Red Boxes
When phones were immobile and lived in RED BOXES (Expanded 2nd Edition)
Click to download sample chapters When told that a son of a friend was going to climb Kilimanjaro as part of a project to raise money for a children’s education programme to combat AIDS in Africa, I wanted to help. In appreciation of my own childhood, I decided to write this little account of life as I lived it in the 1940’s to early 1950’s. All profits from the book’s sale has been promised to the above cause.
This new edition adds four new chapters, covering the years to 1980. Starting a home – moving to Loughborough and then up north to Furness. Starting a familiy – the trials and tribulations of the 1950’s NHS and social attitudes. Freelance designing and teacher training – becoming a student again ! The joys of teaching.
When I was young, having few toys or books, I lived largely in a world of my own imagination. I would turn cornflowers into fairies by giving them matchstick arms and legs, and play with them for hours. We had concerts in an attic — winding up the old gramophone and dancing to ballet music. I rarely went more than a few miles from home – holidays were for the well–off. We were terribly ignorant and naive but we were free to be children. This book is a peek into a different world — a world of innocent childhood and where dreams can sometimes come true. — Gladys Hobson
“A charming publication, well written and guaranteed to bring back fond memories for people of a certain age… those among us who always relied on the telephone in the red box as opposed to the anti social horror story that is the mobile phone. The book is highly entertaining and vastly amusing, especially the ‘balloon’ blowing incident!” — Cumbria and Lake District Life, Aug 2004.
“Red Boxes is very interesting and entertaining, and it certainly brings back memories of a different way of living, which I’m sure younger people will find almost strange — used as they are to all mod–cons and lots of everything! The drawings add to the reader’s enjoyment.” — Maureen Hillman.
| Title | Red Boxes — When phones were immobile and lived in RED BOXES (2nd Edition) |
| Author | Gladys Hobson |
| Illustrations | Gladys Hobson and Gary Lyons |
| Publisher | Magpies Nest Publishing |
| ISBN | 978-0-9548885-8-9 |
| Pages | 168, A5, B&W |
| Price | £7.50 |
| Available from | Direct from Magpies Nest Publishing |
When phones were immobile and lived in RED BOXES (original version)
Please note that this original version is out of print, please order the revised version above. The information below is for reference only.
| Title | Red Boxes — When phones were immobile and lived in RED BOXES |
| Author | Gladys Hobson |
| Illustrations | Gladys Hobson and Gary Lyons |
| Publisher | Magpies Nest Publishing |
| Printing and binding | Stramongate Press, Kendal |
| ISBN | 0-9548885-0-2 |
| Pages | 128, A5, B&W |
| Price | £4.99 |
| Available from | Out of Print |