During Safe at Home of the Covid 19 pandemic, I found some puzzles in a Little Free Library when I was walking in my neighborhood. The calm I felt led me to search other LFLs on my walks and I came upon a Buffalo 750 piece Picture Purrfect. It was so charming that I have been pursuing his cat puzzles since. They are hard to find, nonetheless it gives me great pleasure to pursue this quest.
~ DW
I have here in Quebec, Canada 149 Charles Wysocki puzzles, thank you
~ Ginette
I truly wish I could really recall how I became interested in Charles Wysocki puzzles. I have always enjoyed his art work and it has been a long time dream of mine to own a Wysocki print for my home. So, in the meantime, I have purchase several of his books that feature the paintings. I think the puzzles are a wonderful substitute for his artwork.
I rarely work other puzzles. Currently, I have 103 Wysocki puzzles. I have worked some several times, but generally I only work them once. I keep all my puzzles and do not lend them out. I work them, when possible, according to the seasons or holidays. I almost always have a puzzle in progress. I sort the edges first and assembly it. I try to put the American flag pieces to together, as I am sorting the edges. I was quite surprised to not find an American flag on the Trick or Treat Hotel or Witches Brew Halloween puzzles. Those two are the hardest puzzles I have worked. I have worked Witches Brew twice. I doubt I will work Trick or Treat Hotel. As of today, I am still trying to complete it. I had to take a day or several days break from it to gain a different perspective on it.
There are puzzle rules in our home. If you see a puzzle in progress you need to ask the puzzler (that's me) if you can work on the puzzle. You can not begin using pieces that have already been organized according to color, shape, place on the puzzle. My three year old great-grandson already knows he must ask to "touch Grandma's puzzle." He enjoys looking at the puzzle I am working on, he knows pieces goes in the draws. I will let him select a piece and I will help him place it in the puzzle. We do have puzzles for him to work and call his own.
I generally only work 1000 piece puzzles. I did a 2000 pieces once, but that require a bigger puzzle board, so once was enough for me. I have a couple of Shape puzzles, 700, and 300 pieces, but not not crazy about those. I think there was a lull in the production and changing of the manufacturers of Wysocki puzzles, so I bought what I could get.
I have a great puzzle board that has four pull out drawers. It is great because when we have company I can just pick the whole puzzle (with pieces in the drawers) and put it on a bed or the dining room table.
I am an avid Wysocki puzzler!
~ Gloria Smith
I started working jigsaw puzzles when I was a kid. I have purchased Charles Wysocki puzzles 3 different times in my life. I am now 63. I have purchased all kinds of jigsaws, probably starting with Big Ben. In my late twenties, I discovered Charles Wysocki and my love for working his puzzles became top priority. I would later come to sale those in yard sales, etc. I loved him and his beautiful artwork so much it led me to buy his puzzles again in my thirties when my kids were working jigsaw puzzles with me. They started out on Disney and board jigsaws. As they became older, their love for Charles Wysocki grew. We would work 1000 piece Charles Wysocki's every week. I grew his collection into an almost complete set of Milton Bradley, Hasbro and Buffalo. We moved in 2018 and I gave ALL of my collection to Goodwill. Since turning 60, I have been purchasing them ALL again. My daughter is 36 and still works Charles Wysocki jigsaws with her kids. I now have about 200 of his puzzles purchased again and am working the puzzles weekly. I prefer 1000 piece. I have 1000 and 1500 size jigboards and a jigboard table that I love, but mainly work his puzzles with a picture frame on my lap with my cat by my side. My husband won't attempt to work any jigsaw and awes at my ability to do one every 3 days or so. My eyes get tired from computer screens, but not Charles Wysocki. I also have his books and some of his artwork. Thank you!
~ Jo's CW Collection
My parents starting purchasing Wysocki prints in the 80's. I love the colors and scenes and purchased some of my own. My husband, children & I moved to Fresno CA in 2005 and the Wysocki puzzle bug bit me! I loved going to Target and finding a new puzzle. We had large block yard sales and I was able to pick some up there. I would send my sister-in-law the ones I had finished. I now finish a new puzzle every other day-I'm obsessed!! I only do Wysocki 1000 piece and I don't like the Buffalo Games puzzle at all. I really only find Hasbro/MB on eBay. I have a pretty large collection now and find myself purchasing some of those that I had given any (UGH!). I LOVE Charles Wysocki and his puzzles. Had the opportunity to meet him before he left us. I will treasure that memory and often think of him with joy as I do one of his puzzles. So happy to have this forum. I often wish that I had people close by so we could "borrow" each others puzzles! A puzzle library! Check one out and give it back! A person can dream!!
~ Karen
I have been doing puzzles for the last 40 years and now at 68 I have done 99% of the wysocki puzzles over and over. I always initial the final piece and put the date on the box. I will pass on all my puzzles to the grandkids that wish to continue the tradition. I am now a master puzzler and can do a 1000 piece in two days if I wish. What fun and mindless. Better than video games for the mind.
~ Mike G
In the 70s my dad would receive a Charles Wysocki calendar every year from his employer. He wasn't one to throw things away, so he kept them and eventually hung them up in a basement room, next to the ceiling, as a "decoration!" (He also wasn't much for decorating!??). He passed away last year.
In the 90s my sister, her daughter, and my mom would visit each summer for a couple of days. Mom had a couple of Charles Wysocki puzzles so she would bring one when they came and we would complete it before they headed home. It was kind of a tradition each year. When mom passed away 11 years ago we put one together when everyone was back for her memorial service. My dad framed it. ??
Several years ago I was trying to lose weight and thought if I had something to do with my hands then maybe I wouldn't be so tempted to munch! I only had 4-5 puzzles, so started buying new ones as they came on the shelves at Walmart or Target. But ONLY Charles Wysocki 1000 piece ones! ??
Needless to say, I was hooked! But the stores only had a finite amount each year, so I searched for a way to get ones I didn't already have. My daughter-in-law got me started with an eBay account, and that was all it took! I haven't counted them recently but I estimate I have 150-160 now. I also collect Ernies (from Sesame Street), and have an entire room dedicated to Ernies, so I have a puzzle set up at a desk in the Ernie room, and happily work on them almost every day!
I enjoy the puzzles with Americana backgrounds and the ones with buildings the best. I like the "old" ones with the big boxes better than the newer ones with smaller pieces. (I don't care for the newest ones by buffalo games; it is hard to tell if the pieces fit or not.) I have even been lucky to find several complete ones at Goodwill!
Doing these puzzles is relaxing. ?? It takes me back to a quieter time, when my mom and dad were still alive. ??
~ Nancy
After being diagnosed with schizophrenia at a behavioral health center I started putting together Charles Wysocki puzzles. I had no idea there were so many. I remember building some of the MB versions when I was little. I find it somewhat annoying that they changed the format of the puzzles from square to rectangular since I'm currently arranging them on my living room wall in a huge mural. So far I have 31 of them including some of the cat puzzles. I hope Buffalo reissues all the old prints in the rectangular format. In the meantime I'm still finishing up the Buffalo versions. I love the way the art works with the puzzle cut, the diversity of the colors and contrasting hues. I kind of wish Buffalo would use more than one puzzle cutting die though as they are all identical. Charles Wysocki was a magical artist of Americana and his legacy lives on in all the amazing puzzles he made possible.
~ Noah Benzing
My sister and her husband come to visit me for two months in Florida in the winter, and have done so for about 10 years. However, they rent their own place. They borrow Charles Wysocki puzzles from the library and have bought some at garage sales while they were here. Whenever we go to visit (several times a week) they have a puzzle on the dining room table, so we eat in the lanai. When they go back to England, we store some of their stuff at our place. Generally, I have not been a puzzler, but when the pandemic hit and we were in lockdown, I decided to try one of their puzzles. Forty plus puzzles later I have started to buy some of my own, and am gradually filling up a shelf in my closet. I love all the different themes and styles, so there is never anything boring. I did try a Hometown, which was okay, but his puzzles are the best. Like many folks, I prefer the Milton Bradley/Hasboro versions, but do occasionally like one of the Buffalo Games versions with their large poster. I really love this site, which allows me to check which series a puzzle is and if it has been reissued. I have tried to work out when each series was published from the copyright date on some of the boxes, but is there a place where this information is available. Does anyone know why and when MB/H stopped publishing them, and when Buffalo Games started doing so? Happy puzzling everyone.
~ Peter John
When I was a child, we had one jigsaw puzzle in the house. It belonged to my sister, and I wanted to work it myself, but it was off limits. When I grew up & could afford puzzles on my own, I bought them - worked all kinds- but still had not found something totally satisfying, until one day, in a five & dime, I found a Charles Wysocki jigsaw puzzle great for autumn - the Pumpkin Hollow one...I was hooked. I have 90 puzzles now, and counting. I prefer 1000 pieces only - I sort the pieces by basic colors, and separate the edge pieces. Work them first. I only work puzzles once. I have a list of the ones I have worked, with brief descriptions of them, and the YEAR in which I did them. All the puzzles are stored in the attic - which is why I keep lists of what I've worked - don't want to have to go upstairs!! What means the most to me, I suppose, is that his Americana art reminds me of a sweeter, more gentle time- and the patriotism of the American flag flying in so many makes me love working those puzzles even more.
~ Rosie
During quarantine my boyfriend and I started doing jigsaw puzzles together as a way to pass the time. We bought our first Wysocki at Target on a whim and we were HOOKED on his beautiful art! We've already bought five and are looking to grow our collection. We love to do our puzzles while listening to true crime podcasts and can finish a 1000 piece puzzle in one day if we drink enough coffee. :)
~ Sami
My wife and I love them. She now thinks I have gone a little overboard with trying to buy all I can. I have about 500 puzzles new and used, a lot of doubles.
~ Twinkletoes