In the Service of George V, King of the United Kingdom

JerusalemIsrael

In several places around the old city you can see British mailboxes, courtesy of His Majesty King George V (King of England between 1893-1936). On some of them you can see the crown of the British Empire and the inscription POST OFFICE, on some the inscription GR, which means George Rex, or King George.

George V left us five such boxes in the old city. Four of the British post boxes are inactive and are a reminder of the British postal service that operated in Jerusalem from 1917 to 1948. Those who still want to send paper letters (!) and insert them into a real British box, can use the post office of the Old City near the Christ Church at the Jaffa Gate, that British box is active to this day. 

At the end of the British mandate, there were 97 post offices and agencies in the territory that became the State of Israel. With the establishment of Israel, the Israeli postal service began to operate these branches, although according to the (Israeli) postal authority: "in most places the service was not satisfactory". The Ottoman Empire's postal services suffered too from reliability problems and barely existed in Jerusalem. Various European countries recognized the opportunity to increase their influence and profit a little from their presence in the Holy Land. 

European companies received permits to trade in the Ottoman empire in 1837 and subsequently began providing parcel and mail services. Austria, Germany, Russia, England and the Ottoman Empire found themselves competing for the hearts of the residents of Jerusalem, and began installing mailboxes in a variety of colors and shapes in order to attract the public to use their postal service. To this day, scattered throughout Jerusalem and the country are mailboxes in a variety of colors and shapes, remnant to the competition between the old powers in Jerusalem and in general.

Additional sources:

https://www.masa.co.il/article/%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%93%D7%95%D7%90%D7%A8-%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%93%D7%98%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA/

https://israelpost.co.il/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%94%D7%93%D7%95%D7%90%D7%A8-%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%99-%D7%94%D7%96%D7%9E%D7%9F-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%93%D7%98-%D7%94%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%98%D7%99/

https://parallelhistories.org.uk/post-boxes-and-power-in-jerusalem/

https://allaboutjerusalem.com/he/%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%93%D7%95%D7%90%D7%A8-%D7%94%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%98%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%91%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9D/

(Anecdote authored by: דניאל)

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