 kilo's.
wow, you learn something new every day,
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