Short history of jigsaw puzzles

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The history of jigsaw puzzles goes a long way; it is said that in the eighteenth century the persons who invented jigsaw puzzles were trying to promote a new modality of teaching Geography. Nowadays, puzzles have moved from lessons to entertainment, presenting various subjects. Still, the biggest surprise when it comes to puzzles is the fact that adults seem to have embraced and to enjoy them as much as children.

The puzzles for adults emerged for the first time around the nineteenth century and they presented quite a challenge. Most "jigsaw puzzles" had the pieces cut straight on the color lines and there was no color to signal which is the roof and which is the sky. Another problem of the first puzzles is the fact that they did not interlock and a careless move could have ruined everything.

Unlike "jigsaw puzzles" for children, the ones for adults didn’t have a guide picture on the box and sometimes the title was vague and the subject of the puzzle remained a mystery until the last piece was placed where it belonged. Wood puzzles were very expensive when they first appeared because they had to cut one piece at a time and this is why only the high society was able to enjoy this new form of entertainment. The best sales were on Saturday mornings, when customers bought puzzles for their weekend house parties.

The next years, puzzles suffered considerable innovations. First of all, the famous game manufacturer Parker Brothers introduced figure pieces, which made the puzzle easier to assemble and people were fascinated by pieces which had the shapes of animals, plants or other recognizable objects. The second innovation refers to the interlocking style of the puzzles, which made it easier for puzzlers to assemble their puzzle without losing any pieces.

From then on, the puzzle continued to be a regular adult diversion. Even during difficult times, people continued to buy a puzzle because they found in it an escape from their daily problems and stress. Assembling "jigsaw puzzles" offered people a sense of accomplishment that they couldn’t find anywhere else. Due to the high unemployment rate, people started to prefer home amusements instead of restaurants and nightclubs.

In time, puzzles became more affordable due to the fact that many unemployed skilled craftsmen started to cut these entertaining items in their home workshops and then to sell them. Another great step towards the popularity of "jigsaw puzzles" was the introduction of the die cut cardboard puzzle for adults. The cheap cardboard enabled manufacturers to start mass production and to lower their prices considerably.

After the Second World War, "jigsaw puzzles" made from wood went into decline. Their prices rose and the sales went down. The famous surviving brands of wood puzzles disappeared one by one. Nowadays, people who enjoy puzzles can choose from a significant number of various styles of wood jigsaw puzzles. Many puzzlers seem to love the wood pieces of a puzzle and the challenge of solving something that doesn’t offer them any clues.

A puzzle draws you into its world and makes you forget about the daily problems and routine. Furthermore, the satisfaction you get when solving a puzzle that offered no clues is unique. As we have seen, it looks like puzzles have an impressive history and that they are here to stay.

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