British red phone box turns 75

published 24 August 2011

The classic British red phone box, otherwise known as Kiosk no.6 (K6), has turned 75.

The K6, now synonymous with street life across the UK, was born in 1936, in celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the coronation of King George V.

It was designed by English architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also created the phone box's predecessor, the K2.

Many areas did not approve of the red hue and so chose to repaint them.

In its early life, the phone boxes were installed in every town or village with a post box, leading to 8,000 installations in 1936. By the end of production in 1968, there were almost 70,000 across Britain.

Many areas did not approve of the red hue and so chose to repaint them. Today, a number of dark green and grey phone boxes can be found scattered across Britain.

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Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.