Small plastic souvenir model of the Post Office Tower, moulded by Standard Telephones and Cables for sale in the post office tower shop between 1966 and 1971.

This small plastic souvenir model of the Post Office Tower (now BT Tower) was available for sale to the public in the tower shop between 1966 and 1971. The tower was open to the public from 1966 to 1981, when public access to the building was restricted for security reasons.

When the tower was open to the public, visitors could dine and drink at a revolving restaurant and cocktail bar called the ‘Top of the Tower’, where they received a certificate as proof of their visit (see Science Museum object no MS/2193/1/15).

BT Tower (previously known as GPO Tower and Post Office Tower), an iconic and widely recognised communications tower, is 189 metres tall including aerial rigging. It was opened by then Prime Minister Harold Wilson on 8 October 1965 and officially opened to the general public in May 1966 by then Postmaster General Tony Benn.

BT Tower was the tallest building in the UK when it opened in 1965 and it remained the tallest building in London until 1980 when the Natwest Tower was built. It is an iconic building in central London and is widely visible throughout London.