Art In Action: A Deep Dive Into Puzzling Pieces
By Darla McCammon
Today, we will discuss more intriguing facts about one of America’s favorite table games to enjoy this winter.
The first jigsaw puzzles were made in 1760 by Berkshire mapmaker John Spilsbury. He called them “dissected maps” and they were not known as jigsaw puzzles until 1909 due to the type of saw that was ultimately utilized in their creation. The first puzzles were not the interlocking puzzles we see today. This was not introduced until 1909.
A huge variety of jigsaw puzzles have been introduced in recent years, including some 3D creations. Today the photo o fate subject on the puzzle box can be many things, including famous painting masterpieces, humorous cartoons or idyllic places to visit. Commonly found in the toy section or book stores, the typical puzzle today has interlocking pieces glued onto a cardboard backing and ranges in size from 300, 500, 750 or 1,000 pieces. The largest jigsaw puzzle to be sold commercially contained 32,256 pieces. It measured roughly 6 1/2 feet by 17 feet.
Wooden jigsaw puzzles are coming back into favor with many aficionados. They can be quite expensive due to all the handcrafting done on each piece. It can take an hour to produce between 25 to 100 pieces by craftsmen. One wooden puzzle company, Stave, sold a puzzle in 1993 for $12,000. Puzzles are more collectible due to this history as well as the inventiveness in production.
For those of you already “hooked” on putting a puzzle together, you will like hearing that experts say that doing jigsaw puzzles regularly may help prevent Alzheimer’s and is helpful to our brains in other areas such as finger dexterity, eye to hand coordination and keeping your brain highly focused.
Jigsaw puzzles are reasonably priced today. They originally sold for over one British pound. This is an astounding number when you realize most people at that time barely earned a pound in one week. During the “Great Depression,” many citizens turned to jigsaw puzzles for inexpensive, long-term entertainment. Neighbors and friends traded puzzles with each other, also helping the budget. The puzzle’s economically priced offerings continue to be one of the best bargains in games today.
Some new changes have impacted puzzles. Technology has had an impact on puzzle companies with the invention of water jets. This allows an operator to cut through with enormous water pressure and speed the process of cutting the puzzles. This has kept puzzles popular and within easy reach of most pocketbooks.
Meanwhile, puzzle makers continue to increase the challenge of their jigsaw puzzle creations. Some of them had done things like creating a phony corner piece that doesn’t go in a corner at all but fits somewhere in the middle of the puzzle. Then, there’s the puzzle maker who creates a cut in two pieces that goes exactly down a divided color split between two colors. How do these people sleep at night? But it is all in fun and very enjoyable.
I hope I have given you something that can be of great enjoyment in these winter months and that is also proven to be very good for your mental health and well-being.
Upcoming and Current Events:
- The Susan Ring art exhibit is open for viewing at Warsaw City Hall Art Gallery.
- “The Texture of Color” will be open on Jan. 28 through most of 2020 at The Brennan Room at the Gallery at Rua, located at 108 E. Market St., Warsaw. There will be a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 7, featuring Mike Kelly, Brenda Stichter and Timothy Young.