By the way of a finale to my run of telephone box-themed posts, it seems appropriate to offer up a philatelic concoction - or should I put it another way: how to squeeze a phone box into a post box...
To begin with a UK stamp issued in 2009. The K2 was one of a set of ten 'Design Classics' which also included such beloved beauties as the Spitfire & Concorde, the Mini & the Mini Skirt, the London Underground Map & the Routemaster Bus.
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| The 'Design Classics set was officially launched in 2009 by Mary Quant , designer of the Mini Skirt... |
Over twenty years before the 'Design Classic' Royal Mail stamp, two Telephone Box stamps were issued from what was then called the 'Kenyan Posts and Telecommunications Corporation'. In 1986, to mark the Kenyan contribution to the Vancouver '86 Expo, and then a year later to celebrate 10 years of progress in rural communications.
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| Kenyan Pavilion at Vancouver '86 was actually zebra-striped |
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| The 5 bob triangle, and another phone box in use |
Now compare the positive imagery of these two stamps with an article in Kenya's Daily Nation from 2010:
Kenyan telephone booths take their last call this year. Telkom Ornage has decided to recall the last of the booths from the streets in the next couple of months. By the end of this year, the last of the 1,000 booths will be no more. With their exit, the war between the majestic red, yellow and (recently) cream booths, and the mobile phone finally draws to an end, won by the wireless. But the booths bow out with dignity, leaving behind fond memories"
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From rural Kenya to former Yugoslavia, and three telephone box-related stamps...
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| In 1988 came a superb offering from Yugoslavia as part of their 'Postal Service' definitive set |
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| In 1990 a celebration of the Yugoslavian phonecard |
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| The 100th anniversary of the first ever public phone call in 2001 |
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| First Day Cover dated 20th November 2001. The name 'Yugoslavia' finally drops off from the stamps of the region around 2003 |
