history
Jan 5, 2026
6 min read

History of Jigsaw Puzzles

From 18th-century wooden maps to today's digital drag-and-drop games-a quick tour of jigsaw evolution.

1760s: maps on wood

British cartographer John Spilsbury mounted maps on wood and cut along borders to teach geography-arguably the first jigsaw puzzles.

1900s: mass production

  • Die-cut cardboard lowered costs.
  • Picture postcards inspired "souvenir" puzzles.
  • Edge shapes became more creative to thwart "cheating."

1930s: the puzzle boom

  • Weekly new releases drove collectors.
  • Rental libraries let families borrow puzzles for cents per day.

1990s: CD-ROMs and early web

  • First digital jigsaws with crude drag-and-drop.
  • Optional rotation and timed modes appeared.

Today: mobile & web PWA

  • Smooth touch controls, offline caching, and social sharing.
  • Leaderboards turn solo play into friendly competition.

Next time you drop a piece into place, you're part of a 260-year tradition-pretty cool.

Extended reflections

Writing this timeline made me appreciate how every era hacked the puzzle to fit its moment: wood for geography lessons, cardboard for affordability during the 1930s, CD-ROMs for early PC curiosity, and now PWAs for instant play anywhere. I like thinking that my nightly mobile session is just the newest chapter in a long string of people chasing the same "click" feeling.

I also catch myself imagining future twists: haptic feedback on phones that feels like snapping cardboard, adaptive difficulty that changes piece counts mid-game, maybe even AR overlays. But even if none of that happens, I'm happy with a flat board, a quiet room, and the satisfaction of seeing a picture come together.

The history reminds me that puzzles survived wars, recessions, and tech shifts because they're simple and social. When I share a link with a friend and we compare times, we're echoing those 1930s rental libraries in spirit. That continuity makes me smile every time I drag a piece into place.

Extended reflections

The history makes me appreciate the small rituals that survived. People still gather around a table, still sort edges first, still argue gently about which piece fits. The tools changed, but the behavior stayed human. That continuity makes me feel connected to people I will never meet.

I also think about the pace of the hobby. Early puzzles were slow and deliberate because the images were fixed and pieces were physical. Digital puzzles made everything faster, but they did not erase the core satisfaction. The click still matters, even when it is virtual.

If you grew up with cardboard puzzles like I did, the digital versions feel like a modern echo, not a replacement. Knowing the timeline helps me appreciate both. Each time I solve a board on my phone, I imagine someone in 1933 doing the same thing by lamplight. The medium is different, the feeling is not.