• The minimum cost of making a phone call from a BT telephone box rises this month to 40p. It used to be 30p in 2004, 20p in 2000, 10p in 1984, sixpence in 1966, threepence in 1959 and tuppence in 1925. • In 2001 there were 150000 BT callboxes. Now there are just 63500. BT are keen to point out that only 23000 of these make money, just so that you feel sorry for them for having to maintain a public service. • "Eee, when I were a child we never had these mobile phone things what kiddies have today. I always walked to school with a tuppenny coin for the payphone in my pocket, just in case I ever had to make a phone call home. We all did in them days. But I didn't usually need to use it. There was always a couple of seconds of free talktime before the pips butted in, and that was long enough to signal to my parents that I was ready to be picked up. None of this modern £1-a-minute ringtone rubbish."
• The first UK payphones had a Button A (to deposit the coins and make the connection) and a Button B (to return coins if the operator couldn't connect you). These started to be replaced in 1959 by new 'pay-on-answer' callboxes. • Ever wondered how an old 1960s payphone works? ("When the called subscriber answers, the line polarity reverses...")
• This photograph shows a K2 kiosk(right, introduced 1927) next to the slightly smaller but more common K6 kiosk(left, introduced 1935). • Kiosk K2 was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who was also the architect behind Battersea Power Station. He based the kiosk's distinctive dome on the roof of the John Soane Mausoleum in St Pancras cemetery. • When phone boxes were first introduced, many people felt that red was rather too obtrusive. Other colours considered, but rejected, include Deep Brunswick Green, Black, Light Battleship Grey and Dark Battleship Grey. • "The standard colour for the Kiosk No. 6 is Post Office Red. The approximate quantities of paint which will be required for one kiosk are:- Paint, Kiosk Primer 1½pints; Paint, P.O. Red 3½pints; Varnish, Weatherproof 2½pints". • Other kiosks in the 'K' series included the spike-topped K1(1921), the white concrete K3(1929), the 'Vermillion Giant' K4(1930) and the glass-doored K8(1968).
• This photograph shows a K2 kiosk (right, introduced 1927) next to the slightly smaller but more common K6 kiosk (left, introduced 1935).
