Garage boxes

“Garage boxes” are an usual and unclear type of post box. The third Elizabeth II page of the Colne Valley Postal History Museum indicates that they were manufactured from galvanised sheet steel by Romec from 2002. They are designed for installation at filling stations, hence the name, and were intended to carry advertisement.

Two examples are depicted, and both sit on a plinth, making them in effect pillar boxes; indeed, the Letter Box Study Group assigned this type an identity of “PB60”.

However, the post box found at the service station in Gomshall in Surrey (GU5 97D) is a counterexample, being bolted to the wall instead. The Royal Mail branding and the Elizabeth II royal cypher appear to have been removed, and the darker paint around the door and the empty screw holes show where the outer advertising door has been removed.