pay phone story

Name	Matart Domed Telephone Booth
Date	c.1928–1929. In 1967, postal designers developed a modernised type.
Manufacturer	manufactured by Farkas & Co. or Gyula Jungfer.

Hungarian Phone Booth-  Matart Domed Telephone Booth, c.1928–1929

The Hungarian Matart domed telephone booth was introduced around 1928–1929 as public telephone provision expanded in Budapest. Commissioned by Magyar Telefonautomata Rt. (Matart), it became the most widespread of the early kiosk designs. Architectural historian András Ferkai identified Farkas és Társa and Gyula Jungfer as manufacturers; the individual designer remains unconfirmed. thingsmagazine.net

Constructed in cast iron, the booth had a square plan, slender corner posts, large glazed side panels and a hinged entrance door. Its shallow dome rose above curved pediments and a projecting cornice. Some examples carried a pointed roof fitting for supporting cables. Horizontal glazing bars divided the door, while the sides generally contained larger, uninterrupted panes. Green framing and contrasting cream or yellow panels characterised surviving examples.

The enclosure provided shelter and privacy, with space for a telephone, directory, writing shelf and operating instructions. Early installations also displayed emergency telephone numbers. Matart operated the network until its dissolution in March 1950, when responsibility passed to Magyar Posta. hirado.hu

Damaged booths were restored after the Second World War. In 1967, postal designers developed a modernised type retaining the earlier Matart booth’s form and colouring. Consequently, photographs of similar domed kiosks may show original structures, restored examples or later adaptations fitted with successive generations of public telephone equipment.

Above- Hungarian twin telephone booth

No designer is recorded, but it was manufactured by Farkas & Co. or Gyula Jungfer. And what is surely significant is that the design was commissioned after a thorough study of foreign telephone kiosks. A contemporary article mentions that the Hungarian kiosk was modelled on one used in Vienna. This is plausible, as Hungary so often looked to Austria, while cultural links with Britain were few and far between. Even so, because the method by which Scott’s K2 design was selected attracted widespread interest, an influence on the Budapest design is also possible.