Old telephone boxes

Author
Discussion

StevieBee

Original Poster:

13,554 posts

262 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
Have a corner of the garden in which I thought an old red telephone box would make a quirky addition.

I remember these being sold in what seemed like every landscapers yards, scrap yards and similar for a few hundred quid but a cursory look seems to suggest £3k is the going rate!!!

Is this a case demand now outstripping supply or is there a secret stash somewhere?

Snow and Rocks

2,415 posts

34 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
I spotted a half decent one a few years back at a farm auction (or roup as they're known as up here in Aberdeenshire) and half heartedly thought about sticking a bid in if it was cheap enough.

I retreated quickly as the bids rapidly reached £1k - maybe that wasn't as ridiculous as I thought at the time!

bimsb6

8,164 posts

228 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
They are also very heavy ! Made of cast iron with a concrete base .

Simpo Two

87,035 posts

272 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
Time to set up a phone box replica company Steve!

If you can't buy 'em make 'em...

DonkeyApple

58,922 posts

176 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
Time to set up a phone box replica company Steve!

If you can't buy 'em make 'em...
Jesus!!! You don't hang around!!

Barely 30 minutes after posting and you've already got the product to market

http://www.thephoneybox.com/

JimM169

562 posts

129 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
DonkeyApple said:
Simpo Two said:
Time to set up a phone box replica company Steve!

If you can't buy 'em make 'em...
Jesus!!! You don't hang around!!

Barely 30 minutes after posting and you've already got the product to market

http://www.thephoneybox.com/
At £2,860 including delivery, I think I'd rather an original

sfella

1,013 posts

115 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
Seriously people paying £2600 for a replica? Wow

MrJuice

3,663 posts

163 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
Neighbour has one. He had to dismantle it which he did, sprayed it and assembled. It looks great

700kg

JimM169

562 posts

129 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
This place has project ones for £2k+VAT

https://www.x2connect.com/Shop/K6#Kiosks


TikTak

1,816 posts

26 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
Know a guy who ran a couple bars that had them in a few years back.

Think they were £4-5k to buy, deliver and put in situ/cable in with lights etc.

wolfracesonic

7,501 posts

134 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
sfella said:
Seriously people paying £2600 for a replica? Wow
I know, it’s crazy, I bet they don’t even stink of stale piss either…

bad company

19,466 posts

273 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
wolfracesonic said:
I know, it’s crazy, I bet they don’t even stink of stale piss either…
laughlaughlaugh

Cow Corner

297 posts

37 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
I’d love one as we live in an Edwardian house on a crossroads, so think it would look really cool.

But I need to wait until I can justify such a spend on a ‘luxury’ or just wait until my wife isn’t looking then install it and say ‘the phone box, that’s always been there darling’…

RoadToad84

768 posts

41 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
I'm sure I remember these being sold off for a quid after the introduction of the glass style boxes. I always wanted one, but living on a second floor council flat at the time meant it was unlikely to happen.

Simpo Two

87,035 posts

272 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
DonkeyApple said:
Simpo Two said:
Time to set up a phone box replica company Steve!

If you can't buy 'em make 'em...
Jesus!!! You don't hang around!!

Barely 30 minutes after posting and you've already got the product to market

http://www.thephoneybox.com/
hehe

They don't say what it's made from but judging by the weight difference it's probably GRP.

Skyedriver

18,861 posts

289 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
wolfracesonic said:
sfella said:
Seriously people paying £2600 for a replica? Wow
I know, it’s crazy, I bet they don’t even stink of stale piss either…
Now there's another business venture opportunity

I can come round and provide the correct amount of odorous liquid. to create the correct aromatic ambience.

On a serious note, there was a place in Thirsk that stocked/sold originals and I seem to remember a yard near Blaydon stockpiled with them.
Friends have an original, had it maybe 25 years or more. Was being craned off the truck when it dropped and the back CI panel shattered, now replaced with a sheet of MS.

Wish

1,380 posts

256 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
I’ve got an early K6 wanted a K2 but thought I would get the K6 and then find a K2…. 10 years later life moves on and the price of K2’s are thousands more !


Wish

1,380 posts

256 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all

nuyorican

1,826 posts

109 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
What was that smell?

Yes, a trace of stale piss no doubt, but something else too. Phone boxes had their very own unique smell.


DonkeyApple

58,922 posts

176 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
nuyorican said:
What was that smell?

Yes, a trace of stale piss no doubt, but something else too. Phone boxes had their very own unique smell.
Pissers and sniffers. Often had a sweat smell of glue over the acrid stale urine.

One of the last times I used a phone box was when I'd borrowed my father's car to head in to Soho with a mate and at the end of the evening it wouldn't start (Jags!). Called the AA and while waiting we collected a load of the prossie cards from the phone box and sat in the car playing top trumps with them.

When the AA turned up we shoved them in the glove box and promptly forgot about them.

My mother found them some time later and I received a call from a rather irate father. rofl

The last time the same mate and I went into a phone box to collect the cards it was after a long night drinking in town and heading back to another mate's flat in Hyde Park. We stashed the cards in the books he had in his living room that we were convinced were just for show.

Again, we subsequently forgot all about that only to be reminded years later when our mate recounts a tale of his future mother in law visiting and deciding to pick up and flick through his lovely collection of art books and autobiographies. rofl

It's probably a good thing they got rid of the phone boxes.