Liberty Puzzles
Encyclopedia
Liberty Puzzles is a manufacturer of classic style wooden jigsaw puzzles based in Boulder
, Colorado. Founded in 2005 by Christopher Wirth and his business partner Jeffrey Eldridge, after Wirth’s family inherited several hand-cut wooden puzzles from the 1930s. Surprised by the value of hand-cut wooden jigsaw puzzles (around $1,000 each), Wirth decided to start a business using modern cutting technologies, with a goal of producing puzzles in the $100 range. Wirth is the son of former Colorado senator Tim Wirth
.
Liberty Puzzles is the largest or second largest wooden jigsaw puzzle manufacturer in America as of 2011. The company offers over 300 different puzzle images, with an emphasis on fine art, vintage prints and Asian art.
The puzzles are made with a print adhered to quarter-inch maple plywood cut with computer-controlled laser cutters. The puzzle designs are modeled after the puzzles popular in the early-twentieth century. Jigsaw puzzle historian Bob Armstrong notes: "style of cutting and figure pieces emulates the Falls puzzles from the 1930s". Liberty's puzzles include a relatively large number of whimsy pieces (pieces shaped recognizably, for example as storks or swans), "as much as 20 percent of the pieces... [in some puzzles]". Most Liberty Puzzles include their signature whimsy piece in the shape of an eagle.
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, Colorado. Founded in 2005 by Christopher Wirth and his business partner Jeffrey Eldridge, after Wirth’s family inherited several hand-cut wooden puzzles from the 1930s. Surprised by the value of hand-cut wooden jigsaw puzzles (around $1,000 each), Wirth decided to start a business using modern cutting technologies, with a goal of producing puzzles in the $100 range. Wirth is the son of former Colorado senator Tim Wirth
Tim Wirth
Timothy Endicott Wirth is a former United States Senator from Colorado. Wirth, a Democrat, was a member of the House from 1975 to 1987 and was elected to the Senate in 1986, serving one term there before stepping down. He was Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs during the Clinton...
.
Liberty Puzzles is the largest or second largest wooden jigsaw puzzle manufacturer in America as of 2011. The company offers over 300 different puzzle images, with an emphasis on fine art, vintage prints and Asian art.
The puzzles are made with a print adhered to quarter-inch maple plywood cut with computer-controlled laser cutters. The puzzle designs are modeled after the puzzles popular in the early-twentieth century. Jigsaw puzzle historian Bob Armstrong notes: "style of cutting and figure pieces emulates the Falls puzzles from the 1930s". Liberty's puzzles include a relatively large number of whimsy pieces (pieces shaped recognizably, for example as storks or swans), "as much as 20 percent of the pieces... [in some puzzles]". Most Liberty Puzzles include their signature whimsy piece in the shape of an eagle.
External links
- Liberty Puzzles Official Website
- American Jigsaw Puzzle Society, http://www.jigsaw-puzzle.org/index.html
- Liberty Puzzles- Old meets new- Laser cut wood puzzles (Photos, 2008). http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/02/liberty_puzzles_old_meets.html
- Peacock, Charles. “Wooden Whimsy Jigsaw Puzzles.” http://www.articleinsider.com/games-and-recreation/puzzles/wooden-whimsy-jigsaw-puzzles
- McAdams, Daniel. “History of Jigsaw Puzzles.” http://www.jigsaw-puzzle.org/jigsaw-puzzle-history.html
- Peterson, Eric (November 2008). “Liberty Puzzles: Colorado Cool Stuff.” Entrepreneur Magazine. http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/189501399.html