OK, I know we’re all supposed to have moved on from our strange little lockdown behaviours now, but here I am working on another jigsaw puzzle instead of out drinking with my nearest 99 friends. Sorry. I just wanted to let you know about this one because it’s a bit different. It’s an antique, and dates back to the 30’s, and has no picture.
I must confess I’m half hoping there’ll be a deliciously offensive colonial era picture to show you all when I’m done. We shall see. Another notable feature of this jigsaw is that it’s made of plywood rather than cardboard. We had three old plywood jigsaw puzzles that had belonged to our nana when we were growing up. I loved them. They were English ones from the fifties, and the pictures were all Rule Britannia depictions of various royal spectacles featuring the beautiful new young Queen – the trooping of the colours and that sort of thing. I remember lots of dressed up soldiers and a golden carriage. It was fabulous, just like a fairy tale. This was well before her (flawed and human) children grew up and everything went off the rails. Anyway, the plywood puzzle was a far more satisfying tactile experience than the cardboard ones, and I’m looking forward to getting into this one.
Before I do that though, I just want to show you one last feature of this puzzle, that wasn’t in the old ones I grew up with. Some of the pieces are in the shape of objects. Some are of innocuous everyday things:
But then a theme starts to emerge:
OK, transport – that’s not bad. But then there’s more:
This puzzle dates from between the first and second world wars, and I guess the conflicts were never far from people’s minds. And just in case you think I’m being paranoid:
(I suppose that last one could be a tie…) Fun for all the family!