History of the Jigsaw Puzzle
Its generally agreed that London print shop owner and map maker, John Spilsbury created the first jigsaw puzzle, about 1760. He mounted a map onto mahogany, and cut along the borders of the countries, as a way to teach children about geography.
Early puzzles were called dissections. The introduction of the treadle saw in 1880, saw the name change to the now familiar jigsaw puzzle.
Jigsaw puzzles remained primarily a teaching tool until they moved into the adult market, about 1907. By 1908 a full blown craze had developed starting in the Eastern United States. The golden age of jigsaw puzzles started in the 1920's peaking in 1933. The onset of the Great Depression in 1929 caused people to spend more time at home, and completing a jigsaw puzzle gave a feeling of accomplishment. Something that was hard to come by at that time. This was also the first time that puzzles were used for advertising purposes - a tooth brush company was the first to supply free puzzles for druggists to give to toothbrush buyers. Other commercial enterprises soon jumped on the band wagon - what better way to advertise , than have someone spend hours assembling a picture of the product.
In the early days puzzles made of wood or plywood were expensive - costing as much as a weeks wages for the average worker. Each piece was cut individually. Early puzzles did not interlock and a careless bump or sneeze could undo an entire evenings work. The 1930's saw the development of mass produced die-cut cardboard puzzles, cut on giant industrial presses by companies such as Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley. Libraries and drugstores then started offering puzzle rentals at 25 cents for 3 days.
Small run cardboard puzzles were still not economically feasible, primarily due to equipment costs. A flourishing business still exists for hand cut personal and custom puzzles, as is evidenced by the numerous web sites that offer this service. These mainly use photographs glued to plywood and are cut with either scroll saws or water jets.
Colour photocopiers and recent developments in ink jet printer technology, have reduced printing costs, thereby replacing the necessity for photographic enlargements. The huge industrial press problem was solved with the advent of our roller press. Pressures required are enormous. The 308 piece puzzle requires 150 tons of pressure to cut 60 point chipboard. This pressure is achieved over the entire die surface by applying pressure one small area at a time.
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