Collecting or Making Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles

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History Highlights

- Wooden jigsaw puzzles enjoyed two major waves of popularity, once between 1906 and 1910, and then again between 1930 and 1935.

- Whimsies – the figural shape pieces shown above – created quite a frenzy when they were first introduced in 1907 or 1908.  Historians still debate who introduced figurals first, although the company Parker Brothers is often credited.

- During the 1920’s and 30’s puzzle rental libraries, which operated much like today’s video stores, catered to lower and middle income households.  Patrons were required to return puzzles assembled flat so all the pieces could be accounted for.

- Inexpensive interlocking die-cut cardboard jigsaw puzzles, like the one pictured below, surprisingly only date back to 1932 (earlier cardboard puzzles were not interlocking).  They were first introduced as sales premiums for other products.  The first interlocking puzzle premium success was one used to skyrocket sales for a toothbrush.

- For a time, wooden jigsaw puzzle production was a booming cottage industry, especially for women.  During the Great Depression it was a lifeline for many households suffering under- or unemployment.

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This turn of the century wooden puzzle features
line cutting with no interlock

“Whimsy” shape pieces were introduced in about 1908, with
interlocking pieces coming into favor shortly thereafter

1921 Parker Brothers Pastime Puzzle

1933 Cocomalt “Buffalo Bill” 65-pc Cardboard Puzzle Premium.
Surprisingly, these puzzles were full size!  This one is 9-inches tall.
How’d they fit them into the Cocomalt cans?!

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These models of hand and foot treadle scroll saws might have been used to manufacture wooden puzzles during the first great puzzle craze of 1906 to 1910

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Collecting Antique Puzzles

In the years that we have watched wooden puzzle auctions on eBay, we’ve seen old puzzles go from anywhere between $15 for a non-interlocking plain cut, to $1300 for a 500 piece beauty with a high percentage of figurals, and a nice interlocking cut pattern.

Of course the nicer the face image and higher the figural count, the higher the puzzle price tends to be.

One thing that makes antique puzzle assembly a unique experience is that the early boxes didn’t provide puzzlers with a guide picture.  You had a puzzle title, and that was your only clue as to what the puzzle picture might be.  Today it’s pretty hard to buy an antique puzzle online without knowing what the image is, but even so, you still won’t have a guide picture when the puzzle arrives (unless you receive it from a seller who assembled the puzzle).

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Making Vintage-Style Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles

We are the only source online teaching both modern methods AND historical methods of wooden jigsaw puzzle construction!  The History and Craft of Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles:  From Primary Source Instruction to Modern Techniques is available here in the LPH Store for $5.99 digital download, or in print for $14.99 through our Lulu storefront at Lulu.com/TeachFromTheHeart.

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More Resources

Book: The Jigsaw Puzzle; Piecing Together a History, by Anne D. Williams.  This is a fun little book to read on jigsaw puzzle history.  Nice use of primary source information throughout.  This book does have a section of modern techniques for wooden puzzle manufacture.

Book: Master Pieces – The Art History of Jigsaw Puzzles, by Chris McCann.  This is a full color book that documents puzzle face art of the early 1900’s.  If you opt to try and re-create “olden time” puzzles, this book is helpful for learning what types of images were the most popular.

YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxsytcLxlTg.  One of the best for seeing modern production of wooden jigsaw puzzles.