Jigsaw Factory Collection

Collection of archival material from Alexander Stitt (1937-2016), Bruce Weatherhead (1939-2011), and the Walker family including board games, cards, photographs and transparencies, newspaper clippings and ephemera. The Jigsaw Factory was established by Bruce Weatherhead (1939-2011) and Alex Stitt (1937-2016) in 1971. The idea came out of the work they were doing for educators Bill and Lorna Hannan who produced a magazine for the Victorian Secondary Teachers Association, The Secondary Teacher, and an English reading program that included activities that put fun into learning. The idea of ‘fun in learning’ grew into a concept, generating a range of posters, cut-outs, puzzles and games, supported by inventive and fun characters who engaged and entertained children while developing their learning through play. Stitt and Weatherhead established the Jigsaw Factory in Bridge Road, Richmond. It was a place to find educational toys, books and games, furniture, music, crafts clothes and surprises. They produced a multitude of board games including Spellbound (spelling), Tableland (timestables), The Mining Game and the Gate of the Sun. Then there were Og and Oliver – Og was the Jigsaw Giant and Oliver his pal, an ostrich. They featured in a cartoon strip, which appeared in The Age newspaper over three years – Stitt drew more than 1,000 strips during that time. It was written by Bill and Lorna Hannan. The Jigsaw Factory was not a shop but a place for children to have fun, and without knowing it – to learn. Theatre workshops were run by Nancy Cato from the ABC’s television program Adventure Island, and Bruce Woodley from the Seekers came along on Sunday afternoons to sing for and with the children. The Jigsaw Factory closed in 1973. The collection is spread across various archives, including the archives of Alexander Stitt Bruce Weatherhead, the Walker family Archive, and Mimmo Cozzolino. The Alexander Stitt archive contains material produced by the Factory such as board games, masks, comic strips, predominately housed in Box 49, there is an inventory available. The Weatherhead Archive, Box 10, contains Photographs, contact sheets and transparencies relating to the Jigsaw Factory. The Cozzolino and Walker Family archives contain boardgames.