OldPuzzles.com
Title
Bob Armstrong's Old Jigsaw Puzzles
Description
About Bob Armstrong
Born 1936 in Springfield, MA, I was introduced early to two dozen old wood puzzles which my grandmother and mother had picked up in the mid and late 1930s when lending libraries for puzzles were closing (Westminster Lending Library, Providence, RI, Book-of-the-Day Libraries, Springfield, MA). My first encounter, however, was not positive: I managed to get a hold of and chew the Scotty dog figure piece in "Sun Worshippers"! I did improve enough to be entrusted the duty of assembling the sky pieces in "The Arrival" and distinctly remember my feeling of pride when I discovered there were two sections of sky and I had finished both! Many of these puzzles remain among the very best in our collection.
Upon finishing Amherst College, Harvard Law School and six months active duty in the US Army Reserve in 1962, I married Hildegard Nixdorf. We soon discovered our common love for jigsaw puzzles and I began to track down the old family puzzles remembered so fondly from childhood. Ultimately, I found them in my aunt's garage in Rehoboth, MA, scattered through several bureau drawers and around the nearby floor. After scouring the garage for every possible loose piece, we brought the entire mess back to Worcester, MA and spent the next several weeks reassembling the puzzles. To our great joy, the original puzzles I had remembered were all there, albeit with pieces missing! So many puzzle enthusiasts discover, too late, that their family puzzles were tossed or given away. Hildegard and I are extremely lucky and count our blessings.
Puzzles soon became an important family activity, especially on vacations. With three growing sons, however, we needed a greater variety of puzzles and found, first in the early 1970s Roland Chesley of Buckfield, ME, and then in the mid-1970s Charles Russell of Auburn, MA. We commissioned each maker to cut over 40 jigsaw puzzles for us which, along with the original two dozen Armstrong family puzzles, formed a nice collection of challenging and interesting puzzles. We also hosted every few years a jigsaw puzzle party where we invite our friends over after dinner to work and view puzzles, but also to socialize and talk if they prefer. We even added a jazz pianist to our last party billed as "Jigsaws & Jazz". The sound of live jazz, much of it from the last great era of puzzles (1930s), set a marvelous tone for the party.
Languages
English
Contact
Administrative:
- Armstrong Puzzles
-
- WORCESTER MA
- United States 01609-1712
-
- (508) 799-0466
Registrant:
- Armstrong Puzzles
-
- Worcester MA
- United States 01609
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