There are few images that immediately tell the visitor where they are in the world, but the classic red telephone kiosk is certainly one of them. Often located alongside a red Post Office Letter Box, it is a scene that can still be enjoyed throughout our 'modern Britain'.

The classic K6 (Kiosk No 6) design was referred to as the 'Jubilee' edition as it was first introduced in 1935/6 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V, but some 70,000 were eventually installed nationwide.

As its number suggests, it was not the first telephone kiosk to be produced, simply the most successful. The first mainstream design was the K1, which was introduced by the Post Office in 1921. Although quite ornate, with decorative iron scrollwork on a concrete body, it was soon felt that a more practical design should be found.

In 1923/24 several designers were invited to submit ideas for a new kiosk, and this 'competition' was eventually won by the renowned architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. His design was made from cast iron and featured for the first time the famous domed roof. The K2 came into production in 1926 with the introduction of some 1,500 kiosks installed in the London area. It proved too costly to roll-out across the entire country so a modified K1 (the Mk 236) was used instead.

The Post Office still required a newer design for rural locations so Scott came up with a modified version of the K2 made from reinforced concrete (K3). Although not as robust as cast iron, the K3 was a great success with some 12,000 installed nationally. K4 and K5 versions never made it into large mainstream production.

By 1935 the Post Office was keen to replace the problematic K1 and K3 designs, and Scott responded with the classic K6. This incorporated all the best features of the K1 and K3 but was constructed from cast iron like the earlier, more expensive K2. To keep production costs down, Scott simply made the kiosk smaller. This resulted in the Post Office having the elegant, but reliable, design they were looking for.

It was not until the late 1960s that a new design would come into production. Several incarnations have been tried throughout the years but, even to the present day, none have made much impact on the K6s dominance. However, it is the advent of the mobile phone that leaves the survival of the K6 telephone kiosk in much doubt.

The famous red 'Jubilee' telephone kiosk has undoubtedly captured the heart of a nation - many have now been purchased by their local communities to ensure they survive as part of the fabric of a town or village for years to come. Others have also been purchased and restored by individuals and can often be seen taking pride of place in gardens and back yards around the country.

N.B. The K6 kiosk shown in the picture is located at Amberley Working Museum, West Sussex. The museum is also home to 'Connected Earth', British Telecom's telephony exhibition and heritage collection.