Puzzle Description

We all know what a pot is but what is a penny farthing? In the context of this delightful 1000 piece puzzle by Janice Daughters, it refers to both a price point and a time. Pennies, before the decimalization of the UK currency, were 1/240th of a pound, i.e. there were 240 old pennies to the pound. A farthing would have been one quarter of an old penny, a tiny value indeed. You have to understand the farthing was introduced in the mid 18th century when King George the First sat on the British throne which would have made it a useful coin in conducting small daily transactions.

There is an old fashioned Penny-farthing bicycle leaning up against the shed which lends its name to the puzzle. Such contraptions were seen here and there in early Victorian England but were replaced by the more obvious looking bicycles similar to the ones we see today not to mention that the Penny-farthing bicycle did not have pneumatic tyres. So, not only was it extremely difficult to mount and dismount, it was a very uncomfortable experience while riding it. It appears that the only reason for such an unlikely looking machine was due to the fact that the large front wheel would allow the rider to get up to some serious Victorian speeds before falling off and breaking their necks. Strangely enough, the bike prior to the Penny-farthing was called the bone shaker and for good reason. It may have looked like a modern bicycle but it had no chain so the rider would sit on the saddle and stride along while sitting on the bike. It did not have pneumatic tyres and so riding on cobble streets would have been punishing.

For this 1000 piece puzzle it points to price and dating of Ronald Till's wares: old and cheap. The advertising posters on the shed wall refer to products that may still be available such as Vimto which is a purple coloured fizzy soft drink and can also be purchased as an ice lolly and as a piece of confectionary. The red telephone booth (which used to take old fashioned pennies) is becoming quite rare as a functioning telephone but can still be found here and there especially in more remote rural areas where hills and dales prevent the modern mobile phones from getting a good signal. The red phone booths have become protected under the heritage laws so they are often repurposed and you might see one in the leafy suburb of Hampstead vending bespoke coffee at an unreasonable price.

It would appear that most of the bric-a-brac would be items for the garden such as the fountains and rusty old wheel barrows.