The 10th Puzzle Parley - Salem, MA - August 2010

Detail Par puzzle from the Bluebird collection

The Tenth Puzzle Parley, a "specialty meeting" of the AGPC, was held at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, MA Friday thru Sunday, August 13-15, 2010. An extra day was added on Monday for those able to drive up to Anne Williams' Open House in Lewiston, ME to see her puzzle collection and memorabilia. One hundred seventeen (117) jigsaw puzzle cutters, collectors, enthusiasts, dealers, restorers, vendors, and guests attended part or all of the program. This broke all records within recent memory for jigsaw puzzle gatherings in the U.S., except for some of the national puzzle competitions held in the early 1980s.

It was also the largest AGPC gathering since its founding. Bob Armstrong and Melinda Shebell co-organized the meeting; Kelly Taylor, of the Keljoy Company served as events planner and did a terrific job. The Hawthorne Hotel also did a fine job handling everything, including last minute changes to accommodate such a large crowd.

The Parley began Friday afternoon with a short trip out to Jim Ayer's factory in Marblehead, MA to view his water jet puzzle cutting operation. We all marveled at the intricate details Jim was able to cut into his puzzles using a water jet. After a delicious buffet dinner at the Hawthorne, several cutters described their latest creations.

Mary Albitz then described her " Jigsaw Java. From Dream to Fruition " , a neighborhood coffee gathering spot featuring lots of jigsaw and mechanical puzzles to assemble and/or buy. She also discussed special events she has organized, including a puzzle contest attended by several AGPC members, and puzzle activities to help raise money for autism. To our best knowledge, this is the only coffee house with such an emphasis on puzzles in the United States.

After Mary's presentation, many of us participated in a giant " Yankee Swap" , where attendees contributed a wrapped puzzle ostensibly worth $25 to $50, and then each contributor drew a number and successively opened a puzzle from the pile. They could then exchange that puzzle for any puzzle already opened or keep it. Once the last puzzle was drawn, the first person to have started the drawing could trade with any in the room. Complicated, yes, but it was a lot of fun!

The Yankee Swap was followed by a Cutters' swap. Each cutter participating brought one of their own hand-cut jigsaw puzzles to swap with each of the other cutters participating. A fast way to build a collection of puzzles cut by today's makers! Attendees then adjourned to the Library where there were all kinds of jigsaw puzzles awaiting assembly.

Saturday was a full day with attendance expanding as the meeting progressed. The room was lined with jigsaw puzzles by cutters and collectors, a magnificent sight for any puzzler! The meeting started with "Cutters' Conversation" during which the puzzle cutters discussed various issues.

The room was lined with jigsaw puzzles by cutters and collectors, a magnificent sight for any puzzler! ​

Then, Dee Rogers demonstrated a magnificent 3-D puzzle of a circus scene, in which the figure pieces, lying in the puzzle when flat, could be reinserted to stand up and link together, forming complicated structures rising up from the puzzle. These could be dogs jumping through hoops or an acrobat pyramid. Dee certainly is one of the most innovative puzzle makers in recent years!

After the Cutter's Conversations, Anne Williams delivered her usual fine presentation, this time on " How Did They Do It? Parker Brothers' Pastime Puzzles". Most appropriate, since our meeting was taking place in Salem, not too far from the former factory building where Pastime puzzles were cut. Especially fascinating were Anne's comments on the environment in the Pastime cutting room, and the human side of puzzle cutting 50 to 100 years ago. Since Pastime puzzles are much in demand these days, collectors and enthusiasts in the audience listened with great care, some even taking notes.

Anne's presentation was followed by a buffet lunch during which Mark Cappitella set up his scroll saw and gave a demonstration on puzzle cutting. Boulter Plywood, Ben's Scroll Saw, Mike's Workshop, and Friend Box Co. displayed examples of their plywood, blades, and puzzle boxes, respectively
The afternoon presentations began with Dana Haviland, a relatively new collector, giving a presentation on her "Bluebird Collection". Dana has been a serious buyer on EBay the past few years, and has amassed an amazing collection of puzzles. She focuses on "Story Puzzles", "Beautiful Women", Pears prints, and several other themes.

Next, Rob Jones described his efforts of the last year to build a " mega-website " where anybody can show the world their favorite puzzles, and gave an actual demonstration of how the site will work. He quickly uploaded data on a puzzle, and then having already uploaded data from Bob Armstrong's collection, showed how the site could be used to search for puzzles based on different criteria.

Anne Williams was presented with a commemorative plate decorated with a gold puzzle piece, for being the only person with perfect attendance at all 10 puzzle parleys! Bob Armstrong received a mug for attending 9 parleys, since he missed out on the first that he organized on account of a 70-foot fall from a hiking trail! 

Then Melinda showed us some tricks on, "Using Photoshop to Make Artwork for Replacement Pieces," and Bob followed with a demonstration, "How NOT to Make Replacement Pieces". Finally, Bob closed the meeting with his  presentation, "Pictures in Puzzles", delivered last March during the AGPC cruise convention to Belize.

Among the many puzzles flashed on the screen from Bob's collection was "Francesca and Paolo", purchased by Bob over a decade ago from one of the attendees in the audience. A friend of Bob's tipped him off that the scene was the climax of a torrid love scene from Canto V of Dante's Devine Comedy and the basis of a thrilling suite, Francesca da Rimini, by Tchaikovsky. Bob suggested that such a history and scene is what can make a great puzzle.

On Monday, 35 attendees made the 3 hour drive up to Anne Williams' Open House in Lewiston, ME to view her renowned collection of puzzles and puzzle memorabilia. That concluded a 4-day weekend filled with many and varied jigsaw puzzle activities and record numbers of participants. From all accounts it was the most successful Parley ever.

Detail from Fiss puzzle "Mooning"