Story by Jon Stalnaker AKA The Studebaker Dude
Last November, I wrote a story about my lifelong struggle with the burden of being a master procrastinator. It’s not something that I am particularly proud of, but it is a condition that I have learned to live with. I have written about plenty of examples and here we go again with another. In spite of the fact that I may come across as being proud of this shortcoming, I do like to poke fun of myself when I get so excited about finishing something I should have done months, or even years ago.
On May 15th, 2024, I wrote a story about a car show at Gasoline Alley. That story ended where this story begins. I had the opportunity to pick the best prize in a raffle giveaway, and I was proud of myself for not choosing what I felt was the best prize. It was a framed jigsaw puzzle of my favorite all time puzzle. My favorite because it was a collage of 18 pictures of cars representing American Cars of the 50s.
Now, I’m a car guy who likes 50s cars, especially Studebakers, but that was not what I like so much about this puzzle. It is the fact that this picture, of course, includes not just a Studebaker, but MY Studebaker.
The reason that I did not take that prize home is because I didn’t need it. I have a large poster of that picture framed, in my garage. I also had two of the same jigsaw puzzles, still in boxes at home. I figured I could put one of my unfinished puzzles together and frame it myself. And that began my desire to accomplish something that was not really important; and thus, very procrastinacious. (Yes, I know that’s not a real word. I made it up, and it is now in the dictionary of my computer) On my list of things to do, it has been near the bottom this whole time, but it remained, nevertheless.
I thought about it frequently. I was in a phase where we were doing a lot of jigsaw puzzles, and I kept thinking about putting this one together and covering it with Mod Podge so I could frame it. I knew about this option but had never done it before.
After putting together several new puzzles we had, I got kinda bored with it and figured it was a good time to make a framed version of this poster picture. I have been thinking about this a lot longer than the car show of last May 2024. I actually started thinking about it when I first bought this puzzle years and years ago when I was still in California.
I put the puzzle together immediately after buying it because I was so afraid that a piece could be missing. It was on my workbench, covered with a towel, for years before we moved to Oklahoma. I carefully disassembled it and put it back in the box for the move, all the time worrying that I might lose a piece in the process. Another reason to put it together again in Oklahoma. It was all there.
So, the first part of this task was completed and now I couldn’t make any more puzzles as I would need to Mod Podge this one before I could use my puzzle desk again. That was several months ago. I had to get the sealer from Michael’s, and I did, but that was a few months ago too. I knew I would need a decent frame for it, so I casually looked for that also. I took my time, and it was only last weekend when I finally got a frame. I was looking for a decent frame at the church rummage sale when I found one that looked about the right size. I had to go home and measure the puzzle again and write down the dimensions so I could go back and see if it fit. Well, that frame was gone, but there was another one there that was much fancier, and still cheap. It worked with the dimensions, and I took it home.
I cleaned up the new frame and washed the glass on both sides. I took the picture out and tossed it. There was a plain white backing that I used as a mat and slid it under the puzzle. I brushed on the Mod Podge, securing it to the mat, and let them dry together. I slid another cardboard backing under the matting and reassembled the frame. I was going to put it on the wall in the garage, but I already had the big framed poster version out there. I was given permission from my wife to put it on the wall in the Boyd Suite upstairs. I already had some Studebaker pictures up there but not this one. It looks great up there and I get to look at it when I’m working out.
It is particularly rewarding when I finish something that I have been putting off for a long time. This one may have been on my mind only about 16 months from the car show at Gasoline Alley, but I have been wanting to frame it since I bought this puzzle in January of 2016.
