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Puzzle Detail Baffler Puzzles Chris Yates

About the Parleys

In the early 1990s relatively few craftspeople were cutting wooden jigsaw puzzles, and most were working in isolation. Rachel Page (Pagey) Elliott decided it was time to break down those barriers. She came up with the inspired idea of a "Puzzle Parley," a gathering together of jigsaw puzzle cutters to share ideas and experiences. She proposed this concept to Bob Armstrong and recruited him as organizer. Pagey and Bob, along with Debby Greeley (Pagey's sister) and Anne Williams, were the forces behind the first Parley in 1994. Below you will find documentation on the past Puzzle Parleys. You can use the side bar to navigate to specific Past Parleys.

Puzzle Detail image from Jardin Puzzles by Melinda Shebell
Puzzle Detail Jardin Puzzles Melinda Shebell

The 8th Puzzle Parley - San Francisco, CA - April 2007

4/16/2007

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Detail Anne Williams commemorative puzzle
The eighth meeting since 1994 of puzzle cutters, collectors, enthusiasts, and dealers was held Thursday evening and Friday, April 12-13, 2007 at the Holiday Inn Golden Gate in San Francisco, CA. Nearly 60 people attended the all-day session on Friday. The meeting was held immediately preceding the Annual AGPC Convention, so many attendees at the puzzle meeting stayed over for the Convention, some for the first time and some as new AGPC members.

On Thursday night, attendees arriving early met at the Hotel lounge to be greeted and meet by the organizers and other attendees, followed by a buffet dinner at the Hotel. After dinner, Bob Armstrong reviewed his remarks about Ebay from the 2000 puzzle meeting at Katonah, NY, and introduced the audience to the latest fad on Ebay: "ego-bidding" through Esnipe. The audience were intrigued by Bob's analysis of how a bidder, "with deep pockets and nerves of steel", can virtually guarantee being the winning bidder on the better quality puzzles listed on Ebay.

Friday's all-day session featured:
  • 2-hour Round table discussion of cutting issues among puzzle makers
  • Presentations by Melinda Shebell and Joe Seymour honoring the contributions to the American jigsaw puzzle world of Anne Williams and Bob Armstrong (see below) followed by Melinda's story of the making of the special puzzles for Anne and Bob
  • Power-point presentation by Melinda Shebell on planning for and making the first cuts in a puzzle, with extensive images of patterns in old puzzles
  • Presentation by Joe Seymour about the effects of humidity and heat on wood, glues and sealants used in puzzles today
  • Review by Bob Armstrong of the special collections displayed on his website www.oldpuzzles.com emphasizing the importance for puzzle enthusiasts to focus their collecting on areas of special interest to themselves
  • Table sales of jigsaw puzzles, many cut by the makers in attendance

The highlight of the meeting was the presentations to Anne Williams and Bob Armstrong of two enormous puzzles brilliantly designed by Melinda Shebell. Approximately fifteen  puzzle makers from around the country had cut individual sections for both. Anne's puzzle (3 ft x 3 ft) featured a collage of images of leading puzzles divided into four eras. These eras depict the history of American puzzles to which Anne has contributed so much: pre-1900, 1900 to 1930, 1930 to 1960, 1960 to today.

Bob's puzzle (2 ft x 5 ft) featured images of all 16 of the Ludovici Dickens coaching scene puzzles, which Bob has collected for many year. These were cut employing nearly all the special cutting techniques which Bob analyzed in his series of articles for the AGPC Quarterly published in 2002.

Both Anne and Bob, who had cut sections for each other's puzzle, were totally surprised when presented with their own large puzzle and astounded that Melinda could engineer two such spectacular puzzles at the same time.
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Detail Stave puzzle photo courtesy Bob Armstrong
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    Past Parleys

    All
    1994 - 1st Concord
    1996 - 2nd Lexington
    1997 - 3rd Worcester
    1999 - 4th NYC
    2000 - 5th Katonah
    2002 - 6th NYC
    2004 - 7th Concord
    2007 - 8th San Fran
    2008 - 9th Sturbridge
    2010 - 10th Salem
    2012 - 11th Salem
    2014 - 12th Salem
    2016 - 13th Salem
    2018 - 14th Rochester
    2021 - 15th Virtual
    2022 - 16th Sturbridge

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