1950s Childhood

Police Public Call Box, London

A police officer using a Police Public Call Box on a London street. The Metropolitan Police introduced police boxes throughout the London area between 1928 and 1937. The one pictured is a Mackenzie Trench style police box, made famous by the long-running TV series, Doctor Who. The boxes were installed so that members of the public could make emergency calls to the police, but many boxes are now disused or have been withdrawn from service because of the prevalence of the mobile phone.

© Mary Evans Picture Library

Boys approaching the entrance of the Natural History Museum

Reports on the first few months of the Children's Centre concluded that the majority of the children were under 11, often 'sent out after breakfast with nothing to do'. Date:

© Mary Evans / Natural History Museum

1950, 20th Century, Approach, Archive, Black And White, Boy, Child, Children, England, Entrance, Europe, Great Britain, Group, Historic, Historical, Locomotion, London, Museum, Natural History Museum, Nhm, People, The Natural History Museum, Visitor, Walking

Metropolitan Police officers teaching road safety

Metropolitan Police officers teaching road safety to children. The man in the white outfit with traffic lights on his front is Safety Sam, a character invented to encourage children to think about road safety. A sergeant stands with four little girls in the foreground, and a large audience of children watches from the other side of the road. Date: 1949

© Mary Evans Picture Library