Articlr

The word jigsaw relates to the original method of manufacture of the earliest jigsaw puzzles which involved using a picture painted onto a piece of flat wood cut it into several pieces with a jigsaw. These original wooden jigsaw puzzles were manufactured as early as the middle of the 18th century in England and, because they were cut by hand, had loose fitting pieces and irregular shapes. Jigsaw puzzles are an unusual yet enduring pastime. Despite early and uneven puzzle manufacturing attempts the appeal of taking a perfectly good picture, breaking it up into a thousand pieces only to put it together again has endured.

Early European family crests were often painted in oil onto wooden decorative shields and painting on wood has a history that is hundreds of years old and dates back to Roman times when the deceased often had their likenesses painted onto their coffin lids. It is difficult to accurately determine the circumstances whereby someone decided to cut up a perfectly good picture into small puzzle pieces only to re-assemble them as a completed jigsaw puzzle. No doubt the challenge appeals to the problem solving skills of the hobbyist's nature. Be that as it may the hobby of jigsaw puzzle making has an ever growing enthusiast base and is over 250 years.

It is worth noting that old fashioned world maps are a very popular theme of puzzle hobbyists due to John Spilsbury. Around 1760 Spilsbury, a London mapmaker, started up the commercial enterprise of jigsaw puzzles. Spilsbury's world maps were introduced to school age children as a collection of cut up shapes painted onto wood. By assembling the puzzles, country by country, children would be able improve their geographic knowledge.

Today's jigsaw images are as diverse as there are different photographs. Remaining popular is the countryside panorama usually of foreign locations. Castles usually French and German ones, as well as mountains and rivers, have been popular jigsaws for over a hundred years. Adult puzzles start from 250 piece puzzles with the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle being the most popular. Nowadays puzzle manufacturers use cameras, computers and software to make the most complex jigsaw puzzle images conceivable. From Bill Gates face made up of various banknotes to all white (no image) puzzles, there is a puzzle enthusiast for every jigsaw puzzle no matter how challenging.

Today's puzzles are manufactured in a less costly and more efficient manner. Gone is the jigsaw with its uneven cut. Due to the cost, wooden puzzles now only represent a very small percentage of all puzzles sold. Jigsaw puzzles today are, for the most part, made of a high density cardboard known as greenboard and are fully interlocking which means that once fitted together the whole section of connected pieces will hold together as one large puzzle piece. The board has an image printed onto it and the printed cardboard sheet is then passed through a press with a puzzle die in between that exerts over 200 tons of pressure to ensure a clean, uniform and fully interlocking cut.

No two puzzle pieces in close proximity should be the same shape. There are 14 basic jigsaw puzzle piece shapes that range from pieces with four knobs to the zero knob pieces which will have four indentations. There is every permutation in between, e.g. three knobs to one indentation, etc. Shapes can vary in basic structure from square to oblong again employing the complete range of knob/ indentations. 1000 piece puzzles are actually made up of 1026 pieces and are the best selling jigsaw size.

A good puzzle strategy would be to line up the same shaped jigsaw puzzle pieces with the same orientation allowing you to compare puzzle shapes more easily. When it comes down to trial and error, this also allows you to try the jigsaw puzzle pieces in sequence. Jigsaw puzzle pieces can be similar in basic shape, at least along two or three of the sides, and can often be put into the wrong place, especially when dealing with solid colours. To remove the distraction of the picture, turn the jigsaw puzzle pieces over and study the puzzle pieces from the back without the puzzle picture as a distraction. It will then be easier to see if the puzzle pieces fit together or not.

Puzzle contests are regularly held by jigsaw puzzle manufacturers where it can take the winner less than an hour to complete a 1000 piece puzzle. Jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts are such a committed group of hobbyists that there are no limits to the puzzle pastime. Although the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle is the most popular there are puzzles which have 24,000 pieces, are over 5 feet high and over 14 feet wide. Such a puzzle can take up to a year to complete.