The 9th Puzzle Parley - Sturbridge, MA - November 2008

The ninth meeting (aka Puzzle Parley) since 1994 of jigsaw puzzle cutters, collectors, enthusiasts, and dealers was held November 7-9, 2008 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, MA. Co-chaired by Bob Armstrong and Melinda Shebell, a record 87 people attended the all-day session on Saturday, November 8.

Puzzle Parleys are designed for puzzle makers -- from the professional to the beginner -- to share their techniques, sources, and tips. And for all -- puzzle makers, collectors, enthusiasts and dealers -- to learn about the history and cutting of puzzles, as well as to buy and sell old and new puzzles.

The three-day meeting started at Melinda Shebell's house in Stow, MA Friday afternoon with an Open House. Melinda displayed many of her old and new puzzles, and gave cutting demonstrations in her workshop for interested parties.

Friday night featured a buffet dinner at the Hotel, followed by Bob Armstrong's remarks describing the history of the Puzzle Parleys, beginning from the 1994 suggestion made to Bob from Pagey Elliott, "Why don't we hold a meeting of puzzle cutters? And we could call it a Puzzle Parley!".

What started as a meeting in September 1994 at the home of Deborah Greeley, Pagey Elliott's sister, and included over 20 people, mostly puzzle cutters from New England. Has expanded to include puzzle cutters, collectors, enthusiasts, and dealers from all over the USA, Canada, and England. We have meet in many locations, including: Concord, Lexington, Sturbridge and Worcester, MA; New York City (2), Katonah, NY, and San Francisco, CA.

Following Bob's remarks, the group gathered in a separate room to work on assembling approximately 15 puzzles well into the night. This was an opportunity for current cutters to test their latest creations against experienced puzzlers.

Generally, the puzzlers won but not easily!

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Saturday's all-day session featured:

• A meeting room "awash" with puzzles. Many others were stashed under tables awaiting Table Sales later in the afternoon.
• Discussion of Copyright and Trademark laws as applied to puzzle cutting, with Attorney David Talman on hand to answer questions, and a three-page outline of the law handed out (copies available from Bob at: raahna@oldpuzzles.com ) Randy Crossman described his recent experiences in successfully obtaining permission from Curtis Publishing Co to use Norman Rockwell prints.
• Discussion of building a "mega-website" for cutters, collectors and enthusiasts to post images and descriptions of their favorite puzzles and links to their own websites, with Webmaster Troy Thompson on hand to answer questions. Many attendees expressed interest in such a project and several signed up to serve on a task force to look into its feasibility and costs. Rob Jones agreed to chair the task force.
• Presentation by Anne Williams tracing the history and types of personalization in jigsaw puzzles including photo puzzles, puzzles with a story, correspondence puzzles, original art on puzzles, and personalized cutting especially in customized Par puzzles. Well-researched and expertly delivered, Anne's presentations are always a big hit at any meeting.
• Presentation by Bob Armstrong on how to repair puzzle boxes, especially Pastime boxes. Bob showed how old, dilapidated puzzle boxes can be made strong again so as to safely hold disassembled puzzles, using archival materials and techniques. Bob even tossed over to Greg Fullerton a 19th century puzzle box belonging to Greg, which T.S.A. had pretty well destroyed on his trip to the AGPC convention in South Carolina. Greg was delighted with the sturdy repair work done by Bob over the summer.
• Presentation by Melinda Shebell describing how she designed and organized the three spectacular collaborative puzzles presented to Pagey Elliott, Anne Williams, and Bob Armstrong during the last two parleys. All three puzzles were on display (for the first and probably last time) behind the speaker's table all day Saturday for everyone to observe and study.

At the end of Melinda's presentation, Pagey, Anne and Bob turned the table on Melinda by presenting to her special puzzles from their own collections. Pagey's puzzle (Pagey herself was unable to be present) was a magnificent early Pastime; Bob's puzzle was a rare round Pastime; Anne's puzzle was cut by Anne herself.

Bob then presented to Joe Seymour who had designed and built the frame for Bob's special puzzle, the "Map of California, Mexico and Texas and the United States" puzzle published ca.1849 by Kelly & Levine, Boston, MA, one of the earliest map puzzles made in the States.

Show and Tell which involved the puzzle makers in attendance who had cut AGPC 2008 Showcase puzzles talking about their puzzles, as well as other attendees describing their own puzzles. Note: all Showcase puzzles were on display during Saturday for everyone to examine. The difference in styles and approaches was truly amazing! The AGPC Quarterly is running a series of interviews with the makers of the Showcase Puzzles (another advantage of AGPC membership).

Table sales, which filled the room with old and new puzzles, and resulted in untold numbers of sales followed. New cutters especially, were able to show and sell their puzzles to sophisticated collectors and enthusiasts from all over the country and gain new customers. Cutting demonstrations were led by Mark Cappitella during lunch, where anyone could try cutting their own puzzle.

Following the banquet dinner, Carter Johnson gave a talk on "Personal Marketing Leads to Increased Recognition and Results". Carter's enthusiasm filled the entire room to the delight of the audience. For second evening in a row, most attendees then adjourned to the puzzle room to work a variety of puzzles well into the night.

Sunday morning featured an Open House at Bob and Hildegard Armstrong's home in Worcester, MA. Their house was filled with old (and a few new) puzzles from all eras and different makers, and Bob showed anyone interested his workshop and discussed how he restores his old puzzles.
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In summary, the Parleys have expanded over the years to include cutters, collectors, restorers, enthusiasts, and dealers. Sturbridge was the biggest and best to date with 87 attendees.

Detail Liberty puzzle