For those interested in vintage jigsaw puzzles, or of souvenir or collectible objects relating to the RMS Queen Mary and other Art Deco-era Cunard / White Star passenger vessels, up for auction is a paper-covered plywood puzzle, in its original, well-worn (and repaired) box, the top left of the lid with these words printed on it:
"VICTORY"
(REGD.)
PLYWOOD
JIG-SAW PUZZLE
of the
Cunard White Star Liner
"QUEEN MARY"
And here’s some information on Victory Jigsaw Puzzles, also
courtesy Wikipedia:
Victory was a trademarked brand of plywood jigsaw puzzles
produced by G. J. Hayter & Co.
HISTORY. G. J. Hayter & Co Ltd. was founded in the 1920s and
was based in Boscombe, Bournemouth, England. The company was the
manufacturer of plywood jigsaw puzzles named “Victory” since the early 1920s.
Although the jigsaw puzzle producers like Hayter flourished in
the 1930s, through the concept of the weekly jigsaw puzzle, the English Victory
puzzles, found in department stores in the 1950s and 1960s, almost completely
vanished.
The company became a subsidiary of the board game manufacturer
J. W. Spears and Sons in 1970. Spears continued the production of plywood
jigsaw puzzles and named them “Victory Gold Box Series” up until 1988.
Thousands of Victory puzzles are preserved in private
collections.
JIGSAW PUZZLE SERIES. J. Hayter & Co issued many series of
puzzles, the most common being the Plywood, Popular and Topical series (strip
cut), Artistic (strip cut with simple figure pieces), and Super-Cut which were
random cut with simple figure pieces and irregular edges.
In all these series, they used the trademarked word
"Victory" as part of the name and thus many people today refer to
them as "Victory" puzzles.
Sizes of the puzzles varied from smaller, big-pieced puzzles to
large 2,000-piece puzzles. Most common puzzles sizes were between 100 and 300
pieces.
LIST OF SERIES:
Artistic
Cathedral
Children's
Constructional
English View
Geographical
London View
Plywood (Unnamed/Main Series)
Popular
Super-cut
Topical
Vintage (Early 1930s)
GOLD BOX SERIES. After 1970 and under Spears and Sons
management, the company focused on a series based on the older Artistic series,
but more loosely cut and packaged in a distinctive gold box. The company
eventually dropped the word "Artistic" and simply referred to the
series as Gold Box Series. Spears continued producing these puzzles up until
1988.
A characteristic of these puzzles was a number of special cut
pieces that had a familiar figure look such as a boat, a plane, a sword, a
heart etc. Also, no guide pictures were printed on the box. As quoted on the
label: "NO GUIDE PICTURE is provided with this Gold Box VICTORY Jig Saw puzzle.
To do so would destroy much of its absorbing interest. The greatest pleasure is
derived from not knowing beforehand the subject which the Puzzle will make and
then to see the picture gradually form as the pieces are assembled."
In-box puzzle printouts show that the Gold Box Series numbered a
total of 126 puzzles.
And here's the start of the lengthy Wikipedia entry for the Queen Mary (which is now permanently berthed in Long Beach, California, and which I thoroughly enjoyed visiting some years ago!):
The RMS Queen Mary is a retired
British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from
1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line and was built
by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. Queen Mary,
along with RMS Queen Elizabeth, were built as part of
Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service between Southampton,
Cherbourg, and New York. The two ships were a British response to the
express superliners built by German, Italian, and French companies in
the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage on 27 May 1936 and won
the Blue Riband that August; she lost the title to SS Normandie in
1937 and recaptured it in 1938, holding it until 1952 when it was taken by the
new SS United States. With the outbreak of World War
II, she was converted into a troopship and
ferried Allied soldiers during the conflict.
Following the war, Queen Mary was refitted for
passenger service and along with Queen Elizabeth commenced the
two-ship transatlantic passenger service for which the two ships were
initially built. The two ships dominated the transatlantic passenger
transportation market until the dawn of the jet age in the late
1950s. By the mid-1960s, Queen Mary was ageing and was
operating at a loss.
After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, Queen
Mary was officially retired from service in 1967. She
left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to
the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she
remains permanently moored. The ship serves as a tourist attraction
featuring restaurants, a museum, and a hotel. The ship is listed on
the National Register of Historic Places. The National Trust for
Historic Preservation has accepted Queen Mary as part of the
Historic Hotels of America.
In 2021 the City of Long Beach took control of the ship.
The overall condition of this vintage wooden jigsaw puzzle, which comes with its original box, is fair to good, considering its age and use. All of the puzzle pieces (170, by my count) are present, as you can see in the main photo showing the puzzle after I finished putting it together, but there are some missing tiny bits of paper here and there (some of which were still present and which will be sent along with the puzzle; see them in the last photo uploaded). The box is in only fair (some might consider it poor to fair) shape, with bends, tears, scratches, spotting, tape repairs, missing paper, purple crayon scribbles on the underside of the lid, tape repairs, etc. Also, there's a child's pencil writing on the box and on the puzzle, more or less in the same place, over the first two red smokestacks of the vessel (the word "TOOT" is scrawled twice above the funnels). There's neither a musty nor smoky smell to the puzzle or box.
This likely World War II-era (or a bit later) jigsaw puzzle of the Queen Mary, in its original box and containing all of its pieces, is being sold AS IS, AS DESCRIBED ABOVE AND PICTURED WITHIN. I am setting what I feel is a very reasonable starting price for the auction, and there is NO RESERVE. I am also including a Buy It Now price.
Shipping and handling for the puzzle, which will be sent in a cardboard box: $CALCULATED to U.S. addresses (via Ground Advantage or Priority Mail).
Note that eBay has now instituted a
shipping program whereby bidders from outside the U.S. can bid on or buy all
sellers' items, and the seller sends everything to an eBay facility in the US
for shipping. So far, this seems to be working out well (though one item bought
by someone in China never made it to its destination, though eBay very quickly
refunded the buyer).
I will do my best to send the used but complete puzzle out to you no more than 2-3 business days following receipt of payment (that is, when eBay informs me that your payment has been posted to or otherwise cleared in my account).
If you are the winner or buyer of this Queen Mary puzzle in its original box, PAYMENT IS EXPECTED WITHIN ONE WEEK (7 DAYS) FROM THE PURCHASE
DATE. If you cannot pay within this time frame, PLEASE contact me asap so we
can work something out. I'm very flexible and understanding, but I would
appreciate communication from you one way or another.
PLEASE NOTE THAT RETURNS WILL NOT BE
ACCEPTED NOR REFUNDS MADE FOR THIS PUZZLE, SO PLEASE READ MY DESCRIPTION
CAREFULLY, LOOK CLOSELY AT THE PHOTOGRAPHS I’VE UPLOADED, AND ASK ME ANY
QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT THE CONTENTS OR CONDITION OF THE PUZZLE AND ITS BOX. THANKS FOR
YOUR UNDERSTANDING!
Thanks for looking, and please don't
hesitate to email me if you have any questions about this vintage English-made plywood puzzle of the Queen Mary.
PLEASE NOTE THAT, IF POSSIBLE, I WILL HAPPILY ADJUST SHIPPING CHARGES FOR MULTIPLE PURCHASES!!! (THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO SALES FROM OUTSIDE THE U.S. AT THIS TIME.)
ALSO, NOTE THAT, IF APPLICABLE, eBAY WILL ADD ANY APPROPRIATE STATE SALES TAX TO THE INVOICE.