Actual title unknown.
I am thrilled with this puzzle, even though some aspects of it were a slight disappointment. The packaging image on left here is odd, because that’s all I’ve got- the puzzle came in a cardboard tube, with metal caps. There’s an imprint on the lid that tells me the brand name, and that it is “Swiss made” and that’s it. The original label with more information and a picture, that once wrapped around the tube, is missing. Is it any surprise? This puzzle by my best estimate, from looking at similar ones from the same company online, was made in the 1920’s or ’30’s! I acquired it used from someone who lives the next town over from me, and the woman told me the puzzles belonged to her grandfather. I bought four of them. The others are in better shape- at least, the images don’t seem quite as faded, and they have pictures on the boxes. I was eager to do this one first, just to see what it is. I know the piece count because I counted them first.
And found there’s quite a few pieces broken in half, or with knobs broken off.
However when I put the puzzle together (it took me several sittings over two days) all the fragments fit perfectly into place.
I’m going to try and repair them with wood glue. There was one piece missing in the end, which is kind of to be expected.
I actually loved assembling this puzzle, even though I had no image to reference, there was quite a bit of damage, and the picture is faded and rather uninteresting in the end. My kid remarked how unattractive the high visibility of piece edges is, on the completed puzzle (especially in the dark areas). I have to agree.
But for me, this one was all about the process, the close careful attention it took, the satisfaction of fitting those wildly curving organic squiggly piece shapes precisely into each exact location. I am undecided what to do with this puzzle now. I’m going to assemble the other three before making up my mind. Most likely I will give this one away to another puzzler who doesn’t mind a faded, indistinct image and some damage if they get a cool puzzling experience. It was just something else to handle this knowing how old it is, and wondering at how long ago it must have last been assembled- the person who sold it to me had never done it herself. She guessed that the picture was of some mountains, by just glancing at the pieces. Well, she was right.
Final size 9 x 12″.
One Response
Came back to remark, now that I’ve done two of those old wooden puzzles, this one, while not as interesting of a picture and worn on the image edges, actually has better quality pieces. The edges of the wood itself isn’t as worn down, still quite crisp, and the packaging tube and puzzle itself have a lovely, if faint, scent of real wood. I like that so much. When I disassembled both puzzles (carefully, one piece at a time) there was a noticeable amount of tiny wood fragments that came off the pieces, on my puzzle board. So I can well see how they get worn down over time.