Telephone Boxes their History and Variety

TELEPHONE BOXES THEIR HISTORY AND VARIETY traces the development of the British telephone box from its introduction to the present day. There are photographs of the earliest standardised boxes (K1); the iconic K2 (including the wooden prototype of the K2, which is still working and accessible to anyone in Piccadilly, London), the landmark red box designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, introduced in 1926 and famous the world over; and the K6, the smaller successor to the K2. Modern boxes are included: the K8: three in private use (two on London Underground, painted blue!); the unique cream box of Kingston Upon Hull―harking back to Hull’s one-time unique position in having the only telephone system owned by the city council; some old police public call boxes―one looking like a Tardis!―and police public call posts in central London. There are also a few examples of oddities: the two K6 boxes welded together, one on top of the other, which stand outside a block of flats, previously the Maida Vale telephone exchange; the green, then red, then back to green, box at Seven Sisters Country Park, near Seaford, East Sussex. This book is an introduction to the history and variety of a particularly distinctive example of British street furniture. Well illustrated with colour photographs so best viewed in colour.