Figure 1.-- We aren't quite sure what the children are playing with on the table top but it looks as though they are sitting with their father over some sort of puzzle. The pieces don't look very much like a jigsaw puzzle. Perhaps the stick-like pieces (are they wooden?) would make some sort of figure when properly assembled. The older child (about five or six years) is wearing a sort of modified sailor-style suit with knee pants and black long stockings. You can see the clasps of his supporters at the edge of the trousers. The younger child might be his younger brother still wearing a dress. The haircut looks more masculine than feminine to me, but could be a girl, I suppose. The father looks quite nicely dressed and is probably upper-middle-class. The photo is undated. My guess is about 1905.

Puzzles are perenial favorites for children. I am not sure when they first appeared or what early puzzles were like. Of course the best known puzzles are jigsaw puzzles. The first jigsaw puzzle was produced by John Spilsbury (about 1760). They were called dissections. He was a London engraver and mapmaker. He made a wooden jigsaw from a map. The pieces were not cut at random. He cut around the country borders. It was an educational tool for children to learn the countries for their geography lessons. Thus for several decades the jigsaw was an educational aid. The treadle permitted greater variation in the curs. It is at this time the term jigsaw appeared. Tey were cut with fretsaws which are not true jigsaw. Early jigsaws might come uncut with pencils markings on the back indicating where to cut. It was in the late 19th century that puzzles became enormously popular. Manufactyrers began using plywood and then carboard. This substantially recuced the price. And at the same time advances in lthograpohy meant that they could be made with wonderful color illustrations. This made them popular, inexpensive children's tools. The finanl step in the higsaw was the die-cut which could profuce the intricate variated pieces. While jigsaws are the best known puzzles there were many other types.

Created: 10:44 PM 5/28/2010
Last updated: 10:44 PM 5/28/2010