The History of Jigsaw Puzzles

 By Terrie Todd

John Spilsbury

John Spilsbury, a British engraver and mapmaker, is credited with inventing the first jigsaw puzzle in 1767 when he pasted a map onto wood and cut it into small pieces to be used as an educational toy. To this day, of course, “dissected maps” continue to be a wonderful way for children and adults to learn their geography. 

Europe divided into its kingdoms (1766) Believed to be the first jigsaw puzzle (Public Domain)

In the early 1900’s, puzzles for adults emerged and became both a craze and an addiction. Pieces were cut exactly on the color lines, making them more challenging. And because the pieces did not interlock, an evening’s work could be wiped out with one false move or jostle. Nor did they have a guide picture on the box, so you may not be sure what the subject of your masterpiece looked like until the last pieces were in place. Those early wooden puzzles were expensive to make, too, which meant they were purchased only by high society folk at up to five dollars for a 500-piece puzzle (about one tenth of the monthly salary of an average worker).

Well-known game makers, the Parker Brothers, introduced puzzles that locked together and that each had unique “figure pieces” included, where an individual piece might be shaped like an animal or other recognizable object. This added so much appeal that in 1909, Parker Brothers stopped making games and devoted their factory to puzzle production that year.

The Great Depression of the 1930’s brought with it even more reasons to buy and sell jigsaw puzzles. By this time, the less expensive cardboard puzzles had emerged. They offered an affordable means of entertainment and escape from difficult times. It gave the struggling unemployed something at which to succeed. Folks could rent puzzles from libraries or drugstores for pennies a day. If purchased, they could be passed around a community until every family had assembled it. Puzzles were also given out free with the purchase of various products. The picture, of course, would be of the product itself, doubling as advertising for the company.

Other businesses jumped on the bandwagon and began producing weekly puzzles that people would rush out to buy every Wednesday, much like a newspaper, hoping to be the first to solve that week’s jigsaw.

Once colored photography became common, jigsaw puzzles displayed more photos than artwork. With the advent of television, puzzles quickly declined in popularity. But even today, as jigsaws continue to grow in sophistication with unique challenges like 3D or double-sided, many remain devoted to the hobby.

For more, you might enjoy The Jigsaw Puzzle: Piecing Together a History by Anne D. Williams.

The Last Piece releases November 16, 2021

Ray Matthews dreamed of being an artist, but never of selling his work to a jigsaw puzzle maker—especially the portrait of his sweetheart, Sarah. When compelled to break his oath, Ray speaks a prophecy over the puzzle—that no one will be able to finish it before he and the love of his life are reunited. During the next 80 years, the puzzle passes through four different households. Though all are profoundly affected by Ray’s girl at the wishing well, none are aware of the connection between them—until one decision unleashes a peculiar chain of events.

 

Ironically, Terrie Todd is not a fan of jigsaw puzzles. But her love for
seemingly unrelated stories that all converge in the end—and an unfinished puzzle that sat on her dining table for a year—inspired her to introduce a jigsaw puzzle that is practically the main character in her upcoming split-time novel, The Last Piece. She’s also the award-winning author of The Silver Suitcase, Maggie’s War, Bleak Landing, and the recently released Rose Among Thornes. Terrie is represented by Mary DeMuth of Books & Such Literary Agency. She lives with her husband, Jon, in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada where they raised their three children and where her novels are set. They are grandparents to five boys.

Follow Terrie here:

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A Puzzling Activity

By Marilyn Turk

When my grandson was a toddler, I found some wooden puzzles with large pieces for him. He loved them, especially the ones that made noise—animal sounds or emergency vehicles. The learning experience he gained putting them together such as cognitive skills, eye-hand coordination, item identification and focus were valuable lessons in his development.

As he’s grown older, I’ve found more complex puzzles for him. At age nine, he's a very competitive child and likes me to participate with him, issuing challenges to see who can assemble the puzzle the fastest. 

We didn’t have puzzles in my home when I was a child, but I remember visiting an older friend of my mother’s who always had a puzzle in process in her living room. 

But now, I'm discovering that I enjoy putting puzzles together, and was pleased  to learn the activity is beneficial to our brains, stimulating our brain activity as we grow older. 

Puzzles were originally pictures painted on wood and then cut into pieces. The commercialization of puzzles in 1760 is credited to John Spilsbury, an engraver and cartographer in London. The early jigsaw puzzles were known as “dissections,” and were produced by mounting maps on sheets of hardwood and cutting along national boundaries with a marquetry saw. Useful for learning geography, these early maps were used to teach the children of King George III and Queen Charlotte by royal governess Lady Charlotte Finch.

Around 1880, the name “jigsaw” was associated with the puzzle when fretsaws became the tool used for cutting the shapes. Cardboard jigsaw puzzles appeared in the late 1800’s, but were slow to replace the wooden puzzles because they were perceived to be of lower quality.

Jigsaw puzzles became very popular during the Great Depression because they provided a cheap, reusable form of entertainment. It was during that time the puzzles became more complex and appealing to adults. Manufacturers often gave away puzzles of their products for advertising.

One of the largest puzzles, "Life, The Greatest Puzzle," has 24,000 pieces

Today’s puzzles are enlarged photographs or reproductions glued to cardboard and run through a press that cuts the pictures into pieces.

Rachel Page Elliott (1913-2009) started cutting wooden jigsaw puzzles when she was in her seventies. For twenty years, she shared her techniques, artistry and insights about making puzzles and won many national awards for her craftsmanship.

Rachel Page Elliott with one of her puzzles

The Guinness Book of World Records recognized her for creating a jigsaw puzzle that sold for the highest price ever - $27,000. The puzzle featuring a signed print entitled “The Outing,” was sold at a charitable art auction benefitting the Golden Retriever Foundation in 2005. Ms. Elliot was 92 years old at the time and had just updated her world-renown book, Dog Steps.

Do you enjoy putting puzzles together? Did they play a role in your family?

1000 pc, "We are the World" puzzle

Marilyn Turk writes historical fiction set on the coast. The Gilded Curse, a World War II novel, published in 2016, won a Silver Scroll award and its sequel, Shadowed by a Spy, debuts in July 2018. Rebel Light and Revealing Light are the first two books of her Coastal Lights Legacy featuring stories in lighthouse settings. In addition, Marilyn’s novella, The Wrong Survivor, will be in a collection called Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides coming out in November 2018. She has also written a book of devotions called Lighthouse Devotions. She blogs about lighthouses and writing on her website @ http://pathwayheart.com. In addition to climbing lighthouses, Marilyn enjoys boating, fishing, tennis, and gardening

Shadowed by a Spy

1942

The country is in the midst of World War II, and Lexie Smithfield thinks she left danger behind her when she moved to New York City. Pursuing a career in psychiatric nursing and trying to do her part for the war effort, she has no idea new danger awaits when she unknowingly encounters Nazi saboteurs who also take the Long Island train to Manhattan.

Her fiancé Russell Thompson has also moved to Manhattan where he works as a hotel manager and moonlights playing piano for the USO. Due to an old injury, Russell is unable to join the military and isn’t satisfied with his contribution to the war, so when an opportunity arises for him to go overseas, he has to leave Lexie to pursue it.

Alone in Manhattan, Lexie senses she’s being followed, but by whom? And when a patient escapes from the psych ward, her fears increase. Who will protect her now that Russell is gone?

Buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Shadowed-Spy-Marilyn-Turk-ebook/dp/B07DJ8VM7K/