The
K6, or kiosk number six, was designed in 1935 to commemorate the Silver
Jubilee of king George V. It was the first telephone kiosk to go
national, for up until then most kiosks were based in the London
metropolitan area; and the K6 eventually came to be the dominant kiosk.
So it is hardly surprising that it has become something of an iconic
image when thinking of British street furniture.
Like
most icons, it wasn't at first that well liked. Most communities hated
the bright red colour of the K6, saying that it stuck out far too much;
which lead to the General Post Office eventually allowing an alternative
colour scheme of grey to be used instead. Ironicially, many of these
grey K6s were eventually painted red as their community.
These
days with almost universal mobile phone ownership, the requirement for
public telephones has declined sharply and the K6 is now a highly
endangered species. BT certainly doesn't want to have to look after
them, and many are being uprooted are scrapped, or being sold to local
communities who wish to retain them within their environment.
The K6, we salute you.
You must be logged-in to see additional hints