Map Puzzles

You and your family may be part of the new wave of home entertainment – jigsaw puzzles. It was figured that U.S. sales leaped by 300 percent or more compared to the same time last year. The puzzle images can be anything but one of the long time popular ones having been map puzzles. Their popularity goes back for centuries.

What made many of those early map puzzles interesting was the pieces were cut along water or political boundaries. Such early puzzles were also known as ‘dissected maps’. The early ones were made of tiny sliced wood pieces and by the late 1800s the cardboard puzzles came about for the public. The word ‘jigsaw puzzle’ came about in the 1880s. The type of puzzle subjects changed from just geographical to Biblical, historical, nursery rhymes and fairy tales.

Not just a learning tool, it gave the family a group activity. Puzzle-mania spiked during the Great Depression of the 1930s, being cheap and a great escape, plus the sense of triumph when completed.

You can well imagine that many of your ancestors, especially as children, or even adults, put together numerous puzzles. Start your own traditions this year. Take photos to share with other family members.

Photos: Map US 1887; Map of Scotland-1924; Train puzzle; and Map US 1900.

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