DOMINIC SAMA | Stamps Mailbox series marks author's idea

The English Channel island of Jersey will soon issue six commemoratives and a souvenir sheet recalling the first letter box erected in the British Isles 150 years ago.
The person credited with the roadside receptacles, also called pillar boxes, was Victorian author Anthony Trollope.
Jersey Post announced that the stamps will depict various shapes and sizes of the cast-iron pillars in the familiar bright red. The values are 23, 29, 38, 40, 47 and 68 pence.
The two-pound souvenir sheet shows a matron posting a letter in a pillar box at David Place in St. Helier, capital of the 45-square-mile island of 85,000.
Trollope (1815-1882) joined the general post office in London as a junior clerk in 1834. He remained in the postal service for more than 30 years, earning a steady income and security while pursuing writing. He published his first novel in 1847.
Complaints spark idea
As a postal surveyor, Trollope was sent to Egypt, Scotland, the West Indies and the United States on postal and copyright missions.
In 1850, he was dispatched to Jersey. It was a special mission to smooth the hard feelings of islanders unhappy over erratic mail service.
Jersey, which is closer to France than to England, depended on a once-a-week packet boat from Weymouth in the south of England. Once the mail arrived, the islanders were required to pick up their mail at the home of the postmaster.
Later, a Mary Godfray was hired to deliver letters to the townspeople, but not to the outlying parishes. Sending letters abroad was difficult because there were no collection or drop-off stations.
France already was using roadside receptacles for posting letters. Trollope proposed borrowing the idea, the postmaster general agreed, and on Nov. 23, 1852, the first pillar box was erected at St. Helier.
The pillar had a protected slot for mail drops and a sliding cover to unlock the receiver and remove contents.
Trollope's literary reputation grew but his career at the post office waned. In 1867, he resigned -- piqued, it was said, at the promotion of a subordinate and the pressure of work.
Information on Jersey stamps is available at www.jerseypost.com and first-day requests at www.covercraft.co.uk on the Web.
XDominic Sama is stamps columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.