A number of older homes in New Zealand have a ‘Letter’ slot in the front door, including our own.

Have you ever wondered how this came about?

When the Post Office originally introduced the delivery of mail to households in urban areas – it was for delivery to the door.

Letter Carrier delivery (known today as Postie Delivery) began in Upper Hutt in July 1907*

With the outbreak of World War 1 and the resulting manpower issues in New Zealand, the Post & Telegraph Department (P&T) made the decision to dispense with delivery to the door** , as from 1 April 1917 resulting in the need for residents to provide a letter box on the street line for the receipt of mail matter. Generally, letters were not to be delivered if the house was more than 60 feet (18.29 metres) from the road or more than 10 steps to be transversed. Failure to comply with this requirement resulted in the addressee having to call at the post office for their correspondence.

• Dominion Vol 2 Issue 473 3 April 1909 – Opening of New Post Office Upper Hutt – https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19090403.2.112?

** Post & Telegraph Department Report for the year 1916-17 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1917/I/2134

A “thank you” to Andrew for sending this article to The Upper Hutt Connection.

04/08/25