I got lost in puzzles, and I couldn’t get out!
Of course, I’m not alone.
It’s no surprise that they are a “thing” now.
Here’s a short segment from CBS New York that discusses the recent rise in demand and even provides a quick peek inside the massive place that is Puzzle Warehouse.
However, unlike most normal people, I didn’t get lost in doing jigsaw puzzles.
Nope. Leave it to me. I managed to get lost in finding out about them.
The journey began when I saw this YouTube video about a color-changing jigsaw puzzle from the MoMA Design Store. The pieces change color according to the angle from which they’re viewed.
Geeezzz! Who thought of that? It looked mind-bendingly hard, but still neat!
Then this time-lapse video posted by Andre F caught my eye.
Again, neat! The description of the video said that the puzzle was called Around the World.
Voilà! I did a Google search and found it.
But I had also fallen deeper down the rabbit hole that is Jigsaw Puzzledom.
I couldn’t help noticing that my search for Around the World also brought up a video about a slightly larger puzzle from Ravensburger entitled Disney Moments. Here’s a mini-documentary from Ravensburger about their 40,320 piece monster.
You may have noticed that the video covered just about everything that most normal people would ever want to know about how puzzles are made. However, if you want to know more, then here’s a recent article from the New York Times that I “accidentally” stumbled upon.
Here’s How Those Hot Jigsaw Puzzles Are Made (Amie Tsang, The New York Times)
Of course, I also went ahead and checked to see if I could find Memorable Disney Moments on the Ravensburger’s website. Sure enough, it was there, but there was also this pop-up message.
Due to unexpected demand, we are unable to fulfill orders at this time.
That’s not a shocker at times like this.
The good news is that it looks like you might still be able to get Making Mickey’s Magic from Puzzle Warehouse for the paltry sum of $390.99 and a bit of a wait.
Now some fact checking was in order.
Guess what?
The Guinness World Records website says that the jigsaw puzzle with the “mostest” actually had a whopping 551,232 pieces, and it was completed by 1,600 students of the University of Economics in Vietnam.
Nice trivia.
In addition, the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of jigsaw puzzles is held by Luiza Figueiredo in São Paulo, Brazil. This 360° video from VR360 shows a quick glimpse of her epic collection of 1,047 puzzles.
Okay, as you can tell, I was way into Jigsaw Puzzle Land at this point.
Heck, while I was there, I decided that I might as well wander around and explore a bit more.
For example, YouTube kept suggesting that I watch this video from CBS Sunday Morning about the history of jigsaw puzzles.
Yep, that was right up my Jigsaw Puzzle Alley of the moment, and the segment even mentioned a relatively local Piece Time Puzzles Toy Store in Northwood, New Hampshire for good measure.
I tried to go to the Piece Time Puzzles website to see if I could find out more about those personalized puzzles, but I was greeted with this message.
Down for Maintenance. Website temporarily closed. We are working on the back log of orders and not accepting new orders at this time. Hopefully we’ll be taking new orders mid-summer. Thank you for your patience.
Again, not a shocker.
The good news is that you might be able to get personalized puzzles from Shutterfly, Portrait Puzzles and Create Jigsaws.
If you would like to learn more about the history of jigsaw puzzles, then you might also be able to get your hands on the book The jigsaw puzzle: piecing together a history by Anne Williams (the historian featured in the CBS Sunday Morning clip above).
Of course, if you’re still reading this post, let alone doing any of that stuff, then you’ve fallen deep into Jigsaw Puzzledom, too.
If that’s the case, then you should know that you’re in good company. Here’s an article that explains that you belong to a club that includes the likes of Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Bill Gates, Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones and even the Queen of England!
The Rich and Famous who love the Humble Jigsaw Puzzle (Wentworth Wooden Puzzles)
Fun stuff!
Alas, no matter how great the company, I had to finally drag myself out of Jigsaw Puzzle Land to share this with you, and then get back to work on what I should be doing (i.e. a much needed overhaul of this Cosma web site).
I will leave off here, but if you continue exploring Jigsaw Puzzledom on your own, then there’s a few things you should know.
First, be careful about calling yourself by a term like “Puzzler.” It’s colloquial. The correct, technical term to use is Dissectologist.
Second, you may want to join a club called the Benevolent Confraternity of Dissectologists. If you’re into jigsaw puzzles, seriously, check that out!
On the other hand, if this post has just gotten you in the mood to work a jigsaw puzzle, right here and now, then you will probably enjoy the online puzzles at Jigsaw Explorer!
Enjoy some for me! 🙂