35mm

The origins of photography can be traced back to approximately 500 CE when the first descriptions of the “camera obscura” can be found. The “dark room” device allowed projection of an inverted, reversed image onto a screen. The light based physical principle was put to practical use in the 17th century as a drawing tool. Using the chemical principles of silver chloride when exposed to light, many attempted to create a permanent image from the camera obscura, and in 1826 Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niépce succeeded, capturing the view from his window. Celluloid film was introduced by George Eastman in 1888. Oskar Barnack, head of R&D at Leitz in Germany, created the first truly compact personal photography device in 1913, the 35mm camera, which debut as the Leica I (LEItz CAmera) in 1925.

Puzzle maker Tyler Williams of Beard’s Woodshop Co was channeling this history when he created one of his newest boxes, the irresistible 35mm. Tyler often makes his creations in various contrasting wood types and colorful burls, and the many iterations of his new camera themed puzzle are all very nice to look at. You’ll want to smile for this camera, because it’s a clever multistep sequential discovery puzzle, too.

“I’ve always wanted to do a camera style puzzle. This one came to me while designing for a different puzzle. It was originally going to be a keychain puzzle but ended up as the camera. My inspiration was a box of my grandfather’s old cameras.” Tyler told me a bit about the challenges and changes he made during development of this puzzle. There is a hidden mechanism which requires discovery of a tool, that was a challenge to get just right. He later devised an additional way to hide this tool that adds a very sneaky step and makes the puzzle even better.

Tyler had also created internal grooved gears for the puzzle, but these proved to be problematic and were removed to improve reliability. It’s always interesting to me to hear about the evolution of a design, including what worked and what did not. Although these gears did not make it into this final design, Tyler learned a lot about their creation and we will likely see that reflected in future creations.

“One funny thing that happened during the process is that my son got ahold of one of the finished puzzles and it went flying across the room. He tried to take a photo and it wasn’t working so he decided it was broken and tossed it haha luckily it didn’t break and that particular puzzle is in my collection as a prototype.” Tyler mentioned he is currently working on a sword maze puzzle, and he always seems to have new ideas. “Last thing I would like people to know is that I always try to incorporate my family in my puzzles. The photo at the end of 35mm is my grandfather.” As Tyler mentions in the description of the puzzle, the goal is to find the photograph, and he once again has included a very personal touch, something which makes many of his creations all the more special.

 Here’s a toast to the camera buff in us all, with a tongue in cheek tribute to the photos that don’t always come out so well. The drink was created by Seattle bartender Steff Rider at Liberty and can be found in Community Cocktails, 2020. It’s a bit reminiscent of a Last Word template but has no citrus, so is hard to pin down. It’s got a few Negroni-esque components, yet again also has a fruit liqueur, so not exactly. I’d say it’s a bit hard to calibrate, or, what’s the word … bring into focus.

Nevermind, it’s delicious, so there’s no need to put it into a well defined category. St George spiced pear liqueur is a decadent treat that surprisingly compliments Chartreuse extremely well, and blanco tequila is an excellent base spirit to anchor these dominant flavors. The drink is picture perfect – cheers!

Out of Focus by Steff Rider

1 ½ oz blanco tequila

½ oz Green Chartreuse

½ oz Cocchi Americano

½ oz St George Spiced Pear liqueur

1 dash Scrappy’s Cardamom bitters

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite glass. Lemon twist garnish.