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A Phone Box is not a TARDIS or Police Box Stampers
Sorry to be pedantic but the latest FB post has put me over the edge.
SU apparently have a new Phone Box stamp and the trend is to color it blue and call it a Police Box or TARDIS from Dr Who. They are two completely different things. A bit like calling the Gateway Arch the Washington Monument and saying it doesn't matter.
I'm positive Whovians will appreciate the effort, but they will also know the difference between a Phone Box (which is normally only red) and a Police Box.
Yes Phone Boxes are only red traditionally and Police Boxes are only blue traditionally, and from what I remember it is traditionally because even when I lived there it has been a while since I saw either.
AND by all means you can make it blue, pink, paper piece it with flowers etc... but I just thought it was better to let people know than to get a rather blank stare from a Dr Who fan when they open your card.
Traditional British phone boxes are indeed red and have lots of small panes of glass so you can see somebody standing in one all the way down to her feet - only the back wall where the phone is mounted is solid, the other three sides have the little panes of glass. You can still see the odd one here and there although most were replaced with "modern" silver framed ones with fewer, larger glass panes and even those are dying out in the age of the mobile phone. The SU! stamp is a good representation of a traditional British phone box.
A traditional British Police box is blue and is solid all the way round, the only way you'd see inside it at all is if the door is open in order to use the emergency phone (the window area at the top is too high to really see through). Not that Police boxes have been functional in the UK for many years (unless you count the Edinburgh ones that have become espresso kiosks but that's another story!).
The stamp Kristen linked to is a good Police box image and, as you can see, is completely different in shape and style than the phone box image. If you want to please a Whovian, invest in the Viva Las Vegas stamp!
(a Brit, lamenting the demise of the phone box as an icon on our streets!)
How fascinating!! I had to google to find out who Dr Who was, what a tardis was, and what a police box was!! I actually already knew what a phone booth was. I had a Fisher Price phone booth for the little Fisher Price people. But it wasn't red.
You're absolutely right. A true Whovian (like me) would know the difference. And every photo I've seen of public phone boxes shows them in red. The TARDIS is, indeed, a Police Call Box, and it is blue. It's also a different shape, and "it's much larger on the inside." ;)
Holy crap, here are the SCS Whovians! Hello, sweeties!
I did use the new phone box stamp to do a prototype. As I explained when I posted the card to my Tumblr, the stamp was a phone box and not a real police box, ergo you shouldn't even begin to pass it off as a Doctor Who card. Still, I wanted to see what the combination would be like and created a prototype. I used SU's Night of Navy (what I call TARDIS blue) paper and ink and used one of the Tim Holtz-embossing folders just to see what the end result would be until I could figure out how to make a stencil of a real police box. I didn't even post it to my SCS gallery.
However, the cool thing is that a friend who has a machine that makes rubber stamps offered to custom-make a proper police box stamp for me after seeing the prototype, and that's made me all giddy. Though I might just order the Susan M. Brown stamp instead.
Enjoying this thread!
I'd just like to add that the old-fashioned iconic phone box here was exactly the same as the British one in looks only NEVER red. Cream, with green lettering.
Now I wish I had the old Tardis coinbox that used to be on the kitchen windowsill when I was young, for a closer look to see how authentic it was. Probably very, given it came from someone who'd worked in the BBC sound studios on some of the Dr. Whos and would have spotted a fake a mile away. But I just can't remember!!
And Sabrina - oh my on the coinbox. I bet that was authentic. How fascinating to find out the Irish phone boxes were same but different, and might I add stereotypically Irish by the sound of it!
Meg, I would definitely be interested in that custom police call box stamp. Please PM me.
I haven't gotten around to designing it with the friend. I might just go with the VLV stamps phone box, because that appears to be an accurate depiction, and I can just order it now.
I haven't gotten around to designing it with the friend. I might just go with the VLV stamps phone box, because that appears to be an accurate depiction, and I can just order it now.
I love this police box (the one from Viva Las Vegas)!
I would like to get a single unmounted stamp which is $7.20 but the shipping is $5.95 to Canada. Is there somebody that would be willing to add this stamp to their order and pop it into a regular envelope for me? It shouldn't cost more than a regular letter. Please pm me if you can do this. Thank you! :-)
This has nothing to do with the actual stamp but I swear, every time I see the word TARDIS in print, I can only hear Graham Norton's voice saying Tarrrrrrrdis
Oh blast I wish I had seen this earlier - However, most years on the superbowl they run a very good sale that may mostly cover your shipping costs. For Superbowl 46 it was 46% off.
Gah! I'm glad that I didn't see the "Have time, will travel." or look around more for that matter! It could have been a lot more costly than the one police box stamp! LOL!
This has nothing to do with the actual stamp but I swear, every time I see the word TARDIS in print, I can only hear Graham Norton's voice saying Tarrrrrrrdis
Gah! I'm glad that I didn't see the "Have time, will travel." or look around more for that matter! It could have been a lot more costly than the one police box stamp! LOL!
:-D
Barbara
Yeah, I've been browsing the sayings and there are too many that I like. Ack!
__________________ aka Sue. Or Sue-odd.
No blog for me. My gallery chronicles my card-making successes and mishaps.
Loving all this chatter about the Police Box image. Just wanted to share I have posted my altered book page for you all to see :p Susan M. Brown {sbartist}
Yes Phone Boxes are only red traditionally and Police Boxes are only blue traditionally, and from what I remember it is traditionally because even when I lived there it has been a while since I saw either.
AND by all means you can make it blue, pink, paper piece it with flowers etc... but I just thought it was better to let people know than to get a rather blank stare from a Dr Who fan when they open your card.
RiverIsis- Your post made me laugh so hard. I have enjoyed reading all Dr Who fans replies. Yes, there is a huge difference on boxes. I watch Torchwood. You can't watch Torchwood without brushing up on Dr. Who everything, lol. I haven't delved deep into Dr. Who yet. I am finishing Warehouse 13 & Alpha's right now.
Big fun note about VLV for everyone who ordered. When your shipment comes in it will always be in a recycled box. You can even expect boxes from frozen dinners, lol. VLV is my favorite stamp company. I love ordering from them just to see what kind of box I will get in the mail.
Loving all this chatter about the Police Box image. Just wanted to share I have posted my altered book page for you all to see :p Susan M. Brown {sbartist}
FYI - VLVS! also has a traditional british phone booth also {nice size, too} Telephone Booth 2 x 4 1/2
Oh yes, that is already on my heaving wishlist which will need to be trimmed! And Love your travelogue page. If you don't mind me asking are you a cut and paste collage person or did you mask your images?
RiverIsis- Your post made me laugh so hard. I have enjoyed reading all Dr Who fans replies. Yes, there is a huge difference on boxes. I watch Torchwood. You can't watch Torchwood without brushing up on Dr. Who everything, lol. I haven't delved deep into Dr. Who yet. I am finishing Warehouse 13 & Alpha's right now.
Big fun note about VLV for everyone who ordered. When your shipment comes in it will always be in a recycled box. You can even expect boxes from frozen dinners, lol. VLV is my favorite stamp company. I love ordering from them just to see what kind of box I will get in the mail.
I'll admit I haven't watched Dr. Who since I left home (never had TV since then) - Tom Baker was still the Doctor at the time. But after hearing a couple of Torchwoods that were exclusive to radio, I picked up the DVDs at the library and really enjoyed them; it was only then I made the connection between the two :oops:.
I know I have a photo of the cream Irish phone box - but the one on my blog is taken from a distance to put in in context, and I'm not on my PC which is where the closer-up ones are stored.
I know I have a photo of the cream Irish phone box - but the one on my blog is taken from a distance to put in in context, and I'm not on my PC which is where the closer-up ones are stored.
Oh yes, that is already on my heaving wishlist which will need to be trimmed! And Love your travelogue page. If you don't mind me asking are you a cut and paste collage person or did you mask your images?
I'm so glad you like it. :p It really depends on the project. Sometimes it's easier for me to cut and paste all the pieces, sometimes I will mask. For this particular page I did a little of both. First I layered my background with a gesso/acrylic paint mixture, then I added my DIY tissue tape. Then I stamped the octopus and masked him using post-it's then I stamped the police box. I fussy cut everything else that was clipped out of travel brochures I grabbed in the hotel lobby. I drew in the rest and colored everything with Ranger Distress Markers using my waterbrush {my fav technique}. For more info on my book check this out... sbartist : daylight musings: Holiday SMASHbook Travelogue for Saturday Crafts Fair on Linqto - Dec. 22, 2012