Great American Puzzle Factory Inc “California” by George Gorycki

When I saw this vintage puzzle on Ebay, I had to have it for my collection of California map puzzles hanging over my kitchen bar area.  It's copyright 1977, only three years after I was born, and made by The Great American Puzzle Factory Inc. from artist George Gorycki.  The Ebay listing showed it new in box, with the shrink wrap still on.  I opened it during a zoom conference call and had it complete in about six hours.  

Though the box looked fine, there is some moisture damage, mostly in one corner.  Because the water damage is on adjacent pieces, I think the puzzle was assembled at some point and put back into the box, then later shrink-wrapped and sold as new.  Whether it was the seller who shrink wrapped it or a past owner, who knows.  But I feel misled about the sale.  There's even one edge piece missing!  Since I completed the puzzle in one sitting, I don't feel there's any chance that I lost the piece.  I think it was not in the box.  Because the puzzle is vintage and I was so in love with the design, I decided to overlook it.

At 550 pc, The box says the finished size is approximately 18" x 24".  The key word is approximately.  I had to shave a half inch from one side of the puzzle when I went to frame it, or spend the money on custom framing after I had already purchased a frame.  Since there was one edge piece missing, I shaved from that side and left it at that. With the overlap from the frame, the missing piece is hardly noticeable.  But the design is no longer centered as it was intended to be.  Still, I love this puzzle and the details that are highlighted in the state!  I'll amend this post with a photo once it's hung in my kitchen. 

White Mountain “National Parks America” by Randy Green

This is the first 1000pc puzzle I've done in quarantine.  It did keep me busy for quite a while.  I spread out two pieces of foamcore on my bed, one with the puzzle pieces and one as a worksurface.  This is a very cool map puzzle from White Mountain - my first time trying that brand - that I bought new from Zulily.com.  I plan on framing this one without glass and getting map pins to mark all the national parks I've visited.  There are some nice descriptions and insets of the major parks.  I grew up some of my youth in Utah, which has many parks, so I'll have a good start at marking them.  

Copyright 2019, the puzzle measures 24 x 30 inches.  The artist is Randy Green.  The box is marked Made in USA. 

Springbok “California” by Charles Frace (1969)

I bought this vintage Springbok Circular puzzle off ebay many months ago, but had always assumed it would be missing pieces simply due to its age.  My fantasy to have state maps from various decades framed above a bar began when I completed a Hennessy California map and framed it above my coffee bar in my kitchen.  This was to be the second added to the collection.  

Copyright 1969, it's a large puzzle at a finished size of 26 1/4 x 24 1/4 inches.  It's quite detailed, with many landmarks of the state pictured throughout.  The little tableaus made the puzzle a lot of fun to complete. 

In addition to the beautiful image painted by Charles Frace, The back of the box had a great essay on the history of California, written by Reed Jarvis, Historian of the National Park Service. The side of the box advertised "more than 500 pieces."

I took a photo in progress to post to facebook as a demonstration of my Coronavirus pandemic activities.  I actually completed this in mid-March 2020, but only just recently photographed, so the post is a bit delayed.  The film business had shut down only the week before.  I can see in my progress photo the piece on the far right corner that is missing in my finished photo.  I vaguely remember a piece falling off and going under my refrigerator.  I figured it will turn up eventually, and because it's on the edge, I can add it when I come across it.  So I flipped the puzzle over and proceeded to glue it with mod podge, as the first step in framing.  Unfortunately, a bit of glue went underneath the puzzle without my noticing.  It's visible just about two inches from the missing piece, and it did tear the puzzle image.  So I'll have to come up with a creative way to frame this, or replace the puzzle when I see it show up again on ebay.  This is proving to be an expensive project!

Dowdle Folk Art "Santa Monica" Map Puzzle

I have this dream to have a wall of my home with framed California map puzzles, both vintage and current.  This "Santa Monica" puzzle from Dowdle was on my list, and I was fortunate to find it complete at a thrift store.  I don't have the wall space now, but I'll be saving this to hang next to my Hennessy Puzzles California map.

This is the first time I've tried the brand Dowdle.  They are a Utah company, which is where I went to high school, so I like the idea of supporting a local family business when buying new from them.  The pieces are thick; they fit together tightly and well.  The designs are always quite busy, with a flair of charicature in the colors and overall style of the art. 

Would you consider doing a puzzle in this style of design?