Every entry the dial plays, in order, with the words of the source in quotation marks.
23 November 1852
The first pillar boxes open, in Jersey
Four cast-iron pillar boxes go into use on the island of Jersey. The island’s newspaper, the Jersey Times, tells its readers they are “painted red”.
“painted red”
Postal Museum, “Green Post Boxes” (Julian Stray, 2017)
1853–1858
On the mainland, local foundries make and paint them
Boxes begin to appear in Great Britain proper, beyond the Channel Islands, in 1853. Until 1859 local foundries make and paint them, so the boxes vary from region to region. A contract of February 1857 asks for 100 boxes painted and “bronzed”, which the museum explains as green paint dusted with bronze powder. No single colour is established.
“so they varied by region”
“painted with four coats of paint, bronzed and delivered to any railway station”
“green paint was applied and then dusted with bronze powder”
Postal Museum, “Green Post Boxes” (Julian Stray, 2017) · Postal Museum, “The history of letter boxes”
April 1855
London’s first six pillar boxes open
London’s first six boxes open in Fleet Street, the Strand, Pall Mall, Piccadilly and Rutland Gate: rectangular, cast in Hoxton, with pyramid roofs topped by an iron ball. The sources read here do not give their colour.
“opened to the public in April 1855—the first letter boxes in London”
Letter Box Study Group, “About boxes”
1859
One design, and it seems one colour: green
A standard box arrives and, the Postal Museum’s curator writes, a colour that appears to have been generally standardised as green, though perhaps with many exceptions. A Post Office paper of 1862 calls it “the Bronze Green Colour of the Boxes”. Neither the museum nor its curator gives a reason for the choice. Julian Stray notes that bronze green was in vogue at the time, and reports only partial success in finding a specification for the shade.
“appears also to have been generally standardised as green”
“in vogue”
Postal Museum, “Green Post Boxes” (Julian Stray, 2017) · Jersey Heritage and Jersey Post, Historic Post Boxes in Jersey (2014)
June–October 1874
Red comes back, starting in London
A Post Office official records that he is in favour of a small trial of red boxes in London, and calls the green dingy. A month later the order is that London’s boxes be painted red. On 9 October the Controller extends it to all of them, as each comes due for repainting. The museum adds that people had complained of difficulty finding the green ones.
“very much in favour of the red pillars which he considers a great improvement upon the present dingy [green] colour”
“that the Pillar Letter boxes in London be painted red for the future instead of green as at present”
“please to have this done as repainting is required”
“Complaints were received by people having difficulty finding them”
Postal Museum, “Green Post Boxes” (Julian Stray, 2017) · Postal Museum, “The history of letter boxes”
about 1884
The repainting is done
The Postal Museum says the repainting programme took ten years, which brings it to about 1884. Red stays the standard from then on, with few exceptions.
“It took 10 years to complete the programme of re-painting”
“Red remained the standard colour for boxes from then on with few exceptions”
Postal Museum, “The history of letter boxes”
1905
Vanguard paints its buses red
From the 1840s London’s bus operators had used colour schemes to tell routes apart. In 1905 the London Motor Omnibus Company takes the fleet name Vanguard and paints its vehicles red, for the most part.
“painted their vehicles predominantly red”
“colour schemes called liveries to identify routes”
London Transport Museum, “Why are London buses red?”
1907
The biggest operator still has no single colour
The London General Omnibus Company, the largest operator, adopts a winged-wheel symbol on its motor buses, and the name “General” soon follows.
“without settling on a single livery”
London Transport Museum, “Why are London buses red?”
1908
The General takes over Vanguard, and red spreads
When the General takes over Vanguard, its red colour, the General name and the wheel come together as one brand. Why red? Time Out reports that no document survives to say, and that Caroline Warhurst of the London Transport Museum speculates the reason could be practical, since red paint tends to be more durable, or symbolic.
“Red has been the colour of London buses ever since”
“there’s no surviving documentation as to why red was chosen”
London Transport Museum, “Why are London buses red?” · Time Out London, “Most Googled: why are London buses red?”
1908
The first roundel: a nameboard with a red disc
The Underground’s symbol appears on station platforms as a nameboard, first at the station now called St James’s Park. It was made so that station names would stand out among the adverts.
“a solid red enamel disc and horizontal blue bar”
“to make station names stand out against the adverts and billboards on platform walls”
London Transport Museum, “The Roundel” · Transport for London, “Our roundel”
by 1917
The disc becomes a ring
The proportions are reworked, the solid disc turns into a circle, and the new symbol is registered as a trademark. London Transport Museum dates its spread to station exteriors to the early 1920s.
“The solid red disc became a circle, and the new symbol was registered as a trademark”
“from the early 1920s”
London Transport Museum, “The Roundel”
1921
The first standard kiosk is concrete, with a red door
The Post Office introduces its first standard kiosk, the K1, in reinforced concrete with a red wooden door. Historic England says the London boroughs resisted it, and that dissatisfaction led to a competition in 1924, held by the newly established Royal Fine Art Commission at the request of the Postmaster General.
“The Post Office introduced the first standardised design, the reinforced concrete K1 kiosk”
“a concrete structure with a red wooden door which was resisted by the London boroughs”
BT Archives, “Telephone kiosks” (2012), quoting Post Office files POST 33 · Historic England, list entry 1265820: prototype K2, Burlington House
10 October 1924
Scott asks for silver, and a greenish blue inside
Giles Gilbert Scott is in the competition for a standard kiosk. For the paint he suggests, in a Post Office file, silver outside and a greenish blue inside.
“the outside of the kiosk should be treated with silver paint and the inside coloured a greenish-blue”
BT Archives, “Telephone kiosks” (2012), quoting Post Office files POST 33 · GOV.UK, “UK's iconic first red public telephone box listed” (2019)
February 1925
Scott’s K2 is chosen, in cast iron and red
The Royal Fine Art Commission judges Scott’s kiosk the most suitable for busy thoroughfares in large towns. When it is selected, the General Post Office chooses to make it in cast iron, painted red, not in Scott’s steel and silver.
“most suitable for erection in busy thoroughfares of large towns”
“the General Post Office chose to make it of cast-iron and painted red”
GOV.UK, “UK's iconic first red public telephone box listed” (2019) · Historic England, list entry 1265820: prototype K2, Burlington House
1926
The first cast-iron K2 goes up in London, painted red
The first cast-iron K2 is installed in London, painted red. About 1,700 go up within ten years, nearly all in London. The sources read here give no reason from the 1920s. The London Museum says the Post Office chose its trademark red, which helped the kiosks stand out in the street.
“The first K2 was installed in London in 1926”
“the GPO chose its trademark red instead, helping them stand out on the street”
Historic England, list entry 1265820: prototype K2, Burlington House · London Museum, “London’s iconic red telephone boxes”
May and August 1935
Scott on red kiosks in the countryside
In May, for the K6, a later kiosk, Scott replaces his first idea of toned white with a warm dove grey. On 19 August he accepts that red works in towns, but writes that he is “more convinced than ever” that red will be an abomination in an old village street or on a village green.
“a warm, dove grey”
“more convinced than ever that bright red kiosks in an old village street or a village green will be an abomination”
BT Archives, “Telephone kiosks” (2012), quoting Post Office files POST 33
1936
The Post Office explains why one colour everywhere
A leaflet to local authorities says the standard colour must be easy to tell from its surroundings, that the Royal Fine Art Commission has endorsed the Postmaster General’s conclusion that Post Office red suits town and country alike, and that the Councils for the Preservation of Rural England and Rural Wales concur.
“sufficiently conspicuous to be readily distinguished from its surroundings”
“has fully endorsed the conclusion of the Postmaster General”
“full concurrence of this view has been expressed by the Councils for the Preservation of Rural England and Rural Wales”
BT Archives, “Telephone kiosks” (2012), quoting Post Office files POST 33
1946
Grey is allowed in places of special beauty
BT Archives says the Council for the Preservation of Rural England later revised its position and petitioned for a colour change in sensitive areas. In 1946 a small number of kiosks may be painted dark battleship grey in areas of special beauty. The glazing bars stay red.
“later revised their position”
“allowing a small number of kiosk to be painted Dark Battleship Grey in areas of special beauty”
BT Archives, “Telephone kiosks” (2012), quoting Post Office files POST 33
