Have you ever done a wooden jigsaw puzzle?

I haven’t done a wooden one in about 50 years!

As for regular ones, about every three years I clear a big enough surface to dedicate to a puzzle. I find them soothing to do, all by myself. I like pretty pictures, mostly nature or famous art prints, and I usually take a week or two, just stopping by from time to time to work a little bit.

I find it requires enough attention to keep me occupied, but not so much that I fret.

And now you’ve inspired me, and I want to set up to do one. :-)

I have, yes. During our pre-TV days the kids and I spent a lot of time putting puzzles together. My son still does. But they’re just cardboard, not wooden.

A long time ago & there were pieces missing. It is was a huge thing. At least 3×3 feet.

My grandfather had several wooden jigsaw puzzles that he had owned since before I was born. They were good fun and we worked together to complete them. One was particularly difficult as the pieces had rounded edges that didn’t interlock. It has been about 15 years since I last completed a jigsaw.

I used to be a big fan of Springbok puzzles. I thought they were the best of the cardboard ones, not just for great pictures but for the fact that the pieces were well made, separated cleanly, and didn’t peel off. They disappeared from the market a long time ago. I used to love to get one for Christmas and put it together during the week before New Year’s.

When I found the wooden ones, I was delighted. I’d thought they were gone forever. I especially like the art prints. It makes me look at parts of a painting by themselves and note the detail, the color effects, and other subtleties. And they have those funny pieces called “whimsies” that have recognizable silhouettes (a flower, a bird, a girl with a parasol) or symmetrical designs.

I wish you guys could come over and do one with me.

@Jeruba! Look what I just found!
https://www.springbok-puzzles.com/
(HBTY). <3

I am so glad you asked this Q, it would not have have occurred to me to look this up. :-)

@canidmajor, wow, they’re still around? Maybe they left and then came back.

I once wrote a fan letter to Springbok and also suggested a couple of puzzle ideas. One was a stairstep bank of lighted candles of all kinds. The president of Springbok answered my letter! I was so excited that I sent him a thank-you letter saying how cool it was to hear from a jigsaw puzzle executive, and he wrote back to me (this was in the days of real paper letters delivered by the wonderful postal service) and said he’d never exactly thought of himself as a jigsaw puzzle executive before, and he thanked me.

Letters were more fun than e-mail will ever be.

Anyway, these days I’ve been sticking with my wooden puzzles, but I just might give Springbok another shot. Thanks for your research.

(TY, TY.)

Imagine being in a job like that and getting a fan letter! I’ll bet you made his day!

I once wrote a letter to a dog treat manufacturer telling them how much I liked their product for use in the show ring. I was 13, and involved with showing dogs in Junior Showmanship. They sent me back a lovely thank you letter, and a HUGE box of treat samples and promo stuff, and said they’d be following my dog show career. There wasn’t much to follow, but I was pretty chuffed all the same.

I, too, miss those days, there was something so intimate about that kind of correspondence.