Puzzles Of The Past To Shaped Puzzles Of Today

The original jigsaw puzzles go back to the 1760s when map makers pasted maps onto wood and cut them into small pieces. The "dissected map" has been a successful educational toy ever since. Children today still learn geography by playing with puzzle maps of the United States or the world. The puzzle makers from yesteryear would be amazed to see all the puzzles of today. Children's puzzles have moved from lessons to entertainment, showing subjects like animals, nursery rhymes, and modern tales of super heroes and Disney. But the biggest surprise would be how adults have embraced puzzling over the last century.

Around 1900, and by 1908 a full-blown craze was in progress in the United States. The puzzles of those days were quite a challenge. Most of them had pieces cut exactly on the color lines. There were no transition pieces with two colors to signal, for example, that the green area (grass) fit next to the reds (barn) and the pieces did not interlock so a sneeze could ruin hours of work. 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 .

Today there are shaped jigsaw puzzles and some that are a puzzle ball when it is completed. Most all jigsaw puzzles come with pictures on the box, and there are transition pieces which makes it easier to assemble. Puzzles today range anywhere from $5 to $50. You can even have a family photo made into a puzzle but these are a little more expensive.