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Police Boxes

Posted: 19 May 2013, 21:23
by dreamticket
I'm starting this topic in honour of last night's Doctor Who, which got a big thumbs-up from me (nice to see them using footage of William Hartnell et al, and can't wait to see what use they make of John Hurt in the next series).

Anyhoo, just how common a sight were police boxes on Britain's streets back in the day? I've never seen one, and they don't crop up all that often in comics from that era either. Here's one I spotted in an old annual (possibly Lion or Tiger). Can anybody add anymore (excluding anything from Doctor Who related strips)?
Tardis1.jpg

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 19 May 2013, 21:54
by stevezodiac
There was a Police Box outside Earl's Court Station in London until about three years ago. In Warwick Road I think. It was the full size one. There is a slimmer one outside my workplace which is a Met Police building and it is part of the mini police museum. I even remember Bubble Cars - great sights.

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 19 May 2013, 21:58
by starscape
Glasgow turned theirs into coffee kiosks.

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 19 May 2013, 22:02
by stevezodiac
I've just googled: Earl's Court Station, Earl's Court Road, London and if you select street view you will see the very same Police Box. It will probably seem strange to younger forum members to see a "Tardis" in the middle of a London street.

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 19 May 2013, 22:18
by philcom55
Yeah, I remember them being a reasonably common sight. In fact I've still got a Dinky Toy model of one from years before the first Doctor Who episode.

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 19 May 2013, 23:00
by Digifiend
stevezodiac wrote:I've just googled: Earl's Court Station, Earl's Court Road, London and if you select street view you will see the very same Police Box. It will probably seem strange to younger forum members to see a "Tardis" in the middle of a London street.
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Earl's ... sgaXx4DICw

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 20 May 2013, 09:41
by suebutcher
The only one I remember well was on the road leading from Fort Hill to Broughty Ferry; it had an air-raid siren on top (the icing on the cake!). It was removed in the Seventies. Dreamticket, there's a box on the cover of Dandy No. 1001, Jan 28th 1961. It's been coloured red like a GPO phone box, and it's not quite the standard London design. I'll post a scan soon.

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 20 May 2013, 13:13
by dreamticket
suebutcher wrote:The only one I remember well was on the road leading from Fort Hill to Broughty Ferry; it had an air-raid siren on top (the icing on the cake!). It was removed in the Seventies. Dreamticket, there's a box on the cover of Dandy No. 1001, Jan 28th 1961. It's been coloured red like a GPO phone box, and it's not quite the standard London design. I'll post a scan soon.
Hi Sue, that would be nice. It would be really nice if you could post a cover scan here, as well: http://www.comics.org/issue/158224/

(The Dandy: criminally under-represented)!

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 20 May 2013, 14:07
by colcool007
There was one in Kirriemuir until the 1980's and it sat beside the Police Station for years. I know it disappeared in that decade as I did not visit the centre of that metropolis that much :lol: and it only disappeared when I went to look for it one day when I was of working age. I was armed with a camera so that I could "take" my picture with a Tardis!

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 21 May 2013, 09:24
by matrix
The 'Belle of the ballet' scan has a police box in the story Dreamticket, well half of one! And a bit more nostalgia, the 'Lion and the Unicorn' scan has a telephone box with button A, and B, which I used many times.

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 22 May 2013, 10:06
by suebutcher
Exploding cigar anarchy from The Dandy:

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 22 May 2013, 19:08
by Digifiend
Why is that Police Box red? Phone boxes are red, Police Boxes are meant to be blue.

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 22 May 2013, 19:45
by felneymike
They might have been different colours in different areas, I'm pretty sure phone boxes were once different colours in different counties. They were also painted green during the war! I can remember being on holiday somewhere once and seeing a dark green one in amongst some hedges.

"Police Boxes" of a kind still exist in Japan, where they are called Koban. They're more like small police stations, though, and are usually near a railway station, which forms the "centre" of a neighbourhood (even Tokyo feels more like a lot of small towns than one huge city, because of this). If there'd never been a Beeching Axe, perhaps something like it would have been done here too.

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 22 May 2013, 22:10
by stevezodiac
It was probably felt the blue uniforms and the blue police box would clash so artistic licence was used?

I seem to recall a communication breakdown with colourists at Marvel that ended up with the Hulk becoming green or is that an urban myth? He was grey on an early front cover.

Re: Police Boxes

Posted: 23 May 2013, 01:42
by suebutcher
I'd say you're right, Steve, an artist choice for clarity.

As for the Hulk, there are similar mysteries about the colour of Korky's nose, Rupert's fur, and Magnus Robot Fighter's boots.