Although it seems the little girl is about to step into a virtual reality booth, she is really going to: b) mail a letter If you have visited Japan, then you may recognize these bright red pillars as mailboxes, albeit mailboxes dating from a previous era. Pillar mailboxes were in use in Japan as early as 1872 but were available only in black until 1934, when the red boxes came into vogue. The Japanese debt to the venerable British pillar box, which made its debut in 1852, is clear. The real question is whether the pillar box on this stamp is the Round Postal Mail Box Number 1 introduced in Japan in 1945, or the earlier Round Postal Mail Box With Eaves dating from 1934. (large JPEG) Our subject stamp is from a set issued in 1971 (Scott 1957- 59) honoring the centenary of Japanese postage stamps.

Do you have a question about History, Mystery, or Stamps? Ask Frederick!

The French were the first to use the pillar mailbox but the idea caught on in Great Britain in 1852, thanks to one of England's greatest novelists - and a British post office employee - who urged their adoption. The mailboxes first began to pop up on the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey but quickly spread to the mainland. Who was that British novelist? Find out! The mailbox is depicted with affectionate warmth on this British Christmas issue of 1983 (Scott 1035). (large JPEG)

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