I wish I liked jigsaw puzzles. Andrew is very good at them and his parents and siblings are fairly avid puzzlers too. My eleven-year-old will sit down with a 1000-piece puzzle and work away while listening to an audiobook about the periodic table! I like them in theory, but I’m terrible at them and don’t find them relaxing. However, I’m happy to have a puzzle on the go on the dining room table and I don’t mind watching other people puzzle (especially if I have tea and chocolate!). This brings us to the questions of this blog post, who
Where?
The first jigsaw puzzle was created in England.
Who?
The creator of the first jigsaw puzzle was John Spilsbury (1739-1769), a British cartographer and engraver.
When?
It was made in 1766. The jigsaw (also known as a fretsaw or scrollsaw) was not invented until 1855. The first puzzles were made with a marquetry saw and were known as dissections, dissected puzzles, or dissected maps.
What?
Salisbury created the puzzle by gluing a map of Europe to a flat piece of wood and cutting around the countries.
Why?
The first puzzles were used as educational tools to teach geography, but they soon became popular with adults as well as children. Farms and religious scenes were some other early subjects of jigsaw puzzles.
Sources
- “A Puzzling History of Jigsaw Puzzles” by Tina Lernø via Los Angeles Public Library Blog
- “The History of Jigsaw Puzzles” via Wentworth Wooden Puzzles
- “John Spilsbury (cartographer)” via Wikipedia