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Digger
looks at a design classic - the red telephone box, which has been making something of a
comeback.
This article is the intellectual property of www.retrosellers.com and cannot be reproduced without express
permission.
There are a few quintessentially British icons and images that
seem to endure and are instantly recognisable the world over. The British Bobby, The
Queen, The Beatles. And then there are the design classics such as the London
double-decker bus, the London taxi, the London tube map and London Transport signs which
are part of our heritage and are universally loved by Britons and visitors alike.
Indeed, they ARE Britain.
Another pair of such classics are the red telephone boxes and red post boxes that have
graced hamlets, villages, towns and cities around the UK for generations. The elegance of
design and the functionality and longevity of these pieces of street furniture are
amazing.
What is more amazing is that in the name of modernity and progress, as the Post Office
devolved into other companies, a great many of these treasures were removed and destroyed
in the seventies and eighties and boring 'weather proof and vandal proof' substitutes were
put in their place. The new telephone boxes proved to be cold, unwelcoming and
inhospitable and had a marked inability to shelter the occupants from the weather even
though they were designed to protect themselves from all weathers! They had replaced a
design classic with anonymous, clinical and forgettable items. The red phone box, which
many of us had out first kiss in, which featured in so many classic films and TV
programmes, which added such a beauty to our street scenery, was in danger of disappearing
completely.
This is where Tony Inglis and Unicorn Kiosk Restoration came in.
Tony had acquired many of these telephone boxes when they were being uncermoniously ripped
out and had stored them in an enclosure. Tony had a love for these phones and couldn't
bear to see them broken up so he set about restoring them and selling them as fashion
accessories for home and garden. People used them as garden sheds, bars, even as telephone
kiosks! These boxes were very much sought after.
Meanwhile, locals, councils and tourists began to complain to the
telephone companies about the loss of their beloved red telephone boxes and eventually the
telephone companies realised they had got it wrong. One of the best pieces of
corporate branding ever was recognised for what it was and in a noble about turn the phone
companies desperately searched for the remnants of what they had eradicated a few years
earlier.
Tony was glad to oblige and in 'coals to Newcastle' fashion provided the telephone
companies with immaculately restored items of their former property which were, with great
ceremony and publicity, re-installed in places such as Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly
Circus, the Tower of London and the Houses of Parliament at Westminster.
Click on the thumbnails for the BIGGER
picture............
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| Workmen installing a red phone box |
A familiar sight in any village |
A red phone box being towed to its new home |
Post boxes are an important part of the street
scene |
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| A classic |
Form an orderly queue................ |
Truly weather proof |
The beautiful interior design of a 'press
button A/press button B' phone |
These days, Unicorn Kiosk Restorations provide kiosks for many notable TV and
film productions as well as for private use.
In addition to telephone Kiosks, Tony and the team offer restored post boxes, street
signs, street lamps and street furniture.
Check out the Unicorn Kiosk Restorations website:
unicornkiosks.com
This article is the intellectual property of www.retrosellers.com and cannot be
reproduced without express permission.
Photographs © Unicorn Kiosk Restorations
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