British grandfather reveals he has the world’s biggest collection of post boxes – but refuses to pick out his favourite

A British grandfather has revealed he has the world’s biggest collection of post boxes – but simply cannot pick his favourite. 

Arthur Reeder, 70, from Newport, Isle of Wight, has gathered the record stash of 260 items over 30 years, displaying them throughout his house, garden and shed. 

The retired electrician, whose wife Kim Reeder thinks is ‘mad’, believes his cache of historic pillar boxes is now ‘worth a small house’. 

The grandfather-of-two enjoys sharing his love of all things postal with others, operating the space as an informal museum and giving tours to fellow enthusiasts.  

His oldest collectible is a ‘wall mounted Victorian box’ from 1857, one of many in his possession that have survived the world wars. 

And in 2008, he bagged the ‘holy grail’ of postboxes, the Penfold, named for its designer John Wornham Penfold, who launched the hexagonal creation in 1866. 

He also has mailboxes from outside the UK, including one from the USA and another on loan from an ‘international postbox appreciation society’ in Hong Kong.  

But Mr Reeder said he could not possibly bring himself to choose a number one: ‘Picking a favourite is like picking a favourite child. 

The retired electrician, whose wife Kim Reeder thinks is ‘mad’, believes his cache of historic pillar boxes (pictured) is now ‘worth a small house’

The grandfather-of-two (pictured) enjoys sharing his love of all things postal with others, operating the space as an informal museum and giving tours to fellow enthusiasts

‘I can’t do it – but the one I have the most memories with was given to me by the wife of a dear friend who passed.

‘I just see myself as its custodian rather than its owner. It’s one of the few doubles that I have – everything else is unique in my collection.’

One such singular item that especially stands out is a one-off 1880s model from Manchester, made by steam train company Cheshire Lines Committee.  

A line of postboxes, ordered by date, stands sentinel along a path running across his garden lawn – but the display was not easily created. 

When he moved to the Isle of Wight in 2002, no ordinary removal company could cope with the demands of relocating his collection along with him. 

Only a circus company experienced in transporting elephants was up to the challenge of transporting the enormous stash. 

It is thought Mr Reeder has the biggest collection in the world – and it pulls in a correspondingly large audience of enthusiasts.

He said: ‘People who come from all over the world want to see them. 

His oldest collectible is a ‘wall mounted Victorian box’ from 1857, one of many in his possession that have survived the world wars. Pictured: Some of his collection

Mr Reeder (pictured) said he could not possibly bring himself to choose a number one

‘Two women from Canada came a couple of weeks ago – they’ve already sent me a postcard.

‘It’s not technically a public museum but now that I’m retired I’m happy to give any wanderers a tour.

‘When I first arrived here, a neighbour complained to the council that they were an “eyesore”.

‘But when I asked him if he really thought that Royal Mail post boxes were an eyesore, it sent him off with his tail between his legs.’ 

Mr Reeder, whose dream museum visitor is the Prince of Wales, continued: ‘Funding a hobby can be difficult. 

‘The physical costs are not as great as the costs for the thousands of miles I have travelled around the length and breadth of the geographic British Isles.

‘I have boxes from the top of Scotland, across to Cork, and down to Truro.

‘Most would have only been scrap value as if they had been still in good condition, they would still be in use.

It is thought Mr Reeder (pictured) has the biggest collection in the world – and it pulls in a correspondingly large audience of enthusiasts

He said: ‘People who come from all over the world want to see them’. Pictured: Some of Mr Reeder’s collection

‘Valuations vary from a few pounds to a few thousands of pounds. But you must never get into debt or borrow money for a hobby.

‘There are some boxes I don’t have that I could have bought at auctions back in the day but I didn’t have enough saved up.

‘I could probably buy a small house if I sold my collection but what would I do with my time then?’

As to his competitors in collection size, Mr Reeder said: ‘I have a good friend in Essex that has a substantial collection but about 100 less than me. 

‘Others have smaller collections but we all keep in touch and sometimes we swap bits.

‘My father collected stamps, much easier but equally expensive.’

The collector said he fell in love with postboxes on a trip to North Wales in summer 1994. 

‘My main hobby is trains and it was on a tour of the little railways of North Wales that I found a redundant wooden station box in a skip,’ he explained. 

Postboxes were first used in Paris in the 17th century – but the oldest example in Britain was in the wall of a post office in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in 1809. Pictured: A postbox in Mr Reeder’s collection

‘After repairing it and painting it all up, I had a guy that came to see it.

‘He mentioned a friend that had an old pillar box in his garage if I was interested; I was, and it has been all downhill since then.’

Mr Reeder believes we should be proud of our postboxes, as an iconic symbol of the UK and its heritage, and never stop using them: ‘It’s a use it or lose it thing. 

‘Denmark is now doing away with their roadside postboxes. But what happens when email goes down?

‘Think about how in the wars, mail would be the only way you had of knowing if your family was still alive.’

Postboxes were first used in Paris in the 17th century – but the oldest example in Britain was in the wall of a post office in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in 1809.

Artist Richard Redgrave helped design the iconic pillar boxes in the 1850s – which actually started off green. 

It was not for another 15 years that the Penfield postbox became standard and make red the classic colour. 

And it took nearly ten years to repaint all the boxes in London to match.

There are now well over 100,000 post boxes in the UK and about 200 different types still in use, according to the Letter Box Study Group.