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‘The origins of jigsaw puzzles go back to the 1760s when European map makers pasted maps onto wood and cut them into small pieces. The “dissected map” has been a successful educational toy ever since.
‘Puzzles for adults emerged around 1900, and by 1908 a full-blown craze was in progress in the United States. Most had pieces cut exactly on the color lines. There were no transition pieces with two colors to signal, for example, that the brown area (roof) fit next to the blues (sky).
‘A sneeze or a careless move could undo an evening’s work because the pieces did not interlock. And, unlike children’s puzzles, the adult puzzles had no guide picture on the box; if the title was vague or misleading, the true subject could remain a mystery until the last pieces were fitted into place.
‘Because wood puzzles had to be cut one piece at a time, they were expensive. A 500-piece puzzle typically cost $5 in 1908, far beyond the means of the average worker who earned only $50 per month.
‘High society, however, embraced the new amusement. Peak sales came on Saturday mornings when customers selected puzzles for their weekend house parties in Newport and other country retreats.
‘The next few years brought two significant innovations. First, Parker Brothers, the famous game manufacturer, introduced figure pieces into its “Pastime” brand puzzles.
‘Figure pieces made puzzles a bit easier to assemble. But the fascination of pieces shaped like dogs, birds, and other recognizable objects more than offset the somewhat reduced challenge.
‘Second, Pastimes and other brands moved to an interlocking style that reduced the risk of spilling or losing pieces. Pastime puzzles were so successful that Parker Brothers stopped making games and devoted its entire factory to puzzle production in 1909.
‘Following this craze, puzzles continued as a regular adult diversion for the next two decades.
‘With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, puzzles for adults enjoyed a resurgence of popularity, peaking in early 1933 when sales reached an astounding 10 million per week.
‘With incomes depleted, home amusements like puzzles replaced outside entertainment like restaurants and night clubs. Puzzles became more affordable too.
‘Many of the unemployed architects, carpenters, and other skilled craftsmen began to cut jigsaw puzzles in home workshops and to sell or rent them locally.
‘During the 1930s craze for puzzles, drugstores and circulating libraries added puzzle rentals to their offerings. They charged three to ten cents per day, depending on size.
‘Another important development was the introduction of die-cut cardboard puzzles for adults. Mass production allowed the manufacturers to cut prices substantially.
‘There was a vogue for advertising puzzles in mid-1932. Retail stores offered free puzzles with the purchase of a toothbrush, a flashlight, or hundreds of other products.
‘The autumn of 1932 brought a novel concept, the weekly jigsaw puzzle. The die-cut “Jig of the Week” retailed for 25 cents and appeared on the news stands every Wednesday. People rushed to buy them and to be the first among their friends to solve that week’s puzzle.
‘The Depression led to the birth of Par Puzzles, long dubbed the “Rolls Royce of jigsaw puzzles.” Frank Ware and John Henriques, young men with no job prospects, cut their first puzzle at the dining room table in 1932.
‘Parr marketed them to affluent movie stars, industrialists and even royalty. They specialized in customized puzzles, often cutting the owner’s name or birth date as figure pieces. They also perfected the irregular edge to frustrate puzzlers who tried to start with the corners and edge pieces.
‘After World War II, the wood jigsaw puzzle went into a decline. At the same time improvements in lithography and die-cutting made the cardboard puzzles more attractive.
‘High quality reproductions of fine art were introduced on jigsaws. In 1965 hundreds of thousands of Americans struggled to assemble Jackson Pollock’s “Convergence,” billed as “the world’s most difficult jigsaw puzzle.”
‘One by one, the surviving brands of wood puzzles disappeared. Parker Brothers discontinued its Pastime puzzles in 1958. By 1974, Par had retired from the business. The English “Victory” puzzles, easily found in department stores in the 1950s and 1960s, almost completely vanished.
‘In the 1980s, Stave Puzzles succeeded Par as the leader in wood puzzles. Stave went several steps beyond Par, commissioning original artwork that was specially designed to interact with the cutting patterns.
‘Experimentation with pop-up figure pieces led to three-dimensional puzzles and many trick puzzles that fit together in several different wrong ways, but with only one correct solution. — Anne D. Williams
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p.s. Hey. ** wolf, Wolf, buddy, hey! Oh, shit, yeah, I didn’t see your older comment. I’ll try to find it in a sec. Sometimes commenters can’t see their own comments, and it’s been this completely mysterious evil thing that can’t be diagnosed or seemingly fixed going on in the depths of this blog for a while. I see everything, but, yeah, it makes cross-commenting borderline defunct. So, yeah you guys are outta here now. It sucks, well, far beyond that, and the news makes it seem like the great majority of you guys are pretty ho-hum about it, but who believes in news. Curious about what it does to traveling there and back. Can’t be good, whatever it is. Anyway, you doing good all in all? I guess I am. Yeah, I think. Big love to you, and prowl on. ** David Ehrenstein, Who, me? Ha ha. ** Bill, My eyes did light up when I found a slave who was into theme parks, naturally, but ultimately he isn’t into them with sufficient oomph to throw a sleeping bag in the basement. ‘Frankissstein’ has escaped me. I’ll sortout what that is. Kind of a good just dumbass enough meets self-conscious title. ** Damien Ark, Hi, Damien. Of course I remember him and even his long comments. I like long comments. They wake me up. That’s crazy about the ‘My Loose Thread’ fan fiction. That’s nuts. That’s probably the novel of mine that I would imagine least inspiring something like that. Well, after ‘God Jr.’, I guess. Anyway, that’s wild. I hope you’re feeling strong. I only just realised this very second that maybe today’s post might qualify as one Jonathan would have liked since jigsaw puzzles are kind of board games, I think? Much to love you. ** Steve Erickson, I can imagine there being an ambitious cosmetic surgeon out there who is sufficiently hot for emo-ish boys to see helping that guy achieve that wish as his crowning achievement. Everyone, Steve has reviewed the new Kesha album if you’re interested. And, if you are, … this marks the spot. ** Misanthrope, Hi. Well, at least half of my Facebook feed people seemed to see Groundhog Day as the newest reason to post a bunch of stupid garbage and make people keep paying attention to them. I can see Facebook causing depression easily. I think it depresses me quite frequently. Or produces anxiety. Or useful bits of information every once in a while. Give me bbq and travel and dinner selection pix over the 10,000th reposting of a pro or anti every Democratic candidate-concerning opinion piece topped off with hysterical accompanying commentary no matter how trolly the opinion’s original source. Ouch, man. Well, I sure hope the mysterious painful thing takes itself out of the running long before the 17th. Half-way is excellent! ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. Yeah, I looked up that fabry condition when I found that profile, and it is a weird, very no fun condition. All my fingers and toes will be gnarly looking abstract sculptures until you get the yes. ** Okay. Dare you take a little time out of your busy day to consider the roots and long life of the jigsaw puzzle? I’m hoping you will, obviously. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
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Hey den, nice post, i got really sucked into puzzles this christmas, it seems to match this kind of hyper-focus i can get really into. i was also super anxious over some family shit, and it was a great distraction, i would sit for hours glued to it haha. i think my friends will get in, they’re great and interesting artists and their applications are good, but you never know. did your plumber come yet? how was your weekend? some students have made a school bar called showbaren, so i went there on friday, it was good. on saturday i was really tired, but erik (roommate) and i found some weed in the house that i guess someone must have left behind at a party? no idea how long ago. so we smoked that and watched ‘color out of space’ this new movie with nicolas cage. it wasn’t good but there was some fun practical effect body horror. nic cage wasn’t even very fun in it, which can usually be counted on. on sunday i did nothing really, went for a little walk and watched some buffy with my roomies. today i’m in the studio, gonna draw. this weekend we’re having a ‘jungle disco’ party at our house! disco i got, but i’ve never listened to jungle, do you have any recommendations? the theme started as more of a tropical disco thing but now we’re leaning into the jungle. love
Speaking of Jigsaw Puzzles here’s the most famous film about them.
Today back in 1964 Carl Th. Dreyer’s masterpiece “Gertrud” premiered in Paris
I don’t make jigsaw puzzles very often. Every year for our annual summer vacation my brother Tom brings a puzzle up to Maine and my brothers and I help him a bit with that (because let’s be honest, there’s not a hell of a lot to do in a cabin in Maine), and a few years ago I brought up a puzzle as well, one that I had purchased at work, it was posters of Broadway musicals I believe. Actually, at work, sometimes in the break room there are puzzles that are going and I guess it’s kind of a communal thing because I see employees working on them during their breaks… sometimes I’ll pitch in as well if I have nothing better to do.
You ever read Norman Mailer Dennis? I started reading his book ANCIENT EVENINGS a week ago (partly because the subject matter of ancient Egypt interests me, partly because Burroughs namedropped it as an influence for his THE WESTERN LANDS), but I had to put it down last night after 200 pages (it’s 709 pages total)… enough is enough! The first 100 pages or so were pretty good and then it turns into a slog. I find it suspect that he claims for research that he read like 100 books, because he has some really noticeable errors in there. For example, it’s pretty common knowledge that the ancient Egyptians believed thoughts and dreams originated in the heart, and that they thought the brain was a mostly useless organ: yet at one point Mailer has his (recently deceased) narrator witnessing his own embalming and wondering how he can still be thinking as he watches his brains being removed through the nostrils of his corpse. I also question all of the gay sex in the book: Ancient Egypt wasn’t nearly as prudish as many European countries in the Middle Ages but it wasn’t exactly Ancient Greece either.
Very interested in the puzzle toys such as Snoopy and Woodstock that might technically double as model kits. The all white puzzle is just pure sadism though.
Also, hopefully this isn’t too odd or anything but recently I somehow got the idea in my head that it would be fun to make a sticker out of a drawing I did of you, so, I did that, if you’d like to see it. 😅
Hi Dennis! I recently finished a new video made with some classical musician friends of mine. Thought I’d share it if you/anyone else would like to see: https://vimeo.com/388055574
Jigsaw puzzles are weirdly interesting to me. I don’t really have any interest in actually doing the work of putting them together, but I like that they exist. A while back, I read a book on the history of the jigsaw puzzle for no reason at all (it seems to be the same book that the accompanying text on your post is from–written by Anne D. Williams). Another story: after my wife was hit by a car while crossing the street a couple years ago, she would spend HOURS doing jigsaw puzzles in our apartment. Both her legs were broken and she was on painkillers, so puzzles were sort of the only thing she could do to keep her brain from atrophying or something. Third puzzle story: I used to work in childcare and for a few years was working entirely with infants/toddlers. Their simple games (often wood puzzles with just a few colorful pieces like fruit shapes) sort of seeped into my head and left a lasting impact on my filmmaking. I started gravitating toward really simple ideas emphasizing things like bright colors for their own sake (the link I shared above is a perfect example).
This afternoon I went with Alex to see The Lighthouse which we both enjoyed. Yes it’s stagey and overacted but hey, it’s good fun and (as has been remarked upon) the dynamic is a bit like the classic UK sitcom Steptoe and Son. Afterwards I saw my friend and fellow Leeds expat Harry, who’d just come out of the new Terrence Malick A Hidden Life, and he was very much raving about that.
Maybe I have a bad memory, but I can’t remember intra-Democratic politics ever being as nasty as they are right now. And 2016 was pretty unpleasant! I have strong opinions on this subject, but I’m cautious about what I say on social media, particularly regarding Bernie Sanders. In face-to-face conversation, people are a lot more open to nuance and complexity.
A middle-aged plastic surgeon with a fetish for prematurely aging emo boys would be a great plot for a horror movie!
Dennis, Damn you! I want to do a jigsaw puzzle now! Well, more like…bless you! Yeah, that’s more like it. I remember doing them as a kid. The one I remember most was a Wonder Woman one. I was really into that series with Lynda Carter. Loved her. Probably had a crush on her too. Even wanted to be her -well, Wonder Woman- for Halloween once.
I find that my liberal American friends are much harsher on particular Dems’ positions than my conservative American friends. Maybe because it’s “family” for the latter, and the former just doesn’t pay them any mind because they know who they’re voting for?
Hmm, now that I think about it, my conservative friends were really harsh about the Repubs in the last election, while my liberal friends picked apart the Dems. Makes sense.
But yes…the endless political posts.
Comedian Anthony Jeselnik did a good bit about media social posting in his “Thoughts and Prayers” gig. I’ll paraphrase: “They’re saying, ‘Look at me. Don’t forget me. I exist too. I’m a good person. Look at me.” That’s a lot of it, I think. We just went through a good round of it with Kobe Bryant’s death. Fucking people I’ve known for 20 years and who I’ve never heard the words “Kobe” and “Bryant” pass out of their mouths during that time were suddenly his biggest fans. I’m like, really?
Yeah, I think the arm is the ulnar nerve. You can actually see the tendon or whatever it is sticking out. The pain is a burning, which indicates the nerve. Oh, well. My own damn fault.
Yes, I’ll be more than half finished tonight! Yay!
Now I need to get a fucking jigsaw puzzle. And really, as cliche as this sounds, it’d probably be fun to do as a family.
Oops, mixed up my “latter” and “former” up there. Yikes. That’s why one should read over one’s post before…posting. 😀
That all-white puzzle is nuts. Yikes. (The name says something like “pure white hell”. Yup.)
“Frankissstein” (I hate the title too) is the latest Jeanette Winterson. Not sure if she’s your thing, Dennis.
DC novel fan fiction? Whoa.
Bill
Yeah, I think that this post is appropriate. We’ve been cleaning the house a lot today, and he actually had about $15,000+ worth of DND gaming stuff, very rare, too, and a friend of his is buying it from us. It’s all been surreal and weird.
This year, my dream of becoming a published author is coming true. But it doesn’t feel as important anymore without him here. I hope I make him proud.
Not sure how you feel about it, but are there copyright infringement issues if I sent his little 18 piece MLT short story anywhere? I was trying to find physical journals/magazines that might accept queer transgressive stuff. Get some of his stuff published randomly if I can. If not, it’s okay, I don’t mind keeping it to myself. If you’d like, I could even send it to you. I think I still have your email.
Bananas in Pyjamas is such a thing from my childhood in Australia.
Interesting connection, we use to call Silverchair – Nirvana in Pyjamas.
I’ll see myself out lol