Ghost of puzzles past, Part 7
Here is a great old Milton Bradley from 1983 that I made when I was 13 years old, sometime during the winter of 1987-88. It was the first large (2000+) puzzle I had made on my own, and I remember being really excited when I finally got it done.
As a kid I used to dream about large puzzles. I somehow talked my mother into buying me a 2000 piece puzzle when I was 6, which I didn't get very far with, due to lots of trees in the picture. I spotted a 2500 piece at my aunt's house a year or two later, and I also remember being at a family gathering, at a summer camp somewhere on a lake, probably in 1985 or '86. My grandfather, who was a big puzzle fan and partial to Milton Bradley, showed me a box he had bought from the then brand-new, 3000 piece Magnum series. 3000 pieces! I was beside myself.
But it took a while before I could say I actually finished one myself. In the winter of '87-88, I vaguely remember being in trouble for something - maybe fighting with my sister - and for a week or two I had to spend the rest of the evening in my bedroom, after dinner, missing crucial television programs. But left to my own devices, I ended up having a great time serving my sentence working on this wonderful Alpine scene.
As a big music fan and collector even then, the winter of '87-'88 was something of a transition period for me. I had, just after Christmas of 1983, bought a stereo system with my own money that had a turntable, a single cassette deck which could record, and a radio. I amassed a lot of LPs during the next few years, especially after I spotted an advertisement in the Sunday paper for the Columbia House music club. It had a catalog of record albums listed, and you could get around a dozen for a penny - but then had to buy 5 or 6 more in the next 3 years, at slightly higher-than-retail prices and plus shipping costs. And you also got a catalog each month, that featured one "selection of the month," which would be sent to you if you didn't return a reply postcard in time. Back in those days, Columbia House didn't seem to care if their new subscriber was a 10 year old.
When I got a Sony Walkman for Christmas in 1985, it changed the way I listened to music. Now I could bring my albums along with me, to listen to in the car when we took long drives, or if I was outside mowing the lawn. I would buy blank cassettes and make copies from my LPs, but I never got into buying many cassettes at the store, because by late 1988, I had bought a completely new stereo system with a CD player, and entered the digital age.
But in the winter of '87-'88, bored perhaps with my albums, I was doing a lot of recording off the radio, and that is what I remember the most about doing this puzzle. I was working on the floor right next to the stereo; I'd have a cassette tape in the player, cued with the "record/play/pause" buttons down, and if a song came on that I wanted to record, I'd rush over and press the pause button. The recordings were often staticky and sometimes I didn't get there in time before the obnoxious deejay interrupted the music, but they were my first "mixtapes." I remember songs like "What I Am" by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel's "Big Time," among others.
And the most vivid memory of puzzling and listening to radio that winter was definitely a song by MARRS called "Pump up the Volume." Some evenings the radio station would do a "sound-off," where they would play two tracks that were brand new, and there was a number you could call in and vote for your preference. I forget what the other track was, but when the MARRS song came on, it was different than anything I had heard before - making liberal use of samples and other sound effects, it sounded very "advanced." It was one of the first mainstream songs that combined elements of hip-hop and house music, and it won that evening's sound-off overwhelmingly.
I remember building this puzzle on the floor in my bedroom, and that it took me quite a long time. I had some issue with the sky, where I had to shift a large assembled section across the puzzle, which I assumed was due to a repeat pattern, but as far as I can see, this puzzle doesn't have a repeat pattern and I didn't encounter any issues with the sky this time.
But I did have struggles getting through all of the black pieces on each side, and while I've now completed many puzzles that are much more difficult than this one, I'm impressed with my 13-year-old self for sticking it out and getting through all of those areas, especially the upper right. Back then, I would often abandon a puzzle when it became difficult.
My original copy is long gone, and this one came from the collection of Frank F. Farrar, Jr., who was a big collector of MB puzzles and who also contributed a lot of photos and information to one of the first online databases of American cardboard puzzles, puzzlehistory.com. Frank enclosed a photo of the completed puzzle, and some notes, in the box. His summary of this puzzle is spot-on:
Milton Bradley 2500 piece Grand series puzzle, "Alpine Village," 1983, No. 4870-2.
The Milton Bradley Grand series puzzles were in production from 1978 to 1998. This puzzle, now almost 30 years old, is certainly one of the most challenging of the series. The puzzle photo was probably taken in the early part of winter, or early spring. There is a photo of snow removal equipment visible on the far side of the creek. The puzzle colors are muted and dark, about one-third of the puzzle is the brilliant blue sky. The sky area itself is not too difficult, as the blue color ranges from a deep indigo in the upper left, to a pale blue near the mountain ridges. The dark areas on the right and on the left are a much more difficult area, and will keep you busy for a while.
This puzzle has a "loose" cut, this is something that occurs when the puzzle making dies are worn, resulting in a slightly larger gap between the pieces. This does not detract from the finished puzzle, but it does make it more difficult to move around, such as to a display board.
Frank F. Farrar Jr., November 29, 2010.
Also worth noting is that the 1983 series marked a change in the packaging of MB puzzles - they replaced the "white ribbon" label that was used from 1975-1982 with a red-and-blue MB logo that they had already been using on their European puzzles. More significantly, this same year they updated their printing process. Instead of having a wax layer on the surface, the print is done on a more modern paper that has more water-repellent properties. It isn't overly glossy, but probably has some slight lamination using plastic. The ink used changed as well to the modern CMYK system, which results in much bluer blues, such as the indigo color mentioned above for the sky. MBs from the '70s and before used a different printing process and the blues always had a hint of green to them. Also, the pieces are slightly thinner than before.
Milton Bradley "Grand" series puzzles are the exact same dimensions as their 2000 piece Magnum/Super Big Ben puzzles, so Grand pieces are smaller than normal MB pieces.
I would love to know from the Google Maps experts, exactly where this photo was taken.
This puzzle is my selection for the November 2021 BCD meeting theme, "Puzzles I've Revisited During the Pandemic."
Completed in 18 hr., 4 mins. with no box reference. 2501 pieces (61 x 41): 26.0 secs./piece; 138.4 pcs./hr. Difficulty rating: 2.6/10.
Ghost of puzzles past, Part 7
Here is a great old Milton Bradley from 1983 that I made when I was 13 years old, sometime during the winter of 1987-88. It was the first large (2000+) puzzle I had made on my own, and I remember being really excited when I finally got it done.
As a kid I used to dream about large puzzles. I somehow talked my mother into buying me a 2000 piece puzzle when I was 6, which I didn't get very far with, due to lots of trees in the picture. I spotted a 2500 piece at my aunt's house a year or two later, and I also remember being at a family gathering, at a summer camp somewhere on a lake, probably in 1985 or '86. My grandfather, who was a big puzzle fan and partial to Milton Bradley, showed me a box he had bought from the then brand-new, 3000 piece Magnum series. 3000 pieces! I was beside myself.
But it took a while before I could say I actually finished one myself. In the winter of '87-88, I vaguely remember being in trouble for something - maybe fighting with my sister - and for a week or two I had to spend the rest of the evening in my bedroom, after dinner, missing crucial television programs. But left to my own devices, I ended up having a great time serving my sentence working on this wonderful Alpine scene.
As a big music fan and collector even then, the winter of '87-'88 was something of a transition period for me. I had, just after Christmas of 1983, bought a stereo system with my own money that had a turntable, a single cassette deck which could record, and a radio. I amassed a lot of LPs during the next few years, especially after I spotted an advertisement in the Sunday paper for the Columbia House music club. It had a catalog of record albums listed, and you could get around a dozen for a penny - but then had to buy 5 or 6 more in the next 3 years, at slightly higher-than-retail prices and plus shipping costs. And you also got a catalog each month, that featured one "selection of the month," which would be sent to you if you didn't return a reply postcard in time. Back in those days, Columbia House didn't seem to care if their new subscriber was a 10 year old.
When I got a Sony Walkman for Christmas in 1985, it changed the way I listened to music. Now I could bring my albums along with me, to listen to in the car when we took long drives, or if I was outside mowing the lawn. I would buy blank cassettes and make copies from my LPs, but I never got into buying many cassettes at the store, because by late 1988, I had bought a completely new stereo system with a CD player, and entered the digital age.
But in the winter of '87-'88, bored perhaps with my albums, I was doing a lot of recording off the radio, and that is what I remember the most about doing this puzzle. I was working on the floor right next to the stereo; I'd have a cassette tape in the player, cued with the "record/play/pause" buttons down, and if a song came on that I wanted to record, I'd rush over and press the pause button. The recordings were often staticky and sometimes I didn't get there in time before the obnoxious deejay interrupted the music, but they were my first "mixtapes." I remember songs like "What I Am" by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel's "Big Time," among others.
And the most vivid memory of puzzling and listening to radio that winter was definitely a song by MARRS called "Pump up the Volume." Some evenings the radio station would do a "sound-off," where they would play two tracks that were brand new, and there was a number you could call in and vote for your preference. I forget what the other track was, but when the MARRS song came on, it was different than anything I had heard before - making liberal use of samples and other sound effects, it sounded very "advanced." It was one of the first mainstream songs that combined elements of hip-hop and house music, and it won that evening's sound-off overwhelmingly.
I remember building this puzzle on the floor in my bedroom, and that it took me quite a long time. I had some issue with the sky, where I had to shift a large assembled section across the puzzle, which I assumed was due to a repeat pattern, but as far as I can see, this puzzle doesn't have a repeat pattern and I didn't encounter any issues with the sky this time.
But I did have struggles getting through all of the black pieces on each side, and while I've now completed many puzzles that are much more difficult than this one, I'm impressed with my 13-year-old self for sticking it out and getting through all of those areas, especially the upper right. Back then, I would often abandon a puzzle when it became difficult.
My original copy is long gone, and this one came from the collection of Frank F. Farrar, Jr., who was a big collector of MB puzzles and who also contributed a lot of photos and information to one of the first online databases of American cardboard puzzles, puzzlehistory.com. Frank enclosed a photo of the completed puzzle, and some notes, in the box. His summary of this puzzle is spot-on:
Milton Bradley 2500 piece Grand series puzzle, "Alpine Village," 1983, No. 4870-2.
The Milton Bradley Grand series puzzles were in production from 1978 to 1998. This puzzle, now almost 30 years old, is certainly one of the most challenging of the series. The puzzle photo was probably taken in the early part of winter, or early spring. There is a photo of snow removal equipment visible on the far side of the creek. The puzzle colors are muted and dark, about one-third of the puzzle is the brilliant blue sky. The sky area itself is not too difficult, as the blue color ranges from a deep indigo in the upper left, to a pale blue near the mountain ridges. The dark areas on the right and on the left are a much more difficult area, and will keep you busy for a while.
This puzzle has a "loose" cut, this is something that occurs when the puzzle making dies are worn, resulting in a slightly larger gap between the pieces. This does not detract from the finished puzzle, but it does make it more difficult to move around, such as to a display board.
Frank F. Farrar Jr., November 29, 2010.
Also worth noting is that the 1983 series marked a change in the packaging of MB puzzles - they replaced the "white ribbon" label that was used from 1975-1982 with a red-and-blue MB logo that they had already been using on their European puzzles. More significantly, this same year they updated their printing process. Instead of having a wax layer on the surface, the print is done on a more modern paper that has more water-repellent properties. It isn't overly glossy, but probably has some slight lamination using plastic. The ink used changed as well to the modern CMYK system, which results in much bluer blues, such as the indigo color mentioned above for the sky. MBs from the '70s and before used a different printing process and the blues always had a hint of green to them. Also, the pieces are slightly thinner than before.
Milton Bradley "Grand" series puzzles are the exact same dimensions as their 2000 piece Magnum/Super Big Ben puzzles, so Grand pieces are smaller than normal MB pieces.
I would love to know from the Google Maps experts, exactly where this photo was taken.
This puzzle is my selection for the November 2021 BCD meeting theme, "Puzzles I've Revisited During the Pandemic."
Completed in 18 hr., 4 mins. with no box reference. 2501 pieces (61 x 41): 26.0 secs./piece; 138.4 pcs./hr. Difficulty rating: 2.6/10.