Istorija zagonetki

Već 1760. godine ovaj popularan i koristan oblik zabave pojavio se gotovo istovremeno u Francuskoj i Britaniji. Zalijepite sliku na karton i izrežite je na male nepravilne komade. U početku su slike bile edukativne, bilo praćene kratkim tekstovima pogodnim za čitanje mladih, ili za podučavanje istorije ili geografije novonastaloj buržoaziji.

In 1762, during the reign of Louis XV in France, a salesman named Dima began to sell map puzzles with small success. This kind of map puzzle, which requires rearranging the pieces, is a very elegant recreation. That same year, in London, a printer named John Spearsbury came up with a similar idea, inventing the enduring puzzle. With the utmost ingenuity, he glued a map of England to the back of a thin dining table, then cut the map precisely into small pieces along the edges of the counties. The idea could lead to huge fortunes, but poor Spearsbury didn't get it, he lived to be 29 years old and didn't see the huge success of jigsaw puzzles. The real significance of his success was that he opened two important markets for his inventions: the burgeoning middle-class consumers hungry for knowledge and status, and the harsh British schools of his time.

Spearsbury je živio u vremenu kada je sposobnost čitanja mapa bila simbol džentlmena. Pomamu slagalicom gurnula je na vrhunac Grand Touring događaj, gigantski događaj koji opisuje cijelu Evropu. Iz ove perspektive, slagalice su upotreba dijelova slagalice za ozbiljno proučavanje geografije cijele Evrope - zemalja, kneževina, okruga, gradova, mjesta, rijeka i tako dalje. Poznavanje mapa tada je bilo jednako ponosno kao i sada imati svoju početnu stranicu.

Of course, not everyone is adamant about puzzles. Contrarians and social critics alike mock the rich for being boring enough to do nothing but spread a pile of cardboard scraps on the table. More than a decade later, puzzle makers began to incorporate historical themes into their puzzles. In 1787, an Englishman named William Dutton made a jigsaw puzzle of portraits of the kings of England, from William the Conqueror to George III. Education and memory are also part of the entertainment, because to successfully arrange all the pieces, you must know the correct order of these kings. However, at that time, jigsaw puzzles were only a game of rich people, and they were not yet popular. Hand-painting, hand-coloring, hand-cutting make puzzles very expensive, equivalent to a month's salary for an average worker.

1789 saw the French Revolution usher in modern Europe, and saw the birth of the modern puzzle in the hands of John Wallis. This imaginative Briton invented brightly colored landscape puzzles. New puzzles require more focus and patience to put together. The new puzzle heralds the end of the era of exquisitely crafted, but expensive, Spearsbury puzzles. Wallis' reproduction techniques soon made his new puzzle a model for a developing trade based on his original printing plate.

Početkom 19. stoljeća, nove industrijske tehnike za masovnu proizvodnju dale su slagalicama određen oblik. Ranije glomazne i glomazne slagalice sastojale su se od glatkih-ivičnih rasporeda dijelova koji su se mogli rastaviti i najmanjom vibracijom. Oko 1840. godine, njemački i francuski proizvođači slagalice izrezali su dijelove slagalice pomoću međusobno povezanih mašina za škljocanje, forme poznate modernim ljubiteljima slagalice. Zamijenili su furnir od tvrdog drveta mekim drvetom, šperpločom i kartonom, značajno smanjivši troškove. Konačno, slagalice s niskim cijenama-prihvaćene su od strane potrošača svih sfera života i ubrzo su izazvale ludnicu među djecom, odraslima i starijima.

Puzzles quickly became a well-established, mass-market entertainment product that consumers could buy anywhere. Puzzles are used at this time not only for education and entertainment, but also for commercials and political propaganda. The First World War (1914-1918) is a good example. Inexpensive jigsaw puzzles featuring brave warriors desperately fighting for king and country, were popular on both sides of the war and sold well. Jigsaw puzzles have become a way to get closer to people's inner world, into their homes, and to spread information. Puzzles and newspapers, radio, and soon the first generation of television became a simple and direct form of mass media. Should people be encouraged to travel by train? Many puzzles showing majestic trains and happy tourists appeared. Every new invention and trend—steamboats, planes, automobiles, and the latest and most daring women's swimsuits—has appeared on the puzzle.

Nakon svjetske ekonomske krize 1929. godine, Velika depresija koja je zahvatila Sjevernu Ameriku bila je vrhunac neprekidne popularnosti slagalica. Spustite se do najbližeg kioska za samo 25 centi za slagalicu od 300-komada, i možete zaboraviti na svoj težak život i prepustiti se snovima o sretnom danu. Bogati i slavni takođe se prepuštaju ovom ludilu. U New Yorku, dva--poslovna prodavača, John Henry i Frank Ware, obogatili su se originalnim dizajnom slagalice Spearsbury. Koja je njihova tajna? Visokokvalitetna reprodukcija odličnih udlaga. Henry i Ware su ubrzo uspostavili veze sa Astorima, Vanderbiltovima, Bingom Crosbyjem i Marilyn Monroe, a posao je cvjetao.