Object number
2008/99/1-2
Title
A Cotswold Alley,
Collection
Creator
Description
A 120 piece jigsaw puzzle entitled ‘A Cotswold Alley’, and marked No. 2194. Made by Chad Valley.
This is a 120 piece wooden jigsaw puzzle entitled ‘A Cotswold Alley’, and marked No. 2194. It was made by Chad Valley, one of the largest toy manufacturers in Britain in the twentieth century, in the 1920s. The jigsaw depicts a classic ‘chocolate box’ cottage scene.
Physical description
120 wooden piece jig-saw with box; complete; good condition
Archival history
Collecting 20thc Rural Culture blog [Friday, 19 December 2008] – ‘Chad Valley Jig-saw Puzzle from the 1920s // This is a 120 piece wooden jig-saw puzzle entitled A Cotswold Alley. It comes from the heyday of the jig-saw's mass popularity as a family pastime in the 1920s and 30s. The classic cottage scene it depicts follows sentimental rural imagery that has dug itself into English culture over the last two hundred years as industrialisation and urbanisation took hold. This 'chocolate box' image of the countryside strenghtened in potency through the twentieth century and was deployed commercially at all levels. // Chad Valley traces its origins to a printing company set up by Anthony Johnson in Birmingham in the early nineteenth century. By the end of the century, the firm had re-located to the Chad Valley Works at Harbourne and was diversifying into the production of cardboard games. Between the two world wars, the company established its reputation as a major toy producer. The Chad Valley trade name was acquired by Woolworths in 1988.’
Production place
Harborne
Production date
1920-01-01 - 1929-12-31
Production period
1920s
Object name
Material
Technique
Dimensions
- Height 50 mm
- Width 120 mm
- Length 190 mm
- Length 335 mm
- Width 240 mm
Associated subject
