Most of the puzzles made before 1933 were made of wood and came in various packages, but usually in a handmade wooden box or well constructed cardboard box without the picture of the puzzle.

Today it is commonplace that most puzzles come with the picture on the box. I used to get so upset when part of the picture was covered up with some label or marking on the box. Little did I know how spoiled I was.

At least now I do jigsaw puzzles looking at the box/picture as little as possible to see if I can do it. It is SO MUCH more difficult and takes longer to put jigsaw puzzles together without a picture. No wonder jigsaw puzzles provided so much entertainment for the price during the depression.

I have a Pastime Puzzle (Parker Bros.) made in July of 1933, it has 310 pieces and it was sawed by #10. Pastime Puzzles were all cut by women. They thought that only women could do the fine work of cutting these puzzles. The saws were treadle saws and operated like the old time sewing machines. The designs of special shapes were patented by Parker Bros. but originally created by the various cutters who cut these puzzles. If you'd like to see an interview of one of these cutters, then check out my History of Jigsaw Puzzles class on February 9, 2010 at 7pm at Jigsaw Java in downtown Redwood City.