The Herbs and The Adventures of Parsley

On this page ..... Here are all of the 11 individual jigsaws produced,in 3 sets
Next to the obligatory books and annuals,jigsaws were the most common bits of merchandise for kids tv series in the 1960's and 70's .... despite never figuring that highly,if at all,on most christmas lists !

So maybe sales were driven by well-meaning parents who thought they were helping to develop their kids' intellect and powers of concentration in some small way.
An attempt to balance out the more inane items that always filled most wishlists.
For every Slinky,a jigsaw ... for every Kerplunk,a Chemistry set .... and so on.

And fair do's.
Because vaccinations and trips to the dentist weren't much fun either,but time teaches you to be darn grateful for the love behind the act.


When you think of tv spin-off jigsaws from the period,the name that keeps cropping-up is Arrow Games.
So it's no surprise they were responsible for all 3 sets here -2 for The Herbs and 1 for The Adventures of Parsley.

What's particulary nice is that they all used still photos of the actual puppets and scenery.
And not all were lifted directly from the series footage either.Because some were clearly specially staged for the purpose -either at the time of filming with a view to future use,or after the event when a licensing deal had actually been done.

The sizes of the sets varied.As did the materials used.
And I presume the decisions about box sizes and whether to use wooden or cardboard pieces had more to do with production costs than sales potential.

Sets in chronological order.

The photos below are all the same size,but if you check the measurements you'll see that the boxes for the 1st set are actually a fair bit smaller than the other 2


The Herbs     Set of 4    1968 copyright date

All 4 have the Arrows reference "No. 2197".
They're not numbered 1 to 4. Each box mentions the fact that there are 3 others in the set.   

Small box size - approx. 21.5cm x 16.5cm x 3cm.                      15 cardboard pieces.
The Herbs     Set of 4    1969 copyright date

All 4 have the Arrows reference "No.3230W" and are numbered 1 to 4.

Large box size - approx. 31.5cm x 24.5cm x 3cm.                        20 wooden pieces.
2
1
3
4
Adventures of Parsley   Set of 3    1971 copyright date

All 3 have the Arrows reference "No.2315" and are numbered 1 to 3.

Large box size - approx. 29cm x 23.5cm x 3cm.                     20 cardboard pieces.
1
3

Better photo required -email on home page.
2