History Of Jigsaw Puzzles

Have you ever wondered how jigsaw puzzles first started out or when the first jigsaw was made?

If we delve back into the History of Jigsaw Puzzles The first jigsaw puzzle that we know of was specifically made for children. An Englishman by the name of John Spilsbury decided to mount a map of England onto a thin piece of mahogany board and proceeded to cut around the boundaries of countries with a hand held fretsaw.

He then placed all the pieces in a box so that children could assemble them to help educate them on about the geography of England.

These early jigsaw puzzles were known as “Dissected Maps”. Several other individual manufacturers both from England and Holland in the next 40 years proceeded to copy John Spilsbury’s ideas manufactured jigsaw puzzles of historic scenes that would compliment the already popular map puzzles.

The Progress and History of Jigsaw Puzzles Nineteenth Century

In the beginning portion of the nineteeth century, puzzles were produced primarily for well-to-do children and nearly always with education as the primary goal.

To reduce cutting labor the puzzles consisted of only just a few large pieces and simply the only pieces that interlocked were those that made up the exterior border.

The remainder were cut rapidly using straight or wavy lines. Mahogany or Cedar were the wood of choice when making these jigsaw puzzles.

Here is an example of a jigsaw puzzle made in the and around the 1870’s by Betts. You will notice that this type of jigsaw was the norm up to around that date. By our modern standards the quality of the print was very poor and you may notice that only the external border pieces are interlocking.

Going towards the end of the 19th century there were great strides made in several of the manufacturing techniques and 3 of these influenced jigsaw puzzles:

The Invention of treadle operated jigsaws were introduced.
Specialized techniques for producing Thin wood sheets were developed.
Printing advanced quite a bit.

It was at this time with the technological advancements that jigsaw puzzles were becoming more colorful, durable and intricate.

Manufacturers were spurred on by the fact that adults were more interested in doing jigsaw puzzles and this lead to a wider range of jigsaw subjects becoming available. People were fascinated with these colorful complex jigsaw puzzles.

A German furniture vendor by the name of Raphael Tuck along with his 2 sons introduced four techniques established the scene for jigsaw puzzle development into 20th century:

Their jigsaw puzzles were made up of diverse colorful topics and subjects.
Jigsaw puzzle cutting was made more intricate and included “Whimsies”. These were puzzle pieces that were cut into recognizable shapes of for example household goods and animals.
Thick cardboard and plywood began to be utilized versus highly-priced hardwood.
The introduction of attractive boxes to hold the jigsaw puzzle pieces which for the very first time included a picture of the uncut jigsaw puzzle

Raphael Tuck and his family were not just know for their advancements in the jigsaw development but they were all credited for the first production of commercial Christmas cards and picture postcards.

Master Pieces: The Art History of Jigsaw Puzzles

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”center” asin=”1888054247″ cloaking=”default” height=”475″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/514TNQ8RQML.jpg” tag=”jpfa01-20″ width=”378″][easyazon_link asin=”1888054247″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”jpfa01-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”no”]Master Pieces: The Art History of Jigsaw Puzzles[/easyazon_link][easyazon_cta add_to_cart=”default” align=”center” asin=”1888054247″ cloaking=”default” height=”28″ key=”small-light” localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”no” new_window=”default” tag=”jpfa01-20″ width=”120″]Master Pieces: The Art History of Jigsaw Puzzles[/easyazon_cta]

This beautiful book is not merely for avid puzzle fans! It’s a gorgeous presentation – of some well known and not so well known, unique popular art as displayed in jigsaw puzzles through the years. It’s presented with loads of tidbits of information that is scattered through the entire book, This book is actually a pleasure to handle and hold as well as browsing through it. And, in case you have some old puzzles lost and hidden in the attic – check them out and see for yourself! Some may be a bit more than beautiful to look at – they just might be worth a lot of money too! be worth something too! The book is beautifully indexed and edited. For any avid jigsaw puzzle fan it’s a real pleasure.

The History of Jigsaw Puzzles Continues – Twentieth Century

By 1908 in America jigsaw puzzles were an all-out popular trend. The concepts of Raphael Tuck together with his family were adopted in America. Similarly in England, the prosperous embraced jigsaw puzzles in so far as they had become the leisure pastime among the wealthy.

With the onset of The First World War (1914 -1918) briefly reduced pursuits but matters soon picked up once again soon after the the First World War had ended. By 1929 two million jigsaw puzzles a week were sold in America and every self-respecting English tea party or dinner party required a jigsaw puzzle or two!
G.H. Haytor and Chad Valley of Victory puzzles needed to meet the overwhelming demand for jigsaw puzzles and needed to save on the cost of manufacturing them so they development of “Stack Cutting” was implemented. This involved as much as eight jigsaw puzzles laid on top of each other, secured together and cut all at one time. Despite this, cutting jigsaw puzzles was still time intensive and consequently quite expensive.
It wasn’t until the 1920’s that an American company created a procedure for die cutting cardboard jigsaw puzzles that lessened production costs to somewhat of a small fraction of the price of cutting manually by hand.
The Waddingtons purchased these techniques in 1933 and of course the procedure totally changed the well known perception of jigsaw puzzles. Now jigsaws which contained as much as 1,000 intricately cut jigsaw pieces became easily obtainable for a price that anyone could afford.
But bear in mind, it took till the 1950’s for the production approaches to be enhanced in so far as cardboard jigsaw puzzles could possibly be termed ‘Good quality’. The procedure for cutting these jigsaws still haven’t changed very much since.
The quality in printing has changed considering the huge jigsaw companies like Ravensburger and Jumbo are now using amazing high quality images. Whether your choice is photographs, art reproductions, sparkling special effects,or perhaps ‘Glow in the dark’ that you will discover high quality jigsaw puzzles that you’ll be excited to do.

Books For Anyone Interested In The History of Jigsaw Puzzles

If you are still interested in finding out more about the History of Jigsaw Puzzlesthen author Anne D. Williams has written a few excellent books on the history Jigsaw puzzles.

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”center” asin=”B000H2ND6E” cloaking=”default” height=”500″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”no” new_window=”default” src=”https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51VKTVV5K5L.jpg” tag=”jpfa01-20″ width=”370″]Master Pieces: The Art History of Jigsaw Puzzles[/easyazon_image][easyazon_link asin=”B000H2ND6E” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”no” tag=”jpfa01-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”no”]The Jigsaw Puzzle: Piecing Together a History[/easyazon_link][easyazon_cta add_to_cart=”default” align=”center” asin=”B000H2ND6E” cloaking=”default” height=”28″ key=”small-light” localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”no” new_window=”default” tag=”jpfa01-20″ width=”120″]The Jigsaw Puzzle: Piecing Together a History[/easyazon_cta]

This review gives a look into the history and popularity pertaining to jigsaw puzzles and offers a vast amount of information by presenting the reader with loads of tidbits on pretty much every aspect you could possibly imagine.

You’ll find a lot of worthwhile information and a really nice collection of color photos in this book. You’ll find it to be an excellent reference book to keep for the future.

If you’re a fan of jigsaw puzzles, you ought to take a look at this book. In case you truly love putting together wooden jigsaw puzzles, then grab a copy of this book today.

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”center” asin=”0870695371″ cloaking=”default” height=”500″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”no” new_window=”default” src=”https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51TGlVlW%2BOL.jpg” tag=”jpfa01-20″ width=”339″]The Jigsaw Puzzle: Piecing Together a History[/easyazon_image][easyazon_link asin=”0870695371″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”no” tag=”jpfa01-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”no”]Jigsaw Puzzles: An Illustrated History and Price Guide[/easyazon_link][easyazon_cta add_to_cart=”default” align=”center” asin=”0870695371″ cloaking=”default” height=”28″ key=”small-light” localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”no” new_window=”default” tag=”jpfa01-20″ width=”120″]Jigsaw Puzzles: An Illustrated History and Price Guide[/easyazon_cta]

This book by Anne D. Williams is a very interesting book that looks at jigsaw puzzles in the 1800’s as for pricing. If you are looking for later puzzles in the 1900’s, there is not much reference.

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”center” asin=”0962110787″ cloaking=”default” height=”500″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”no” new_window=”default” src=”https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41sJ3pJPWZL.jpg” tag=”jpfa01-20″ width=”333″]Cutting a fine figure: The art of the jigsaw puzzle[/easyazon_image][easyazon_link asin=”0962110787″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”no” tag=”jpfa01-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”no”]Cutting a fine figure: The art of the jigsaw puzzle[/easyazon_link][easyazon_cta add_to_cart=”default” align=”center” asin=”0962110787″ cloaking=”default” height=”28″ key=”small-light” localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”no” new_window=”default” tag=”jpfa01-20″ width=”120″]Cutting a fine figure: The art of the jigsaw puzzle[/easyazon_cta]

Here is another book by Anne D. Williams that would be of interest to anyone who is a fan of the History of jigsaw puzzles.

What is the Future of Jigsaws?

There is not much that can be done of of now to improve the quality or cut in the world of cardboard Jigsaw puzzles.

The production of these puzzles are nearly perfect. Manufacturers are constantly finding new images, and this aspect of the manufacture of jigsaw puzzles will never end.

On the other hand wooden puzzles are far more durable than cardboard puzzles and the favorite choice when it comes to investments. With new technological advances the automation of of controlled lasers and water jet cutting has given wooden puzzles a boost in success.

When all is said and done concerning the past History of Jigsaw Puzzles, where do you think jigsaws will go in the future?

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