The Pastime Picture Puzzle or Pastime Puzzles was an American brand of wooden

jigsaw puzzles A jigsaw puzzle (with context, sometimes just jigsaw or just puzzle) is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaicked pieces. Typically each piece has a portion of a picture, which is complet ...

made by

Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known as Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. It remained family owne ...

from 1908 to 1958. Female employees made hand-cut wooden puzzles for adults using

scroll saw A scroll saw is a small electric or pedal-operated saw used to cut intricate curves in wood, metal, or other materials. The fineness of its blade allows it to cut more delicately than a jigsaw (power tool), power jigsaw, and more easily than a h ...

s. Distinctive features of Pastimes include extensive cutting along color lines, a mix of representational and geometric figure pieces (approximately 12 figure pieces out of 100 pieces), and interlocking pieces. The business was based out of

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one ...

, and at various times had sales offices in

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Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

History

The first advertisements for Pastime puzzles appeared in trade magazines in July 1908. This coincided with a large rise in popularity in jigsaw puzzles for adults in the United States that began in 1907 and lasted until around 1910. Puzzles were so popular at this time that in 1909 Parker Brothers shut down its production of games and only made puzzles, employing 300 workers in puzzle making and needing to rent an additional building to keep up with demand. The first Pastimes were similar to other puzzles of the time: randomly cut with non-interlocking pieces. The first figure pieces representing items such as letters, animals, and symbols started to appear in 1909. Figure pieces (sometimes called "whimsies" or "figurals") are still found in modern hand-cut and laser-cut wooden puzzle brands, including Stave Puzzles, Liberty Puzzles, and Artifact Puzzles. By 1911, a distinctive Pastime style had emerged, with a mix of abstract geometric and representational figure pieces, interlocking pieces, and cuts along color lines. As the 1907-1910 puzzle craze faded, Parker Brothers downsized its Pastime workshop. The second boom for Pastime Puzzles occurred during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, when there was another puzzle craze in the United States. To take advantage of this demand, the Pastime department at Parker Brothers grew from around two dozen puzzle cutters in 1927 to more than 100 cutters in the early 1930s. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, rising labor costs and increased competition from cheaper cardboard puzzles caused the demand for wooden puzzles to drop. Parker Brothers reduced Pastime production, with only a half dozen cutters working through the 1950s. Parker Brothers discontinued the Pastime line in 1958. Pastime customers were said to have included the household of the Russian emperor, residents of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

, and

Teddy Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York politics, including serving as ...

Working conditions

Pastime cutters were paid by the piece, cutting around 1400 pieces a day. Pastime cutters had a lot of autonomy in their work, which can be seen in the diversity of cutting styles found in different puzzles; for example, some Pastime puzzles featured curl interlocks while others used heart-shaped earlets or other types of connectors.

References

{{reflist 1908 establishments in the United States 1958 disestablishments in the United States Jigsaw puzzle manufacturers American brands Toy brands Defunct brands Parker Brothers games