A Social Whirl - by ILN / Mary EvansSet of two 500 Piece Puzzles - 485mm x 345mm Box Dimensions - 410mm x 290mm x 50mm Mary Evans is not an actual artist but is a corporation specialising in image licencing. The two pictures in this new 2009 2 puzzle box set from Gibsons are set in the flappers era of the late 1920's. Although not fictional, the atmosphere is definitely for the well to do to for whom the notion of work would be simply too much to contemplate. Gibsons have created a minimum sense of realism mixed with a heady dose of nostalgia. A picnic with friends and elegant evening dining could not be more gaily portrayed. You can almost hear Cole Porter playing in the background drifting in and out of the idle chatter and the popping of champagne corks. Gibsons Puzzles are always looking for pictures that fit their overall scheme of combining a past era in a not overly accurate setting and this new 2 x 500 jigsaw puzzle box is a whimsical example of an era that lasted but a few years and ended so dismally. Once again Gibsons have encapsulated a snapshot of halcyon days that never really existed but for a few blue bloods. F.Scott Fitzgerald's books such as the Great Gatsby would stir the imagination of the consuming public who would be mostly tied to a burgeoning industrial machine. There are parallels between the Great Depression and today's financial fiasco. Fortunately governments learn. This Gibsons 2 x 500 puzzle box set reminds us that, like other Gibsons jigsaw puzzles, all that glitters is not gold.
