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Mystery Jigsaw

Posted in Uncategorized by admin on February 18, 2010

Mystery Jigsaw

Learn about jigsaw puzzles

John Spilsbury is probably the first one to make a jigsaw puzzle ever, he cut a wooden map of the British Empire into pieces so the kids will know the geography of the lands Britain ruled. Being fun to solve, jigsaw puzzles soon became more popular and interesting.

By 1900, the wooden jigsaw puzzle in the U.S. had evolved from an educational or entertaining toy for children into a form of entertainment for wealthy adults. In the first decade of the 20th century, the jigsaw returned to its roots and now as a popular form of adult entertainment, and would often be found at parties or in the parlors of weekend estates. The most popular puzzle line was created by the Parker Brothers in 1908.

The puzzles of those days were mad to offer a challenge to the user. The pieces would be cut right on the color lines. There was no interlocking of the puzzle so it could be easily disturbed by a careless move. And, unlike children's puzzles, the adult puzzles had no guide picture on the box; if the title was unclear or misleading, the true subject could remain a mystery until the last pieces were fitted into place.

In 1908, a 500-piece puzzle typically cost $5, very expensive for a worker who earned only $50 per month.

Every week a new puzzles was released and it cost 25 cents each, bringing jigsaw puzzle prices well within reach of the middle and lower classes, and thereby greatly expanding the puzzle market.
These were the people who established the modern legacy wooden-jigsaw-puzzle cutters that are used today. In the 1930s Charles Russell of Auburn, Massachusetts, attached a saw blade to his wife's sewing machine and began cutting wooden jigsaw puzzles with it. This was a unique method of production. It is considered a vintage and many collect Russle's jigsaw puzzles.

The early inventors of jigsaw puzzles would be amazed to see the development in their craft in the last 200 years. Puzzles for children have evolved from lessons to entertainment, showing diverse subjects like nursery rhymes, plants and animals and tales of super heroes and cartoon characters. But the biggest surprise for those puzzle makers would be how adults have embraced puzzling over the last century

Jigsaw puzzles are also available online these days without any installation or other hassle, these usually have scoring systems where timing is the factor, the faster you solve the puzzles the more scores you get.

Another aspect of jigsaw puzzles is that it is considered a good exercise to solve a jigsaw puzzle. Many studies has shownproved} that solving jigsaw puzzles helps improve the memory of both men and women, this is very affective in older people as well and is recommended as a daily exercise.

So it seems liks the format is constantly changing and jigsaw puzzles, even in this modern world, are more alive than ever. Check our more on this jigsaw puzzles website.