Step into 1922 Greenwich Village before it vanished.

Coulton Waugh's Ye symbollic mappe of Greenwich Village is more of a time machine than it is a map. Whimsical caricatures, hidden tea rooms, bohemian theaters, and the electric cultural moment when New York's artistic heart beat loudest. For map collectors and history devotees: this is the piece you've been waiting for.

📖 The Story Behind This Masterpiece

In 1922, artist and cartographer Coulton Waugh captured something that photographs couldn't: the spirit of Greenwich Village. This wasn't a practical map for navigation. It was a love letter to a neighborhood, illustrated in mock-historical style, complete with ornate borders and picturesque details that turned geography into storytelling. Every corner held a discovery—a tea room tucked between streets, a theater marked with theatrical flair, caricatures of actual Village figures frozen in daily life. The map functioned as a cultural document of the bohemian enclave during its Golden Age, when artists, writers, and rebels redefined what American culture could be. This single work has endured so completely that it's preserved in the David Rumsey Map Collection at Stanford University—not as a navigation tool, but as irreplaceable cultural artifact.

Coulton Waugh was no ordinary cartographer. He embodied the blending of cartography with artistic storytelling—a figure who understood that maps weren't merely about geography, but about capturing the human landscape beneath the street names. His vibrant, imaginative approach to illustration meant that his work revealed not just where things were, but why they mattered. The Ye symbollic mappe of Greenwich Village showcases this perfectly: it's both a functional map and a narrative artwork, making Waugh a unique voice in pictorial mapmaking tradition.

As you assemble this puzzle, you'll discover what made Waugh's design so exceptional for laser-cut work: the detailed pictorial elements create natural color transitions and pattern recognition challenges that reward close observation. The ornate borders frame the composition beautifully, while the street layout and hidden vignettes offer that satisfying moment when disparate sections suddenly cohere into place. Each piece connects you more deeply to this lost moment in New York history—the narrow streets, the clustering of cultural landmarks, the sense of a neighborhood packed with creative possibility. This isn't passive art appreciation. It's 12–16 hours of intimate immersion in a world that shaped American culture.

🎁 PERFECT FOR:

✔️ Map Collectors Building Curated Collections — You understand that vintage cartography holds history, culture, and beauty simultaneously. This 1922 Village map is the conversation piece your collection has been missing.
✔️ New York History Enthusiasts — You've walked those same streets, mourned the neighborhoods lost to progress, and hunger for glimpses of the city that was. This puzzle is archaeology in wood.
✔️ Art and Design Historians — The intersection of cartography and illustration fascinates you. Waugh's approach to blending practical geography with whimsical storytelling is exactly your aesthetic.
✔️ Bohemian Era Romantics — The 1920s Village calls to you—the artistic rebellion, the cultural ferment, the sense that beauty and truth were being actively created. Now you can build that moment piece by piece.
✔️ Gift-Givers for the Discerning — You know someone who has everything except this: a meaningful, historically significant, handcrafted piece that demonstrates you understand their passions.

Exceptional for New York relocations (honoring the city they're leaving), housewarming gifts (instant cultural credibility), milestone birthdays for collectors, or those "what do you give someone who appreciates substance" moments.

🧩 PUZZLE SPECIFICATIONS:

✔️ Precision laser-cut wooden pieces for clean, satisfying interlocking
✔️ Rigid 3mm MDF construction—warp-resistant and built for decades of assembly and display
✔️ UV-printed directly onto wood grain (zero paper laminate that peels or fades)
✔️ Museum-quality color fidelity capturing Waugh's original artistic vision
✔️ Traditional grid-cut design—pure challenge, no gimmicks
✔️ Handcrafted wooden keepsake storage box for beautiful long-term storage
✔️ Made-to-order production (3–4 weeks): zero warehouse waste, individual attention to every puzzle
✔️ Sustainable, eco-conscious manufacturing

💎 WHY WAWW PUZZLES ARE WORTH THE WAIT:

Museum Quality at Honest Pricing:
Traditional wooden puzzle makers charge $300–$500+. We deliver that same heirloom craftsmanship through direct manufacturing and made-to-order efficiency. No wholesale markup. No luxury tax. Just transparent pricing for genuine museum-grade work.

Built to Outlast Trends:
Those pieces in your hands? They're rigid 3mm MDF that won't bend, fray, or soften like cardboard. Assemble this puzzle today, frame it, then assemble it again in 20 years. The interlock will be identical.

Color and Detail Sealed Permanently:
No paper laminate means no peeling in humidity, no bubbling from temperature changes, no fading in sunlight. The artwork is UV-printed directly into the wood—permanently sealed like museum archival standards.

Pure Puzzle Mastery:
Precision grid-cut design creates that quiet satisfaction when the right piece slides home. No arbitrary whimsy shapes. No distractions from the original artwork. Just intentional challenge that rewards observation.

Presentation Worth Keeping:
Your puzzle arrives in a handcrafted wooden keepsake box. This isn't packaging you'll discard—it's beautiful enough to display on a bookshelf, elegant enough to give as a gift box, and functional enough to store the puzzle long-term.

Sustainable by Design:
We craft your puzzle fresh when you order. No warehouse inventory. No overproduction. This 3–4 week window isn't a limitation—it's proof of our commitment to zero waste and individual craftsmanship.

Budget hours of meditative, engaging assembly—perfect for winter evenings, creative retreats, or those moments when slowing down feels like an act of resistance against digital noise. Waugh's Ye symbollic mappe of Greenwich Village has captivated collectors and historians since 1922. Your version begins its journey in 3–4 weeks.