Attractive boxes (that for the first time included an image of the uncut puzzle) were introduced.Plywood and thick card started to be used instead of expensive hardwood.Cutting was made more intricate and included 'Whimsies' - individual pieces cut into recognisable shapes like animals and household goods.Their subjects included many varied and colorful topics.In the late 1800's a German furniture dealer named Raphael Tuck and his two sons developed 4 techniques that set the scene for jigsaw development into the next century: It became evident that colorful, complex jigsaws held a fascination for many people. Adults became interested in doing jigsaws and this spurred the manufacturers to widen the range of subjects available and to make them more difficult to do. These technological advances enabled jigsaws to be made that were much more intricate, durable and colorful. Techniques were developed to produce THIN sheets of wood.Treadle operated jigsaws were invented.Towards the end of the century great strides were made in many manufacturing techniques and three of these influenced jigsaws: Only the outside pieces interlock and the quality of the print is very poor by modern standards. The jigsaw named 'The Parable of the Sower' on the right was cut by Betts in about 1870 and typifies the style of jigsaws up to that date. The wood used was usually Mahogany or Cedar. To save on cutting labour the puzzles consisted of only a few large pieces and only the outside interlocked, the rest being cut quickly with straight or wavy lines. In the early part of the century, puzzles were made almost exclusively for wealthy children and almost always with education in mind. During the next 40 years several other manufacturers (including individuals in Holland) copied John Spilsbury's ideas and introduced historical scenes to complement map subjects. John Spilsbury (an Englishman) mounted a map of England on a thin sheet of mahogany board, used a hand held fretsaw to cut round the county boundaries and sold the boxed pieces for children to assemble. Historical discoveries are coming along all the time but here, as best we can make out, is the story so far.

White mountain puzzles company