G.W.R. Jigsaw puzzles
Taken from the December 1933 edition of the Great Western Railway Magazine, this article by an unknown author gives a useful insight into ongoing additions and deletions from the range of puzzles published by the GWR and the popularity of the various titles.
Jig-Saw Puzzles for Christmas Gifts.
OVER nine years ago the first Great Western Railway jig-saw puzzle was sold at Wembley Exibition. Since then, any number of commodities have undergone severe fluctuations, both in popularity and price, but the Great Western Railway jig-saw puzzles have been constant in both.
Of late, there have been a jig-saw craze in America and other toy crazes in England. The extraordinary popularity which Great Western Railway puzzles achieve each Christmas might also be called a craze if it did not recur so regularly. Statistically-minded people will be interested in the following particulars of sales during the Christmas periods :-
These figures show a 50 per cent. increase in five years; and at the time of going to press the sales are already 50 per cent. above those of the same time last year.
This success is due mainly to the fact that the value offered in Great Western Railway jig-saw puzzles is unequalled in the trade ; but a great feature of the series has been the choice of pictures, which are not decided upon without very careful consideration. It may be of interest to show their variety and sales by a recapitulation of former and current patterns :
| OBSOLETE PATTERNS | |
|---|---|
| Caerphilly Castle | 77,686 |
| Anne Hathaway's Cottage | 10,000 |
| Britain's Mightiest | 10,351 |
| Cornish Fishing Village | 12,230 |
| Glorious Devon | 10,200 |
| King George V | 7,084 |
| Freight Train | 10,127 |
| Oxford | 5,625 |
| Paddington Station | 14,327 |
| A Railway Station | 8,454 |
| Speed | 13,684 |
| Springtime in Devon | 8,500 |
| St. Julien | 26,593 |
| Swansea Docks | 10,221 |
| Warwick Castle | 10,000 |
| Windsor Castle,1 | 9823 |
| Windsor Castle,2 | 10,000 |
| Puzzle Trains | 12,972 |
| Race Games | 5,500 |
| CURRENT PATTERNS | |
|---|---|
| Bath in the days of Beau Nash | |
| Exeter Cathedral | Over 30,000 |
| Cheltenham Flyer | |
| Cornish Riviera Express | Over 35,000 |
| Henley Bridge | |
| Historic Totnes | |
| King George V | Over 35,000 |
| Mountains of Killarney | |
| Picadilly Circus | |
| Romans at Caerleon | |
| Royal Route to the West | |
| St. David's Cathedral | |
| Stratford-on-Avon (Harvard House) | |
| Oxford (Brasenose Coll.) | |
| Torbay Express | About 10,000 |
| Vikings Landing at St. Ives | About 10,000 |
| King Arthur on Dartmoor | About 10,000 |
The figures of sales are illuminating, for they tell of the special appeal of railway subjects. About 650,000 puzzles have been sold since the series started. Would it be an exaggeration to say that probably well over 6,000,000 people have thereby been induced, more than once, to "Think Great Western" during some hours of their liesure?
In several cases now a little "story" connected with the picture is included in the box, and in every case a catalogue of the Great Western Company's other publications and a map of the system are included.
Readers would be well advised to include some of these puzzles in their gift list this year. Jig-saw puzzles are just as enjoyable whether their solution is a solitary effort or done by a party, and they are liked by young and old, by low-brows and high-brows, and by those who work with their heads only or with their hands as well. The patterns which are new this year are "Henley Bridge" "Picadilly Circus" "The Royal Route to the West" "Historic Totness" "The Romans at Caerleon" and "Oxford, Brasenose College". The prices are 2/6 and 5/-. When you ask for jig-saws, add "Great Western Railway."
Transcribed by Colin and Daniel Taylor, 2021
