Big-Time Puzzle Collectors

I collect mechanical puzzles, and most people are shocked when I tell them I have 600-700 puzzles in my collection.

But that's nothing. Jerry Slocum's collection has over 30,000. And his is the second largest in the world (the largest currently belongs to James Dalgety in England, but he inherited it from Edward Hordern, who built it).

Jerry's donating his collection over time to the Lilly Library in Bloomington, Indiana, and the New York Times has an article about the first wave of arrivals to the library. Be sure and click on the accompanying graphic to get a rare look at the interior of a Kamei secret box (I own a copy of Cassiopeia; it's neat). Usually, Kamei works hard to make sure you never see the mechanisms in his boxes.

Melissa and I passed on the opportunity to travel to Bloomington with a group after International Puzzle Party, which Jerry started 28 years ago. I considered applying for the curator job for this collection, but that's another story.