January 29th is a special day because it’s National Puzzle Day! Today, I am celebrating with a Springbok Coca-Cola puzzle!

Why you might ask? Springbok Hallmark puzzles are what started my obsession with puzzles back in the 1980s! The Hallmark store, which sold the most amazing Springbok puzzles, was in the same shopping center as Wendy’s, where I worked in high school. So on payday, I would walk over to the Hallmark store and see what new puzzles they had. A couple of the first puzzles I bought were Pixel Perfect and Majestic Beauty, both 1000 pieces.

My first 2000 piece puzzle was the Centennial Coca-Cola puzzle made in 1986. I loved this puzzle so much! Since then, I’ve collected quite a few Coca-Cola puzzles, which is why I decided on a 1000-piece Springbok Coca-Cola puzzle for this National Puzzle Day! This puzzle was produced in 2013 and it is the perfect Springbok quality, passing the pickup challenge with no problem whatsoever! 

The pieces on a Springbok puzzle are not your typical grid cut pieces. They are all different shapes and I find them so fun to put together! I did a virtual speed puzzling event in 2023 and it featured a 500-piece Springbok puzzle and it’s the first speed puzzle I actually completed in under one hour! I guess it’s all those years of Springbok puzzle practice! 

So which puzzle are you celebrating National Puzzle Day with? Whichever puzzle you choose, enjoy it to the fullest! Happy National Puzzle Day and happy puzzling!