Pastime Puzzles

The Pastime Picture Puzzle or Pastime Puzzles was an American brand of wooden jigsaw puzzles made by Parker Brothers from 1908 to 1958. Female employees made hand-cut wooden puzzles for adults using scroll saws.[1] 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.[1] The business was based out of Salem, Massachusetts, and at various times had sales offices in New York, Chicago, and London.[2][3]

History

The first advertisements for Pastime puzzles appeared in trade magazines in July 1908.[1] 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.[1] 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.[4][5]

The first Pastimes were similar to other puzzles of the time: randomly cut with non-interlocking pieces.[4] The first figure pieces representing items such as letters, animals, and symbols started to appear in 1909.[4] Figure pieces (sometimes called "whimsies" or "figurals") are still found in modern hand-cut and laser-cut wooden puzzle brands, including

Working conditions

Pastime cutters were paid by the piece, cutting around 1400 pieces a day.[4][5] 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.[4]