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Red phone box celebrates 75th birthday

Wednesday 24 August, 2011

By Kelvin Goodson

BT marks the anniversary by donating a K6 kiosk to the Design Museum.

The UK’s traditional red telephone box celebrates its 75th birthday this year, BT has announced.

The red phone box, or K6 kiosk, was introduced in 1936 to celebrate the silver jubilee of the coronation of King George V. Designed by English architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, it became known as the “Jubilee kiosk”.

To mark the occasion, telecom company BT has donated a K6 kiosk to the permanent collection of the Design Museum and it will feature in new exhibition, This is Design, which opened today.

David Hay, head of BT Heritage, said: “The red telephone box is part of the British way of life. The older generation grew up using them and everyone in this country instantly recognises them.”

The K6 was the first phone box to be widely installed all over the UK. Every town and village with a post office was given one and by the time production finished in 1968 there were almost 70,000 in Britain.

The K6 can now be found as far afield as Cuba, Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland and the US, while two were installed in France in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Hay said that the red phone box is “held in great esteem and is an ambassador for the UK around the world” and that as such “it seems only fitting to mark its 75th birthday in some way”.

The Design Museum’s exhibition celebrates and features highlights from its permanent collection, including the likes of the anglepoise lamp, UK road signs and traffic lights and the candlestick telephone as well as the K6.

Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum, said: “The K6 kiosk is an unmistakable example of classic British design which is recognised around the world, the Design Museum is delighted to have this as part of its collection.”