Letter hats

A Dutch letterbox evokes little warmth and love. They are functional, and the orange exterior is often, certainly in the big cities, defaced with stickers. The situation is different with British letterboxes, which are as stately and traditional as the guards at Horse Guards Parade. There are various models, but you have to be a member of the Letter Box Study Group to see them. We have written here before about the crowns on the boxes, with the letters indicating under which king or queen they are placed, from VR (Victoria) to CIII (Charles III).

On this island, some mailboxes wear hats made by local residents. These are hats featuring images of characters, animals, or people from children’s books. In the run-up to Christmas, you can find Biblical scenes, complete with a Christmas tree and a nativity scene. Kings and queens have also been spotted in the run-up to the Jubilee celebrations of 2022. The making of ‘knitted post box toppers’ began during the royal jubilee of 2012, but took off during the coronavirus lockdowns when people suddenly had time on their hands. The Daily Mail dubbed the makers ‘Woolly Delinquents’.

In the small town of Pickering, near York, it didn’t stop with the local mailbox. Older residents there have also adorned the posts along the road in the centre with hats featuring famous children’s book characters such as Noddy, the Gruffalo, Pippi Longstocking, and the Famous Five. I wrote about it in the newspaper. In doing so, I made a serious mistake. I wrote that the hats were knitted, but readers soon realized they were crocheted. It earned me four reprimanding letters. Perhaps, as punishment, I should make a hat for my local mailbox. I am still thinking about the theme.

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