Will the Real Santa…

Let me tell you friends, the thrift stores are pretty good here in Halifax. They are a bit hard to get to via transit, but boy have I found some great puzzles!

One of which is this adorable Christmas illustration puzzle by an artist named Bill Bell called “Will the Real Santa…”

This was released in 1993 by one of my favourite vintage brands, the Great American Puzzle Factory. Which of course is the brand that put out my childhood puzzle Penguins at the Beach.

This was a pretty tough choice for the Holiday Puzzle Along on Instagram, but it was also addictively fun. It was so hard to tear myself away from this one. There are so many characters and little stories going on in this puzzle.

One of my favourites was this Santa enjoying a candy cane, he looks so content. I mean, does anyone actually like candy canes??

Santa does!

Then we have the Santa jazz trio along with dog howl harmonies. Also, note the Santa to the left of the band that apparently is gifting a brand new computer circa 1993, now that is one lucky kid. They’ll be playing Lemmings on Boxing Day morning like a boss!

Not all is cheery in this picture though, please note the deadeyes creepy clown stuffy that flautist Santa is trying to bring to life for some Christmas morning shenanigans. This is not for the faint of heart.

I need to soothe my jangled nerves with this sweet kitty nuzzling up to Santa, because he’s not gonna drink alllll of that milk.

Clearly you can tell that I had so much fun with this puzzle. It was awesome and added bonus, it was complete. Our previous owner really took care of this puzzle. Thank you!