Jigsaw puzzle:The Pigeon and the Rooks

The manufacture of jigsaw puzzles for adults really began in the early years of the 20th century in America. Before this, children's pictures were cut up in simple ways, and children learned colors, shapes, and spatial relationships by assembling them. Later, craftspeople hand cut more difficult-to-assemble puzzles for adults using either a hand saw or a foot-operated scroll or jigsaw. During the early years of the century only wealthy people could afford the puzzles; they were so expensive to produce. In the 1930s, however, methods of mass production brought down the cost and soon everyone got caught up in a jigsaw puzzle craze.

Victory jigsaw puzzles, made in England but imported in great numbers to America, featured high-quality plywood pieces. The firm's top-of-the-line gold boxes came without pictures of the completed puzzle, because "The greatest pleasure is derived from not knowing beforehand the subject which the puzzle will make," according to text on the box label.