The History of the Jigsaw Puzzle

We’ve been crafting world-class puzzles since 1964, but the history of the jigsaw goes back much further than that, all the way to 1762. 

By the Victorian era, dissected puzzles had outgrown the schoolroom and become a fashionable pastime for adults - even Queen Victoria was reportedly a fan. These wooden puzzles were elaborate, expensive, and provided wealthy Victorian families with hours of entertainment - especially because puzzles at this time rarely came with a picture on the box, so puzzlers had to piece the image together from logic alone.  

In the 1880s, manufacturers started using new cutting tools like fret saws, scroll saws, and, you guessed it, jigsaws. These tools allowed makers to cut intricate, curved puzzle pieces much faster than before. These machines became the standard way to make puzzles, and by 1906, the term ‘jigsaw puzzle’ had been recorded in print and stuck as the common name.  

Up to this point, jigsaws were still a luxury item with a luxury price tag. But from the late 1800s into the early 20th century, that changed fast.

First, plywood became widely available. Cheaper to produce and easier to cut than solid hardwoods like mahogany, it made wooden puzzles far more affordable. At the same time, better printing techniques let manufacturers apply high-quality, brightly colored images to wood at scale. Together, these advances drove a huge leap in production capacity, and by the early 20th century, jigsaws had gone from a luxury item to a popular pastime.

American toy companies were quick to capitalize. Parker Brothers, founded in 1883, released their first domestic jigsaw puzzle in 1887, and went on to launch their most famous range, Pastime Puzzles, in 1908 - a line so popular that Parker Brothers temporarily halted board game production to keep up with demand. 

That demand was part of a broader puzzle craze that hit America between 1907 and 1911. Puzzles were now widely produced, but still far from cheap. A 500‑piece wooden puzzle cost $4–$5, at a time when the average American worker earned about $12 a week. For many factory workers, a single top‑quality puzzle could represent a third to half a week’s wages – and the most elaborate sets even more. 

As a result, puzzling became a fashionable pastime among high society. Wealthy Americans hosted puzzle evenings, newspapers reported on puzzle competitions, and puzzling became a stylish alternative to cards and other parlor pastimes. 

Puzzling through hard times

The Great Depression began in 1929, plunging the global economy into crisis, with the United States hit hardest. Money was scarce, unemployment was high, and jigsaw puzzles saw a huge surge in popularity. Manufacturers increasingly began to use cheap cardboard instead of plywood, making them much more affordable for the general public. 

Puzzle makers seized the moment with a new format: the weekly puzzle. Every Wednesday, newsstands stocked a brand-new puzzle for just 25 cents. At less than the price of a movie ticket, puzzles became one of the cheapest ways to fill an evening. 

How America made pieces click into place 

Thanks to that boom in popularity, by 1933 American manufacturers were producing around 10 million puzzles a week, and it was the hydraulic die-cutting press that made it possible. These machines were powerful enough to cut a single sheet of cardboard into a fully interlocking grid of pieces in one go. Before die‑cutting, a 500‑piece wooden puzzle could take many hours or even a full day to cut by hand. But with a hydraulic press, the same grid of pieces was stamped out in seconds. 

Prior to this, puzzle pieces just sat next to each other, so if you knocked the table or disturbed the pieces, you could easily lose all of your progress. The hydraulic press changed that. It could cut proper tabs and blanks into the cardboard, so pieces clicked into their neighbors and stayed put.

In the 1930s, American companies began using jigsaw puzzles as a form of advertising. One example came in 1932, when Lambert Pharmacal of St. Louis, Missouri, gave away a free cardboard jigsaw with every Pro‑Phy‑Lac‑Tic toothbrush. The puzzles helped the company sell millions of toothbrushes, and within months, hundreds of other American firms were issuing their own branded puzzles. It was a clever advertising strategy - consumers would spend hours assembling the image, giving the brand far more attention than a poster or newspaper ad ever could. 

Up until this point, both wood and cardboard were used to make jigsaws. But at the start of World War II, wood fell into short supply, and puzzle manufacturers began to use cardboard exclusively. Cardboard was cheaper, faster to cut, and easier to produce at scale, and it’s been the same ever since. Even today, the vast majority of jigsaw puzzles are made from cardboard, with wooden puzzles being a premium alternative rather than the norm.

By the 1950s, jigsaw puzzles had settled into their place as a staple of American family life. They were now mass-produced, affordable, and could be found everywhere from department stores to grocery stores and drugstore chains. 

There were simple colorful sets for children, and for adults everything from scenes of the Wild West to reproductions of famous paintings. Then came home television. In 1950, around 9% of families owned a television. By 1959, that figure had grown to 90%. Television brought new inspiration to puzzle makers, with puzzles starting to feature scenes from westerns, pop culture, and popular shows.

Puzzles weren’t new to Ravensburger. As early as 1891, we produced a wooden geographical puzzle inspired by John Spilsbury’s dissected maps. But in post‑war Germany, puzzles were still a small, niche category.

That changed in 1961, when a group of Ravensburger colleagues traveled to the United States and saw the puzzle craze firsthand, with department stores full of cardboard jigsaws, and US manufacturers producing millions of puzzles a year.

The idea came home to Germany. After three years of research into materials, printing and die‑cutting, Ravensburger launched its first adult cardboard jigsaw puzzle line in 1964. From that point on, puzzles moved from the edge of the business to the center, helping us grow into Europe’s leading jigsaw puzzle brand and one of the world’s leading puzzle names.

Fast forward to 2020, when jigsaw puzzles had another huge surge in popularity -  comparable to the boom of the Great Depression. The COVID-19 pandemic kept most of us at home, with socializing restricted, and puzzling was the perfect way to fill the hours. In North America, some manufacturers saw sales increase by as much as 370%. 

What began in the 1760s as a geography lesson for children has grown into a beloved pastime enjoyed by millions - surviving the Great Depression, two World Wars, and a global pandemic along the way. Maybe that's because there's nothing quite like the satisfying click of the final piece slotting into place. After 266 years, the jigsaw puzzle is still going strong, and we don't think anything beats it.