| In 1903, Harry Gibson managed to obtain an unsecured loan of £500 from the Royal Bank of Scotland in Bishopsgate, London. This princely sum enabled him to start a business, which at that time was called The International Card Co.
Trading from offices in Aldersgate Street, he supplied retailers with a range of products including card games and postcards. It's an unlikely combination these days, but back then, any decent sized town would have a number of Stationers in the High Street and they became Harry Percy's first customers. The International Card business was sold to the De La Rue company and H. P. Gibson & Sons Limited was formed in 1919. The International Series brand, continued to be used on some products, right up to the early 1980's. H P Gibson & Sons Ltd made its name with the 'HPG' brand of indoor games with old favourites such as L'Attaque and Dover Patrol which became very big sellers before and after the second world war. Sadly the company's premises, complete with all its manufacturing equipment was destroyed during the blitz in 1940 and when the war ended, it was almost a case of starting from scratch. Robert and Harry Gibson (jnr.), sons of the founder, re-established trading from Barrett Street in London's West End. The company continued to sell its own family games and pastimes, alongside ranges from other established names, including Waddingtons and Chad Valley. It wasn't until the late 1980's that Gibsons (now known as Gibsons Games) started producing Jigsaw puzzles. They originally had only six pictures in their range, which has now grown to over 100 titles, running from 108 to 1500 pieces. They specialise in traditional scenes including paintings by many British artists. Quality is very important and Gibsons use the deluxe materials for their puzzles and travel thousands of miles in search of the best pictures. Regular puzzlers will be familiar with their distinctive metallic blue boxes. Gibsons, now run by the founder's grandson Michael, is the oldest British owned company in the industry and prides itself in the quality of product and service that it continues to provide.
|
info@gibsonsgames.co.uk
|
 |
In November 2003, we started work on a special D-Day jigsaw puzzle- commissioning renowned artist Bill Perring
to paint a unique D-Day scene to commemorate the 60th anniversary on 6th June 2004.
 |
 |
 |
| The first pencil sketch | Colour underpainting | Nearly there! |
Click here to see how the painting finished!
See here for his special feature on the Squadron Salute which we launched as a jigsaw puzzle last year.
|
|
Mike Jupp was born in 1948 in Erith, Kent. He studied at the West Sussex College of Art and Design gaining qualifications in Art and Architecture, plus diplomas in Art and Advertising Design.
His very varied career started in London working for an American design and marketing company. Later he worked freelance as an illustrator, copywriter and cartoonist before moving abroad, first to Holland, before going on to California to work on two cartoon film series.
Mike worked in Seoul, South Korea, before returning to San Francisco and then back home to England in 1986.
Mike's ability to create images in pictures and words has lead to an enormous demand for his talents. He worked with Central Television where he created The Dreamstone (1986) followed by Bimbles Bucket, and Digit 'n' Dawson cartoon characters. Amongst his other conquests was a commission from Stephen Spielberg to paint Empire of the Sun - the crew. and more recently the design of his own board game. Mike completed his first novel Retributionin 2000, and in 2004 is organising the first ever national jisgaw competition! His major talent of course is painting for jigsaw puzzles! The 'I Love' series is truly incredible, and the Millennium jigsaw was the best selling puzzle ever!
Mike now lives in Bognor, West Sussex with his wife Nikki and two daughters, Eleanor and Merrin.
|
|
Kevin Walsh
Kevin was born in Castleford in the heart of industrial West Riding in Yorkshire, and is proud to hail from the town which produced the world-famous sculptor, Henry Moore. Kevin studied illustration at the Wakefield College of Art and belongs to the Guild of Aviation Artists, developed and early reputation for his aircraft paintings. In recent years, he has become increasingly known for a much wider variety of subjects. Landscapes, hunting scenes and transport and city life in bygone days now figure among his works. He travels many miles in researching his paintings and spends countless hours sketching to capture accurately technical and historical detail. Leading publishers in Britain and overseas have commissioned his work for greeting cards, prints and calendars. Kevin has painted many jigsaws for Gibsons including the limited Christmas jigsaw for 2006. He now works and lives in Leeds.
|
|
Garry Cartwright
Garry Cartwright was born in 1953 in the parish of Dudeston Mill, Birmingham.
Gary left school in 1970 and started out as apprentice to a firm of shopfitters. For a period he worked as a signwriter and then joined the Inland Revenue as a temporary measure whilst looking for more suitable employment where he could use his talents as a painter and illustrator. In fact it was actually some 18 years later, aged 37, when Garry took the plunge and, supported financially by his wife, left the Revenue and started painting professionally. Garry's interests include, the Roman Empire, old firms, tabletop war-gaming and sailing ships of the 19th century. His hobbies include collecting books and a wide taste in music. Garry's latest work for Gibsons is The Ocean's Greats featuring the latest Queen Mary II.
|