January 29 is National Puzzle Day!
This got me thinking about the history of jigsaw puzzles: when were they invented, what is a jigsaw, and any other nerdy things I could research. Here are some fun facts I discovered.
John Spilsbury, a London cartographer and engraver, is believed to have produced the first "jigsaw" puzzle around 1760. It was a map glued to a flat piece of wood and then cut into pieces following the lines of the countries. These early puzzles were known as "dissections," and they were beneficial for teaching geography. But they were not just for children; they were a trendy pastime among the (wealthy) adults as well. Made of wood and handcrafted, only the very wealthy could afford them.
And did old John use a jigsaw to cut apart his "dissection"? No, he did not because the jigsaw had yet to be invented! He likely used a marquetry saw, which is still a popular hand saw utilizing a blade held between its curved frame.
The jigsaw was invented in 1855. It was a vertical reciprocating saw with a treadle to operate the blade. It was also known as a fretsaw or scrollsaw. Jigsaw came from the nickname jig, which was used because of the saw's "rapid up-and-down motion." Picture an old-fashioned sewing machine with a blade instead of a needle. The name "jigsaw puzzle" didn't appear until 1906, and the modern portable jigsaw wasn't introduced until 1947.
Because of its close association with a sewing machine, those early saws were mostly operated by women, and "bonus," they could pay women less for their work.
Many puzzle companies claim to have the biggest (or largest) jigsaw puzzle: Grafika boasts that "Travel around Art," with 54,000 pieces, is the biggest. Still, Ravensburger contends that with over 40,000 pieces, “Memorable Disney Moments” is confirmed by Guinness World Records as the largest commercially made puzzle globally, both in the number of pieces and overall size. Kodak staked its claim for the world's largest jigsaw puzzle with the aptly named "World's Largest Jigsaw Puzzle." It has 51,300 pieces and is 28.5 feet by 6.25 feet. There's also a Guinness World Records giant, which claims to have the most pieces, 551,232, and was completed with an overall measurement of 48 ft 8.64 in x 76 ft 1.38 in by 1,600 students of the University of Economics of Ho Chi Minh City in September of 2011. The puzzle depicted a lotus flower with six petals. (I will stick with my 1000 pieces).
Fun fact: 1000-piece puzzles don't contain exactly 1000 pieces; most are 1008 or 1026 to make the correct shape.
During the Great Depression of 1933, manufacturers produced 10 million puzzles a week, and people could rent puzzles for a nickel a night. This was before modern jigsaws and the current die-cut method. Covid-era sales have beaten those records with brands like Ravensburger, one of the top puzzle companies, selling over 28 million puzzles worldwide in 2020 alone. That translates to sales in the billions of dollars for puzzle companies worldwide. That is a lot of puzzles!
The die-cut machine is like a giant metal cookie cutter that cuts out the pieces using about 1,100 tons of pressure. The blades get dull very quickly and can be sharpened once or maybe twice, but then are discarded. I hope they recycle those.
Each shape has a name, but there really isn't a standard naming convention. There are basically tabs or interjambs, and their corresponding indentations are called blanks, so you could say 4 tabs, or 2 tabs, and 2 opposing blanks. I have made up my own names (that I whisper to myself) as I hunt around, such as door-knobby-thingy, half-inny-half-outy, and two-uppy-one inny.
Librarians love jigsaw puzzles, by the way. Come visit our International Languages Department in Central Library and do a jigsaw puzzle at your leisure, or check out our calendar of events for puzzle swaps which some of our Branches have been doing. And, shameless plug, our very own Library Store sells a wide range of puzzles; come by Central Library or shop through their website.
Check out this Instagram post with one of Central Library's most prolific puzzlers.
Books About Jigsaw Puzzles
