This old boy Bertie is a Type B Pillar Box… Out of 115,500 boxes in the UK, only 3% of them have this cypher on the front… He’s a rare one.⠀
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George Rex VI, Liz’s dad, had a relatively short reign, six years of which were marred by war and consequent metal shortages, meaning there are actually fewer George VI boxes remaining, like this, than there are of the older, George V pillar-box. ⠀
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This cast iron beauty has lived through the invention of the ballpoint pen… the photocopier… the fax machine… and the Internet. He’s seen stamps celebrating the end of wars, missions to the moon and 60 years of Coronation Street… as well as two different regal profiles; one father and one daughter facing left. ⠀
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No wonder then that he’s looking a little dishevelled… he has taken letters, bills and parcels over 9 decades and he’s still going strong. I for one think he looks fab. ⠀
Sure, he doesn’t look as red as the day he was painted and he has a couple of screws loose… but that gorgeous mars-like patina tells you he has some stories.⠀
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64 inches of letter sending, weather wearing, glorious peely-wally delight.
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