The
METROPOLITAN POLICE were very helpful
when I was doing the original research for my A-Level art project,
nearly half my life ago! Someone actually took the time to write
out the history of the Police Box for me - in their own handwriting!
Can you imagine? That fact alone really dates it. It was perfectly
legible, too, unlike my own which gets sloppier every day. (My
mother always said I could've been a doctor.)
Back then, I lacked the wit to write
back and say thank you, so let me express my gratitude here.
1888 The
year in which the first Police Boxes were introduced in Britain,
originating in the US. The first TARDIS-like box materialized
in Newcastle, 1929. By 1937, there was an extensive
network of boxes throughout the Metropolitan Police District.
Like the Post Office boxes, the Police
kiosks were first made in wood, then concrete. Just as modern
public payphones are threatened by mobile phones, Police Boxes
were ditched in favour of walkie-talkies (1969)! Thankfully,
not everybody was so keen on such vandalism, and many fine examples
of the stately Police Box remain, such as in Glasgow.
[1] Note
the black roof with distinctive lamp fixture. [2]
Note the building work is finished in the
background and that the lamp has been removed for cleaning and
restoration. However, this is not the same box as shown in [1]
. That one is in the Glasgow Transport Museum[3].
This is the Cathedral Square box (far
left, 1989). Again, lamp removed! Restoration involves a return
to the traditional Glaswegian red Police Box livery which displays
the box's function as a general emergency phone - ie for calling
the Fire Brigade as well as the cops.
[4] 2000 - Restored Police Box. Note that the lamp
remains, painted black, on a blue roof. [5][6] Caffeine
addicts can now get help at Glasgow's Police Boxes as they are
being converted into coffee-stalls. Click HERE the pic to read all about it. [7]
Note damage to Buchanan Street box; also, lamp-housing (with
modern flashing-light to draw attention to coffee-stall) now
blue. [8] Artist Ann Shaw's 1997 installation YOU
HAVE BEEN SPOTTED. The Police Box shown is the
Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art's smallest exhibition space! I've
always said that phone boxes should be easy to spot. Note that
the lamp is illuminated. Click on the image to visit Ann's site.
POLICE BOX PRESERVATION Thanks to Ward and Caroline Westwater
at The
Civil Defence & Emergency Service Preservation Trust,
who have provided information which filled in many of the blanks
in my research on Police Boxes, particularly in relation to those
in Glasgow. Following the decision of the Police, in 1994, to
scrap the boxes, Ward and Caroline, together with the Glasgow
Building Preservation Trust , stepped in to preserve and maintain
this aspect of the city's architectural heritage. The work continues.
Click on the pics to visit their site and find out more!
[9][10][11][12] Back in the eighties, many of these boxes had
sirens on the rooves. According to Ward and Caroline Westwater,
these were removed in the early nineties as the threat of a nuclear
strike diminished. Some of Edinburgh's Police Boxes
were painted red and converted into coffee stalls! Same lamp housing as
Glasgow boxes. [13] A very striking Police Box - dark blue
with white window-frames! Note the lamp housing - this is a
Glasgow box painted in Metropolitan colours as a museum piece,
a legacy of the destruction of English Police Boxes.
Edinburgh
wasn't the only place with non-standard Police Box designs, as
this collections shows. [14] Garden shed-like Police Box. [15] Courtesy of Simon at Virtual Huddersfield[16] Newport; a
Welsh Police Box with Dr Who scarf. Note that lamp fixture again,
plus the yellow-liveried KX100 next door. [17] Green Police
Box in Sheffield.
The
idea for the Police Box came from the US - we've all seen the
cop from Top Cat using one. Although the idea of an actual
kiosk or booth did not develop there, the police post was adopted
in Britain.[18] Note the light fixture. This would appear
to be a general emergency services call box. [19]Different
lamp on this one. Note the utility cupboards. Saw a few of these
in Oxford, 1985 - are they still there? [20] Restored
Police Box, Washington DC. Kindly supplied by Paul K. Williams, History
of D.C. Fire and Police Call Boxes. [21] The modern
equivalent.
"In
most towns there are police boxes on the streets. They have telephones
inside.
"The policeman on his beat
telephones the police station at certain times. He reports anything
unusual. He is also told if he has to report at another place
or deliver an urgent message.
"If a policeman does not telephone
the police station at the proper time, a patrol car will be sent
out to see if he has had an accident.
"A police box can be used
by anyone to send an urgent message to the police station."
Vera Southgate People at Work:
The Policeman(Ladybird), 1962
Two different covers to
Vera Southgate's The Policeman(Ladybird 'People atWork' series); on the
left, the original 1962 edition and, on the right, an edition
which must date from the early 1970's at least (the price is
18p, so we'd gone decimal) - walkie-talkies were in (as were
moustaches, sideburns and double-chins!).
[22]The classic Police Box design and livery. This
photo was sent to me by theMETROPOLITAN POLICE, 1986. Pity about
the weather. This one survived the purges of the 60's and 70's
when the Police Box concept remained alive in the British public's
imagination due toDoctor Who[23], the popular TV science-fiction
hero whose time-machine (the TARDIS) is disguised as a
Police Box. [24]In 1996, a brand new Police Box materialized
in London, featuring (like Dr Who's TARDIS) CCTV surveillance
technology - fact follows fantasy.[25]NEWER Police Boxes
- like the Japanese Koban (Police Boxes) and Chuzaisho (Police
Substations), these are police-public communication posts and
part-time mini-Police Stations.
[15] Almondbury, Yorkshire.
[21] Modern emergency
call-post, Belfast (2005). Photo © Ian McPherson
