PUZZLE PARLEY
  • Registration 2024
  • Past Parleys
  • Puzzle Exchange
  • Puzzle Makers
  • About Us
Picture
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 2nd Puzzle Parley - Lexington, MA 1996

4/28/1996

0 Comments

 
Picture
Detail of puzzle cut by Bob Armstrong
The second incarnation of the Puzzle Parley extended over two weekend days, April 27 and 28, 1996. It centered on the Museum of Our National Heritage in Lexington, Massachusetts (now the National Heritage Museum). The Museum's main exhibition that winter and spring was "Cutting A Fine Figure, The Art of the Jigsaw Puzzle," curated by Anne Williams. It featured more than 100 puzzles from Anne's collection and another dozen loaned by participants in previous Puzzle Parleys.
​
The 22 puzzle cutters in attendance met Saturday afternoon to exchange ideas and tips about wooden puzzle making. They came from New England (15), the NY-PA area (3), and the Midwest (4). The Strong Museum Library in Rochester, NY holds a video recording of this meeting.
Picture
Anne Williams, curator for the exhibit " Cutting A Fine Figure, The Art of the Jigsaw Puzzle "
Picture
Betty Hayter selling wooden jigsaw puzzles
Picture
Cutting Demo By Amy Scott
Picture
Cutters discussion
​Sunday began with a brunch at the Ramada for about 50 guests, including many members of the Association of Game and Puzzle Collectors (AGPC, then known as the American Game Collectors Association). Bert Cohen talked briefly about his marble collection. A few other collectors spoke about their own specialties. A dozen or so collectors and dealers set up tables for selling their wares.
​
Sunday afternoon's program took place at the Museum where Anne Williams gave a slide presentation on "The Art and Craft of the Jigsaw Puzzle." Activities continued for the entire afternoon. Amy Scott wowed the public by cutting wooden jigsaw puzzles on a scroll saw set up in the atrium. Her demonstration inspired one of the onlookers, Dave Beffa-Negrini, to start cutting puzzles later that year. (He features prominently in later Parleys.) Museum volunteers had set up tables with unassembled puzzles for visitors to do. Children had their own area for a "Beat the Clock" puzzle assembly contest, and a "Create Your Own Puzzle" table.
Picture
Puzzling with the Family
Picture
Playing "Beat the Clock"
Picture
Create Your Own Puzzle
Detail from wooden Par puzzle
Detail from Par puzzle "Sher Bliss"
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    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

    RSS Feed

Follow Us!

Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram
For general information or questions, please contact us at info@puzzleparley.org. 
Website managed by Janell Amely.​
Picture
Copyright © 2022 All rights reserved
  • Registration 2024
  • Past Parleys
  • Puzzle Exchange
  • Puzzle Makers
  • About Us