Milky Way to Health, The (Version 1)
This is an exceedingly uncommon promotional cardboard jigsaw puzzle from Chad Valley, believed to date from the mid 1930's and featuring a painting by Gladys Peto which was used as a promotional poster by the British pharmaceutical company Allen & Hanbury, to promote their Allenbury's range of infant foods.
The puzzle is cut as five approximately equally-sized sections, each of 25 non-interlocking pieces which then butt up to each other to form the panorama. This particular example also included a full-sized colour guide picture, unlike the second example, denoted here as Version 2, which also features on the site. In the latter instance, the guide picture was on a much smaller doubled-sided card, the reverse of which further promoted other products from the company.
The fifth image shows the two versions together, with this example's large guide picture in the middle. Also of note is the subtle difference between the scenes shown, with this example (top of image), matching the guide image, whilst the second version (lower) includes an additional group of children, just right of centre and does not match with the guide image supplied with it. All quite extraordinary! The final image is taken from an Allenbury's Foods postcard and shows yet another selection of the characters featured in the puzzles.
Although I haven't been able to decipher the name of the printer for this puzzle, their name is printed in blue ink along the lower right corner of both puzzle and guide, unlike the second version which clearly states in white ink that the printer was W & G Baird Ltd., London & Belfast. This perhaps adds some weight to a theory that the puzzle may have had more than one production run, with slightly different artwork being used by each of the two printers. Why it should be such a scarce puzzle, were this the case, probably relates to its promotional nature with, much as is the case today, most perhaps destined for the rubbish bins!
Artist: Peto, Gladys
Date: c1930's
Brand: Chad Valley
Material: Cardboard
Nationality: British-England
Pieces: 125
Size: 22 3/4" x 6 1/2"
Theme: Promotional
Title: Milky Way to Health, The (Version 1)
The puzzle is cut as five approximately equally-sized sections, each of 25 non-interlocking pieces which then butt up to each other to form the panorama. This particular example also included a full-sized colour guide picture, unlike the second example, denoted here as Version 2, which also features on the site. In the latter instance, the guide picture was on a much smaller doubled-sided card, the reverse of which further promoted other products from the company.
The fifth image shows the two versions together, with this example's large guide picture in the middle. Also of note is the subtle difference between the scenes shown, with this example (top of image), matching the guide image, whilst the second version (lower) includes an additional group of children, just right of centre and does not match with the guide image supplied with it. All quite extraordinary! The final image is taken from an Allenbury's Foods postcard and shows yet another selection of the characters featured in the puzzles.
Although I haven't been able to decipher the name of the printer for this puzzle, their name is printed in blue ink along the lower right corner of both puzzle and guide, unlike the second version which clearly states in white ink that the printer was W & G Baird Ltd., London & Belfast. This perhaps adds some weight to a theory that the puzzle may have had more than one production run, with slightly different artwork being used by each of the two printers. Why it should be such a scarce puzzle, were this the case, probably relates to its promotional nature with, much as is the case today, most perhaps destined for the rubbish bins!
Artist: Peto, Gladys
Date: c1930's
Brand: Chad Valley
Material: Cardboard
Nationality: British-England
Pieces: 125
Size: 22 3/4" x 6 1/2"
Theme: Promotional
Title: Milky Way to Health, The (Version 1)
© 2008-2024 David Shearer
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