Chad Valley jigsaws
Newspaper competition puzzles
Chad Valley produced several puzzles for newspaper, and other, competitions mostly during the 1920s and 30s. These puzzles were all stamped from card and were mainly designed to be assembled within their box. The promise of cash prizes must have attracted many sales as the prizes on offer represented considerable sums at the time. We show below those examples held in our collection.
Daily Mail prize puzzles
19 hexagonal pieces in box approx. 4¼" square x ½"
Published on 7th November 1920, this puzzle comprised of 19 hexagonal shaped card pieces, each being individually numbered. The object of the puzzle was to assemble the pieces in the form shown on the box lid such that the colours and wording on adjoining sides matched. A total of £250 in various prizes was on offer with £100 going to the first correct solution. In order to claim a prize, the correctly arranged pieces had to be glued onto a piece of stout paper with the sender's name and address written on the back, and sent to the address given in the rules. There is no price indicated on the box, so we thought that it was given away to readers to publicise the world record sales achieved by the paper, however, in its edition dated 28th Dec 1920 it proclaimed that 'On Christmas Eve the sales exceeded 600,000...'.
On January 3rd, 1921 the winner was announced. Mr. C.Lewis, aged 21, a postal clerk apparently solved it within two hours of purchase and had submitted his solution on December the 7th. The paper went on to report that hundreds of identical solutions had been submitted, but an alternative solution had yet to appear. There are two pairs of identical pieces, 1 & 12, and 4 & 10 but transposing these did not count as an alternative solution. The back page carried a photo of C.Lewis together with a diagram of the solution. A week later, on 10th January, it was annouced that since no alternative solutions had been received, the other £150 was to be awarded to those who submitted the most ingenious other solution, judged to be a butterfly shape, submitted by 11 persons, who shared the £150.
Our example still contains all 19 of the original card pieces. Click or tap on the pictures of the box to see one possible solution to the puzzle. It is noted in very small lettering at the foot of the box lid that the puzzle was Printed & Published for Associated Newspapers Ltd. by The Chad Valley Co. Ltd., Harborne, England., and more clearly at the bottom of the rules printed inside the box lid.
An almost identical puzzle was produced by Chad Valley for The Royal National Life Boat Institution. That puzzle was sold by the RNLI for 1/- and the prize on offer was a brand new 10 H.P. Wolseley car which had been presented by Vickers Ltd. of Adderley Park in Birmingham, proprietors of Wolseley Motors Ltd.
26 pieces in box approx. 7⅞" x 7¼" x ⅝"
This prize puzzle was published during 1953, the coronation year of Queen Elizabeth II, with a closing date for entries of Monday, 8th June. The price marked on the box is 2/6 including purchase tax. Purchase tax was levied on goods sold from 1940 until 1973 when it was abolished and replaced by Value Added Tax (VAT). The tax rate varied, but the rate for all items was 50% in 1953. A double sided sheet was enclosed which outlined the rules on one side and had an entry form printed on the other. The idea was to assemble all the pieces inside the box so as to fill the crown and then draw the solution within the outline on the entry form. One also had to compose a slogan of not more than twelve words suitable to publicise the newspaper. The rules allowed for the prize to be shared equally in the event of more than one slogan being judged of equal merit, subject to each entrant having correctly solved the puzzle.
Our example still contains all 26 of the original card pieces. Click or tap on the pictures of the box to see the pieces, claim form, and the completed puzzle. It is noted in small lettering at the foot of the box lid that the puzzle was Produced by The Chad Valley Co. Ltd., Harborne, England..
Daily Mirror prize puzzles
29 pieces in box approx. 5¾" x 7¼" x ½"
29 pieces in box approx. 5¾" x 7¼" x ½"
Beneath the price, 1/- net, on the box lid is printed 'THE SALE OF THIS PUZZLE BENEFITS THE GUGNUC FUND'. The name Gugnunc comes from a Daily Mirror strip cartoon 'Pip, Squeak and Wilfred' published between 1919 and the late 1950s. Wilfred was a young long eared rabbit, Pip was a dog and Squeak a penguin. Wilfred only spoke in baby-talk, his favourite words being 'gug' and 'nunc'. In 1927 the Wilfredian League of Gugnuncs was formed to raise funds for various good causes.
A full size sheet was included upon which any entrant was to draw their solution and then post it off to the newspaper. Once the correct solution was published, entrants were asked to submit a claim for a prize. Our examples both still contain an unused sheet and, quite remarkably, all 29 of the original card pieces. Click or tap on the pictures of either box to see the pieces, claim form, and the completed puzzle. The 1929 version had the rules printed inside the box lid, but with the later one the same rules were printed on a label which was then glued inside the box lid. As neither puzzle gives any indication of when it was published, we suspect that the later one was published some time during the mid 1930s. The earlier one is easier to date as the box contains a page taken from the Daily Mirror dated Friday January 17, 1930
Click or tap link to see some larger images
, which shows the correct solution on one side and how to claim together with the closing date on the other. This version must therefore have been sold during 1929.
20 pieces in box approx. 4⅝" x 6¾" x ½"
Whilst this puzzle, like the others above, gives no indication as to when it was published, we know the solution was printed by the newspaper on 7th February 1931 and so we guess the puzzle went on sale during 1930. It is noted in very small lettering at the foot of the box lid that the puzzle was Published by The Daily Mirror Newspapers Ltd. Manufactured by The Chad Valley Co. Ltd., Harborne., and more clearly at the bottom of the rules printed inside the box lid. At the foot of the entry form it statesPrinted for The Daily Mirror Newspapers, Ltd., by the Chad Valley Co., Ltd., Harborne Beneath the price, 1/- net, on the box lid is printed 'THE SALE OF THIS PUZZLE BENEFITS THE GUGNUC FUND FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN'.
Each of the 20 card pieces has two letters printed on it, one in black and the other in red with the colours reversed on the other side. The competitor had to make five rows of four pieces so as to form ten words, five in red and five in black. An illustration of the principle was printed on the box lid and several clues were printed on the claim form. Needless to say, some of the words in the correct solution are a trifle obscure. Click or tap on the pictures of the box to see the claim form, and the completed puzzle.
Daily Sketch prize puzzle
39 pieces in box approx. 5" x 8" x ½"
This puzzle was produced for the Daily Sketch newspaper and was sold for 1/- (one shilling) during 1933. The object of the puzzle was to assemble the 39 numbered pieces within the box base so as to form a continuous red line, or ribbon, using all the pieces and covering all the white space. A prize of £500, or a share thereof, was offered to anyone able to complete the puzzle and the rules of the competition were printed inside the box lid. Whilst a closing date was not given in the rules, we do know that the correct solution and results were published by the newspaper on 1st January 1934. A specimen arrangement was shown on the lid, but the rules pointed out that this was not the correct one.
A full size sheet was included upon which any claimant was to draw or trace their solution and then post it off to the newspaper in order to validate their claim to the prize. Our example still contains this unused sheet and, quite remarkably, all 39 of the original card pieces. Click or tap on the pictures of the box to see the pieces, claim form, and the completed puzzle. We admit to cheating a bit with the puzzle as we did find an image of the correct shape of the red line, but it still took a bit of working out to get the all the pieces into their correct positions.
Whilst difficult to make out, it is noted that the puzzle was Manufactured for The Daily Sketch by The Chad Valley Co. Ltd., Harborne, England. at the foot of the box lid and on the claim sheet, but more clearly at the bottom of the rules printed inside the box lid.
