Nostalgia Games

A CHRISTMAS PARTY 'ROUND THE WIRELESS

This is such a great puzzle I'd love to keep it for myself! There are about 350 pieces of quality ply and quality cut. I don't know who the maker was as the pieces come in an Academy box which should have a picture of some women seeing off the fishing fleet - it is obviously NOT Academy. The pieces are line and colour cut, some are interlocking, some push-fit. The costumes, the radio, the poses are all very 1920's and the picture was painted in 1922. There is one re-made piece, the others are all good. PRICE: £65.00

"PUZZLA" FISHING HAMLET

This is a lovely 160 piece jigsaw made for the Puzzla , The Great Picture Puzzle Craze, name but, so I have been told, actually made by Peacock for Puzzla. It is complete but with one piece re-made (the one that is a little shallow in the picture). The pieces are all push-fit and it comes in its original box. PRICE: £25.00

MAIL COACH IN INN YARD

This is a 160 piece jigsaw by Simkin Marshall, contained in an old Kayser silk hosiery box. It measures about 16" x 12" and is complete with its big pieces. The puzzle is in very good condition. PRICE: £20.00

VICHAND - AUTUMN BROWN

This is another 250 piece jigsaw, complete and in excellent condition. The picture is from a painting and is of two young country women standing near a river/stream enjoying one of the last lovely days before winter (or, at least, that's my interpretation!) It looks like a Victorian painting but I don't know who is the artist. PRICE: £45.00

"COURSE 90 DEGREES MAGNETIC"

This is an interesting and unusual puzzle with a great cut. The picture was painted specially for the Navy by Winston Megoran and the puzzle was cut in November, 1943, by JWF. The sub-title to this picture is "Survivors in the Atlantic" and I assume that the picture relates to a war-time sinking of a ship with survivors in the little boats. There are about 275 pieces and the measurements are 12.5" x 7.36" (if my maths is right!) The puzzle is in a Christmas box with a printed label with additions in typewriting. PRICE: £40.00

WORLD MAP between 1922-1937

This is a map produced by Geo. Philip & Son sometime between the above dates....I know this because it has the Irish Free State on it. It is complete and in quite good condition with a little foxing. There is no original box so I'm not certain who the maker is. PRICE: £25.00

WATERFALL IN KILLARNEY

This is a gorgeous picture on a 320 piece complete jigsaw. It came as part of a lot from the Leigham Jigsaw Library (based in Ewell, Surrey) probably in the late 20's - 30's. The puzzle is 19" tall and 7.5" across and has an interesting and unusual cut. It comes in its original library box. PRICE: £55.00

ANOTHER LEIGHAM PUZZLE

This is another from the same lot (unfortunately, the others were missing too many pieces to be saleable). This one is of Anstey's Cove, Torquay and was a truly wonderful puzzle to do. The cut in this one is even more interesting than the one above and, because it is bigger (450+ pieces), even more difficult with lots of colour and line cutting. It is 18.5" x 11.5", has one corner piece missing and one previously re-made piece. PRICE: £75.00

THE BLIND BEGGAR

This puzzle comes in a small, square, orange box with a typewritten label on one end giving the name of the puzzle and the number of pieces (123); there is no clue as to the maker. The puzzle is difficult and should be done on a non-slippery surface (the pieces move if you look at them!). There is one piece missing - though it is possible I'll find it among other pieces, as there were about ten scattered through the lot of games and jigsaws it came with. The pieces all appear to be brown but, when put together, there is an interesting scene. PRICE: £12.00

HIGHLAND CATTLE

I like this tall, thin puzzle. The picture is a chromolithograph which was applied to quite a thin ply-wood. There are about 250 pieces with one edge piece missing as well as a small nib. The jigsaw comes in a fancy-paper covered box with a hand-written label on the end and there is no mention of maker. PRICE: £25.00

THE SQUIRE'S STORY

This is another of those puzzles which is in the 'wrong' box. It is a Chad Valley 700 piece jigsaw with one piece badly chewed by a dog and replaced with a professionally remade piece. Otherwise it is complete but for one knob. It's a good picture in the style of M. Dovaston and others but I can't read the signature. It was made about 1935 and is 21" long and 16.5" across. PRICE: £95.00

SELFRIDGE'S SPECIAL INTERLOCK

This is a small (80 piece) puzzle which comes in a Selfridge's box with the name "Sunshine after Mist". It could be called that though I'm not sure why! It is complete with one piece which has been either remade or slightly damaged by a dog?? PRICE: £12.00

BETWEEN WARS MAP OF ENGLAND AND WALES

If you're looking for a good, 'educational' gift for a youngster, this might be the answer! It is a thick plywood map of England and Wales with the sea and surrounds in nicely cut interlocking pieces and the counties cut round their shape. The map has main towns and main rivers with hints of hills and mountains. I know that my husband would have loved this as a boy as he is still crazy about maps. It is about 11.5" x 8.5" and in excellent condition apart from one piece of sea which is mysteriously discoloured. The puzzle is in its original box with no mention of maker. PRICE: £12.00

LADY CATHERINE'S GARDEN PUZZLE

This is a 260 piece Tuck's Zag Zaw puzzle complete with about 30 whimsies including one which is most unusual - the initials USA cut in an interlocking manner (see second photo for all the really great whimsies!). The puzzle came in a plain box with a small piece of paper on which was written: "The Lily pond in the garden. 259 fancy shapes such as birds houses flowers butterflies etc (in wood) 10 3/4" x 14 1/2" over 100 years old and complete original owner Lady Catherine Haig Robinson of Oxford" (sic). Now, I know this puzzle is not over 100 years old and there are not 259 fancy shapes but the writer most likely believed it when he/she wrote it! PRICE: £65.00 RESERVED FOR SH

FIRST IN A SET OF NINE 'PAPER' PUZZLES

This is "The Baby", a 70 piece very early cardboard puzzle. I have been lucky enough to find ten of these, one of which is missing too many to offer it. This is the first I've put together and photographed. The picture - which is a chromolithograph - is full of Victorian life! There is one piece missing, into the place of which I have put the original title square. The puzzles were dated by the auctioneer as 19th century and I would put them at around 1880 but they could be a little earlier. Looking at all the little squares I thought it might be quite difficult to put them together properly but there are enough clues on any one piece to help you find its correct position - if you know, for example, what the pediment of a wardrobe might look like! Mind you, this is the first...they might get harder to do! PRICE: £15.00

GATE CRASHERS

This puzzle comes in a red box with a white line around the lid and no clue as to the maker. There are around 300 pieces making a very nice hunting picture. There are 4 re-made pieces and a couple of pieces slightly warped. PRICE: £40.00

BLACKSMITH'S COTTAGE

This is a 300 piece solid wood jigsaw contained in an old white box and made, possibly, by Puzzla (the cut certainly looks similar, anyway!) The pieces are push-fit and the cut is difficult enough to be a challenge. There are three re-made pieces. The puzzle measures 14" x 19" when put together. PRICE: £50.00

PRE-1930 VICTORY IN HINGED BOX

This is a nice 300 piece puzzle with a picture of the sea and sky against cliffs. There are loads of whimsies and some colour cutting. One piece is missing and one piece was damaged by a dog (NOT MINE!). PRICE: £20.00

MID 19TH CENTURY MAP PUZZLE, PUBLISHED BY CRUCHLEY

This is a very nice puzzle which comes in a lovely mahogany box with sliding lid. The map was engraved and published by G.F. Cruchley of Fleet Street in the mid 1800's and is backed with green paper. The map is of England and Wales with, unfortunately, one county of Wales missing. As far as I can see this map doesn't appear in Linda Hannas' book but she does say that Cruchloey occasionally dissected his own maps but more usually supplied them to other puzzle makers. Included in the box is a copy of the map (not dissected!) PRICE: £50.00

THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH

This is an antique puzzle made in the 1850’s by William Spooner of 379 The Strand in London. As can be seen, there are three largish pieces missing plus a few lobes but the main pieces are all there and the puzzle comes with a sheet of the original hand-
coloured print which has been backed by linen and which in very good condition for a piece of paper printed over 150 years ago. The colours on this sheet are almost as bright as they would have been on the day they were painted. The colours on the puzzle pieces are somewhat faded but still good. The puzzle was backed by a dark wood which itself was backed by paper to help it not to warp. The puzzle and sheet come in the original box made for it which is of a light wood and has a sliding top, half of which is missing. PRICE: £50.00

A CAVALIER VISITS THE SWORD MAKER

This puzzle is by Delta and made during the 1930's. It is complete and in good condition and is contained in its original box which shows its age but is in good enough condition not to lose any pieces! There are about 250 pieces and it was a fun puzzle to do. PRICE: £20.00

WH SMITH SHOP IN 800 PIECES!

This is another of the puzzles from the Gem Puzzle Library. It shows a WH Smith shop in an older building with the street outside. Notice the postman's bicycle on the left and the cart on the right. The puzzle itself was very difficult because of the way the picture was painted by an artist who signed the picture in red: FORSTER. I haven't been able to find out anything about the artist but would guess this picture was made sometime in the 30's to 50's. If you recognise the building, you may be able to date this better than I!
There are around 800 pieces to this puzzle with two whole pieces missing as well as a selection of much smaller bits of pieces (around 10) and there is one that has been repainted which is fairly unnoticeable in the photograph. PRICE: £50.00