BON TON Magazine Cover 1903 Puzzle 
by Guest Writer Roberta Shore

We invite you to read Roberta Shore's review on the following jigsaw puzzle. Since she has discovered the advantages of jigsaw puzzling, she has reviewed/journaled several that will be available on this website.  You may like this similar puzzle by Piatnik...
BON TON Magazine Cover 1903 Jigsaw Puzzle Piatnik Ribbon Cut 1000 pieces Finished Dimension: 26.7” x 18.8”

BON TON Magazine Cover 1903 Puzzle - Roberta's Review

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BON TON Magazine Cover 1903 Jigsaw Puzzle Piatnik Ribbon Cut 1000 pieces Finished Dimension: 26.7” x 18.8”

BON TON Magazine Cover 1903 Jigsaw Puzzle

Piatnik

Ribbon Cut
1000 pieces
Finished Dimension: 26.7” x 18.8”

My Confident Newbie Difficulty rating: Tricky Hard 

Tricky Hard, you might ask? Well, not hard in the way a “busy” puzzle is, when pieces with multiple colors make it difficult to know where they will go in the puzzle. For this beautiful illustration, once carefully sorted, where the pieces go is quite clear. Tricky, but clear. (See more in “Construction”.)

Quality: I knew from the moment I saw this puzzle, I would want to do it. This is my favorite kind of puzzle; I truly enjoy piecing large areas of similar color. Despite “tricky”, in that regard it did not disappoint. There were, however, some quality issues that detracted from the ultimate enjoyment. Loose piece fit - the worst I’ve seen so far. Even 2 pieces fell apart when trying to pick them up. False fits - I found them throughout the puzzle. Lesser things were noticeable puzzle dust and an overly large box which held only the sealed plastic bag of pieces; there was no poster. Color match of the full box top picture to the pieces was fine. For the pieces themselves — they were great! Practically matte finish, all the traditional shapes were present, but the vast majority were the 2 ins / 2 outs variety. None of them were together uncut or in any way damaged, and none were missing.

Getting started: Find the edge pieces and sort by color. Another benefit of puzzles with few colors — it does cut down on my least favorite puzzling chore. Sorting — I do it painstakingly for every puzzle because it makes the construction phase so much more satisfying. I even sub-sort the initial sorting to pull out objects or color variations. For this puzzle, I did all the sorting while finding the edge pieces. That included red, brown, blue, blue with white, half blue / half white, each style of lettering, the face, a very handy row of red, gray and blue pieces, and the distinguishable colors of the background.

Construction: Because the frame would offer very little color information and a big chance for false fits, I did not build it first. I laid out all the red pieces by color and shape. Starting with that handy row mentioned above, I put the lady together from skirt bottom to face, adorned her with hat, gloves and muff; she was fashionably ready for Fall, 1903. I filled in the darkest of the background pieces surrounding her. Then, I found the frame pieces that went along that part of the bottom edge, those with the large white “S”, and the two with the small bannered text on the right side. Next, I pieced together all the text and placed it where it might go. I added the row above BON TON and to that, more frame pieces.

I admit it, most of the rest of the construction was pretty tricky. The left hand blue column - ugh! All those little bugs and intricate details. Thing is I loved every minute of the hours it took. Eventually, I was also able to build the inside frames (a line around the entire illustration, and a double line around the central feature) with the sorted pieces. With that, the remaining edge pieces could go where they belonged!

The trickiest part came last. The background - oh boy. So many variations in tone and color not seen at first glance. I tried to sort them all out by color and shape, yes, TRICKY! For one thing, as previously stated, most of them were the same shape. I was often reduced to finding pieces by the shape of tabs and holes. Then the color — this was not like doing a gradient puzzle — the color changed midstream everywhere. Very little of it is actually “white”. Yet again, I was having fun! For me, every piece I finally place is like a reward. I’ve done “busy”, it takes me no less time. More work than fun, and truly less joyful - I know there are a lot of puzzlers with an opposite view. I so appreciate that puzzling offers personal choice.

Conclusion: I know I said this puzzle was tricky hard. It did offer challenges along the way, but more in time and patience than in complicated design. And, I’m slow, my hours might be your minutes. All I know is I had fun, and for the time I spent puzzling my mind was clear and I was calm. However that happens, it’s a gift.

My grades: Quality. B+, Fun Factor: A

There's More To Jigsaw Puzzles Than Pieces Book by Linda Richard. A compilation of 50+ jigsaw puzzle related topics, tips and tricks written in conversational format for easy, light reading.There's More To Jigsaw Puzzles Than Pieces Book by Linda Richard. A compilation of 50+ jigsaw puzzle related topics, tips and tricks written in conversational format for easy, light reading. Click Here
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR - With her self-published book and  over 300 jigsaw puzzle reviews,  Linda has established herself as a prominent social media marketing influencer and jigsaw puzzle-preneur.  If you want to send Linda a quick message, visit her contact page here.

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