Criteria of Postboxes

What is the criteria now for postboxes? I know most of them are eligible apart from EllR (common ones)

I cannot find any link article or post about these?

help!

Best Answers

  • PORT2014-INGPORT2014-ING Posts: 88 ✭✭✭
    Answer ✓

    I think they specifically listed "mailboxes" as ineligible - which I think means the boxes on posts outside American houses next to the sidewalk, that serve the same purpose as UK letterboxes cut into our front doors.

    Postboxes are different as they are where you can perform the same function that you do to be social with others at a post office (which as @MessiPy-ING says is specifically eligible) - the act of sending a letter to a friend - initiating social contact by snail mail. I don't think a post office is really the sort of place you would go to meet up with someone else in any sense other that any other generic store.

    The UK is I think unique that it has lots of these postboxes as permanent feature around our towns and separate from the shop/post offices. Most other countries have postboxes but they are just modern structures outside post offices.

    There's an argument therefore that UK postboxes are therefore eligible but rather than decide one way or the other the UK community seems to have concluded that postboxes since 1952 are ineligible (unless they have a plaque detailing their historic relevance) and all others are acceptable. Every GR postbox I have submitted has been accepted and every ER II has been rejected. They seem to have flipped the eligibility of the object from its function to one of its age and rarity (some people only accept VR and ER VIII).

    I don't recall any Niantic guidance along these lines. They are either all acceptable as a great place to be social with others or juste street furniture and only those with an interesting story in their own right are eligible e.g. the IRA bombed one in Manchester or Olympic Gold ones, and it's the plaque that's eligible not the postbox itself.

    If you want to improve your stats go with the flow...

  • sogNinjaman-INGsogNinjaman-ING Posts: 3,313 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓

    No there isn't.

  • FrealafGB-PGOFrealafGB-PGO Posts: 354 ✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓

    I think people miss the point on postboxes. A post box is not interesting or noteworthy normally, and wouldn't be eligible unless there's something different or interesting about it for example if it's decorated.


    The thing with postboxes in the UK is that they all feature the royal cipher for the reigning monarch at the time it was installed. This means that they have some additional feature that makes it more interesting. Doing wayfarer reviews actually meant I learnt quite a few things about our history - it's been interesting reading the descriptions which tell me about the monarch, their reign and sometimes fun facts about their lives. Our monarchs are part of our history and culture, so these ciphers combined with the relative rarity of the oldest boxes are why they are almost always accepted in the UK. Similarly, its why the boxes post 1952 aren't generally accepted since Queen Elizabeth is the current monarch and these are very common. The boxes themselves look very similar, but they lack the same historical interest, which is why they are generally considered ineligible.


    Tldr; UK postboxes aren't eligible for being a postbox, they're eligible because of the historical value of the cipher that they feature.

Answers

  • MessiPy-INGMessiPy-ING Posts: 122 ✭✭✭

    Post offices are valid, this in the criteria part of a good place to socialize with others in the second point exactly

  • Jess97x-PGOJess97x-PGO Posts: 4 ✭✭

    I accept all (provided safe pedestrian access etc) unless it is an EIIR one or unciphered Scottish one

  • TheFarix-PGOTheFarix-PGO Posts: 5,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Postboxes were once explicitly labeled as things that are ineligible in the critiera. Unforutantly, many in the UK completely ignored it.

  • PORT2014-INGPORT2014-ING Posts: 88 ✭✭✭
    Answer ✓

    I think they specifically listed "mailboxes" as ineligible - which I think means the boxes on posts outside American houses next to the sidewalk, that serve the same purpose as UK letterboxes cut into our front doors.

    Postboxes are different as they are where you can perform the same function that you do to be social with others at a post office (which as @MessiPy-ING says is specifically eligible) - the act of sending a letter to a friend - initiating social contact by snail mail. I don't think a post office is really the sort of place you would go to meet up with someone else in any sense other that any other generic store.

    The UK is I think unique that it has lots of these postboxes as permanent feature around our towns and separate from the shop/post offices. Most other countries have postboxes but they are just modern structures outside post offices.

    There's an argument therefore that UK postboxes are therefore eligible but rather than decide one way or the other the UK community seems to have concluded that postboxes since 1952 are ineligible (unless they have a plaque detailing their historic relevance) and all others are acceptable. Every GR postbox I have submitted has been accepted and every ER II has been rejected. They seem to have flipped the eligibility of the object from its function to one of its age and rarity (some people only accept VR and ER VIII).

    I don't recall any Niantic guidance along these lines. They are either all acceptable as a great place to be social with others or juste street furniture and only those with an interesting story in their own right are eligible e.g. the IRA bombed one in Manchester or Olympic Gold ones, and it's the plaque that's eligible not the postbox itself.

    If you want to improve your stats go with the flow...

  • Jess97x-PGOJess97x-PGO Posts: 4 ✭✭

    That’s because postboxes (probably more accurately named “pillar boxes” on the case of most nominations) in the UK have enormous cultural and historical value. In fact, it is for this reason that instead of being removed when not in use, these pillar boxes remain and are instead painted black.

    I don’t accept EIIR ones because to me they are mass produced & there are so many around (they account for the vast majority of postboxes in the UK). Those not from the UK (and unfortunately many of the younger generations in the UK) do not seem to understand the value and history of these postboxes, which is really quite sad.

    I appreciate there is a slight debate over GR postboxes as they are second most common, and I usually give them 3-4* as opposed to 5* for the others. I have never seen any guidance that states Royal Mail postboxes are not allowed, and would be interested to read it as they are clearly of cultural and historic value.

    Supporting links:

    https://www.britain-magazine.com/carousel/britains-iconic-red-post-boxes-preserved/

    https://www.gbps.org.uk/information/downloads/tpm-info-sheets/BPMA_Info_Sheet_Pillar_Boxes_web.pdf

  • KwyjiboHan-PGOKwyjiboHan-PGO Posts: 128 ✭✭✭

    Most postboxes are garbage. But we have no standards in the UK, so even the ~17,500 GR postboxes, the second most common, the mass produced post box of 1930s suburban sprawl end up being "featured wayspots". You would never pretend that a generic 1930s semi-detached house is in any way shape or form "historic", so stop pretending that its accompanying street furniture is. 1* all the way, feel free to 1* it for its description if it claims to be "historic" or "rare", just outright lies.

    There are 400,000 listed structures in the UK. There are some post boxes on that list, these are fine. The special ones, like the gold coloured ones to celebrate Olympic victory, fine. Even locally listed ones. But the vast majority you see are of no value, meet no criteria, and only pass because we're corrupt.

  • Tallguyuk-PGOTallguyuk-PGO Posts: 4 ✭✭

    thanks for the feedback folks but my question still remains is there any actually guidelines from Nitantic on postboxes? That is what I want to know.

  • sogNinjaman-INGsogNinjaman-ING Posts: 3,313 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓

    No there isn't.

  • Arghhhemon-PGOArghhhemon-PGO Posts: 7 ✭✭

    I only review stuff in North America and I think it’s awfully bold of people to submit mailboxes. It’s an instant 1* from me with a note saying Post Offices yes, mailboxes no.


    I’m curious what those UK boxes look like though. Feels like one of those cultural differences that make it hard to set a global rule.

  • PORT2014-INGPORT2014-ING Posts: 88 ✭✭✭

    As you can see otherwise identical street furniture, with different Royal Ciphers from the monarch at the time defining whether accepted or not.

  • Lechu1730-PGOLechu1730-PGO Posts: 537 ✭✭✭✭

    We have some similar post boxes in Argentina. They generally pass when nominated as they are both historic an uncommon.

  • SeaprincessHNB-PGOSeaprincessHNB-PGO Posts: 1,608 Ambassador

    We don't use a different term for mailboxes at a private home versus a mailbox that can be out on the street and collect mail from several people. The UK seems to think these are different and serve different functions. They seem the same to me with the exception that street boxes are only used for sending while house boxes are used to send or receive.

    To be fair, I'm not sure why a Post Office is valid while one of these street mailboxes is not. And I don't know why in the US a commercial business that serves the same purpose as the US Post Office is not eligible either (like Mailboxes, Etc or UPS or FedEx or any other place you could send or receive mail). You'd think it's because the USPS is a government service or agency but it is a weird one because it is supposed to be entirely self-funded. So it operates like one of those commercial businesses with a government contract or license.

  • Jtronmoore-PGOJtronmoore-PGO Posts: 1,581 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Dude your stretching a postbox wayyy too much. They dont serve as a communal spot for one. Yeah you and your neighbour use it. Big deal. A post office everyone in the community uses it. Post boxes you have hundreds in communities as they are MASS PRODUCED. Generally only have 1 maybe 2 post offices per town depending on size. Post boxes ineligible. Post offices eligible.

  • FrealafGB-PGOFrealafGB-PGO Posts: 354 ✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓

    I think people miss the point on postboxes. A post box is not interesting or noteworthy normally, and wouldn't be eligible unless there's something different or interesting about it for example if it's decorated.


    The thing with postboxes in the UK is that they all feature the royal cipher for the reigning monarch at the time it was installed. This means that they have some additional feature that makes it more interesting. Doing wayfarer reviews actually meant I learnt quite a few things about our history - it's been interesting reading the descriptions which tell me about the monarch, their reign and sometimes fun facts about their lives. Our monarchs are part of our history and culture, so these ciphers combined with the relative rarity of the oldest boxes are why they are almost always accepted in the UK. Similarly, its why the boxes post 1952 aren't generally accepted since Queen Elizabeth is the current monarch and these are very common. The boxes themselves look very similar, but they lack the same historical interest, which is why they are generally considered ineligible.


    Tldr; UK postboxes aren't eligible for being a postbox, they're eligible because of the historical value of the cipher that they feature.

  • SeaprincessHNB-PGOSeaprincessHNB-PGO Posts: 1,608 Ambassador

    I believe, though I could be wrong, that it is illegal in the US for a Post Box to "decorated." I think they all have to be uniform in appearance so that they are easy to identify. Mail is handled by a federal agency and for us any interference with the post (items, carrier, boxes, offices, etc.) is a federal crime instead of a crime handled by the local jurisdiction like city or state. So if someone were found putting graffiti on a street collection post box, they could be charged with "destruction of federal property" I think. That carries higher fines and legal consequences than tagging the wall of a local supermarket. Though in places with lots of crime, I am sure these crimes go unpunished.

  • FrealafGB-PGOFrealafGB-PGO Posts: 354 ✭✭✭✭

    I meant more like in the UK some were painted gold when we hosted the Olympics... Not something unofficial or illegal of course!

  • 0X00FF00-ING0X00FF00-ING Posts: 769 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Niantic hasn't, and won't, make a specific ruling about "this" thing. Nor about picnic tables, nor lamp posts, nor sewer grates, nor electrical boxes, nor drinking fountains, nor tattoo parlour signs, nor any other "common" object.

    They just have a small set of "acceptance" criteria, and an explicit bit of "rejection" criteria. If something (including "this" thing) matches the acceptance criteria without triggering the rejection criteria, then it can be valid -- but even that doesn't mandate that the thing must be accepted.

    So the "catchall" category of acceptance criteria is "exploration". Things that are sufficiently unique, historic, artistic, or any combination of those things can indeed be valid enough to become a wayspot. Sometimes it does only need that an object be historically relevant for an acceptance. (@Hosette-ING knows the specific thing(s) in my neck of the woods I'm referring to, and while I may have paused my personal fight for a bit, I have NOT given up the battle yet! 10 accepted so far across my region, some 6+ still to go!)

  • Tallguyuk-PGOTallguyuk-PGO Posts: 4 ✭✭

    When you say you have had your accepted what kind of pillar boxes did you go for? The debate is mainly around EllR ones, all others get approved but just not EllR ones and I want to know why.

    reviewers are just rejecting them just because they are mass produced but how is this any different let say e.g community board is certainly mass produced but they still get approved.

    my point is that there is no evidence of Nitantic saying that EllR does not meet the criteria, at the end of the day it should be accepted as they are just like other type of postboxes.

  • flatmatt-PGOflatmatt-PGO Posts: 2,141 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The UK community has decided that postboxes older than EIIR have enough historical value that they can qualify under the exploration criteria. Whether you agree with that assessment or not, that is the only reason that they are accepted. They are not accepted because they are postboxes; they are accepted because they are believed to have historical value. An EIIR box that could have just as easily been installed 60 years ago or yesterday cannot possibly meet that requirement.

  • NorthSeaPoet-INGNorthSeaPoet-ING Posts: 895 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Why does the lettering on the front of a postbox matter? Most postboxes looks the same anyway, so a different cypher shouldn't be an indication of whether it's acceptable or not.

    The whole criteria was overhauled, so I'm doubtful that postboxes meet any of the new criteria.

  • Dookie2754-PGODookie2754-PGO Posts: 40 ✭✭

    I took the new 3.0 criteria to mean we could finally safely reject at least the GRs and probably even earlier. If you have to say "but you're being social by going to it and posting a letter" or "but it encourages exercise because you have to walk to one to post a letter" that's not a good sign. And no one would "explore" their neighbourhood guided by 20th century (or, to be honest, even VR) postboxes. This is people looking for Wayspots in otherwise boring suburban or rural areas and that is 100% understandable but it instinctively doesn't feel "right."

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