I found the most incredible vintage puzzle at Goodwill for a dollar!!! It’s a TUCO puzzle from the 1940s titled “Path Along the Seine.” (Many thanks to the intrepid puzzlers who catalogued the TUCO puzzles decades ago. See http://tucopuzzlesite.awardspace.biz/GalLp15.html) This was the first time I’ve ever seen a TUCO puzzle, let alone built one, and it was a thrilling experience.

Packaging: This cardboard box was in amazingly good shape for being roughly 80 years old. The white damage in the middle of the lid was from a Goodwill price sticker that had already pulled off the surface color. Fortunately, that part of the puzzle was the same color as the background area around it.

My favorite part of the packaging is the catch-all statement on the side: “300 to 500 pieces”. It’s accurate; this one has 320 pieces. The packaging does not contain the puzzle name, artist name, piece count, or any other information specific to this puzzle other than the art on the lid.

Cut: The puzzle is an old-school ribbon cut where, as best I could tell, every piece has a unique shape. The pieces are made of heavy, thick cardboard, with light pink backs. Pieces do not interlock; instead, you put them next to each other.

Play: I was expecting to struggle with keeping the assembled parts together, especially if I bumped the puzzle or table, but the pieces were so heavy that they didn’t move much. The example below shows how three pieces of a tree lined up with each other. Parts of the puzzle like the tree trunks and the path were relatively easy to figure out. For other parts, especially the darker leaves, looking for pieces with matching edges was the only way I could make progress.

Closing thoughts: This puzzle is suitable for casual puzzling, although it will take much longer than other 300ish-piece puzzles. (Sadly, one piece is missing, but after 80 years that’s pretty amazing.) I was far more intrigued by this cut than I expected, and I’m now on the search for modern, non-interlocking, cardboard puzzles with similar cuts but more vibrant and varied pictures. Let me know if you’re aware of any.

And if you see a TUCO at your local thrift shop for a dollar, grab it! They provide an astounding glimpse into puzzle history.