For Dallas Post

An antique jigsaw puzzle collection will be displayed at the Back Mountain Memorial Library in May.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_LibraryDisplay-1.jpg.optimal.jpgAn antique jigsaw puzzle collection will be displayed at the Back Mountain Memorial Library in May.

DALLAS — Barbara Fields of Noxen will display her antique jigsaw puzzle collection at the Back Mountain Memorial Library in May.

Fields has been collecting antique puzzles for about 40 years and currently has about 100 puzzles in her collection. “I started doing jigsaw puzzles with my grandmother when I was very young,” Fields said. “I still enjoy putting them together with my family.”

Fields said that the old boxes are particularly interesting. “I have some with artwork that is pretty,” she said, citing the landscapes as an example.

Fields said that she finds antique puzzles at auctions, flea markets, yard sales, and antique stores. The very earliest jigsaw puzzles were made of wood and did not interlock, Fields explained, adding that they were harder to do.

“Back in the old days before television, you could spend an evening doing a puzzle, family all together, maybe listening to a program on the radio,” Fields said. “Neighbors would swap puzzles. They are a reminder of a time when life was slower and simpler.”

Members of the community are invited out to see Fields’ puzzle collection throughout the entire month of May at the Back Mountain Memorial Library.

Reach the Dallas Post newsroom at 570-675-5211 or by email at news@s24527.p831.sites.pressdns.com.