História hádaniek

Už v roku 1760 sa táto populárna a prospešná forma zábavy objavila takmer súčasne vo Francúzsku a Británii. Prilepte obrázok na kartón a nakrájajte ho na malé nepravidelné kúsky. Obrazy boli spočiatku náučné, buď sprevádzané krátkymi textami vhodnými na čítanie pre mladých ľudí, alebo na vyučovanie dejepisu či geografie pre nastupujúcu buržoáziu.

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 žil v dobe, keď schopnosť čítať mapy bola symbolom gentlemana. Šialenstvo v skladačke vyvrcholilo podujatím Grand Touring, gigantickým podujatím, ktoré podrobne opisuje celú Európu. Z tohto pohľadu sú skladačky použitím dielikov na seriózne štúdium geografie celej Európy - krajín, kniežatstiev, okresov, miest, mestečiek, riek atď. Poznať mapy vtedy bolo rovnako hrdé ako mať teraz vlastnú domovskú stránku.

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.

Začiatkom 19. storočia nové priemyselné techniky pre masovú výrobu dali hlavolamom definitívnu formu. Predtým objemné a objemné skladačky pozostávali z hladkých-usporiadaní dielikov, ktoré sa dali roztrhnúť najmenšou vibráciou. Okolo roku 1840 nemeckí a francúzski tvorcovia hlavolamov rozrezali dieliky puzzle do seba zapadajúcimi strojmi, čo je forma známa moderným fanúšikom hlavolamov. Nahradili dyhy z tvrdého dreva mäkkým drevom, preglejkou a lepenkou, čím sa výrazne znížili náklady. Nakoniec, hádanky s nízkou cenou- prijali spotrebitelia všetkých spoločenských vrstiev a čoskoro spustili šialenstvo medzi deťmi, dospelými a staršími ľuďmi.

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.

Po svetovej hospodárskej kríze v roku 1929 bola Veľká hospodárska kríza, ktorá sa prehnala Severnou Amerikou, vrcholným obdobím neutíchajúcej popularity skladačiek. Choďte do najbližšieho novinového stánku len za 25 centov za 300-kusové puzzle a môžete zabudnúť na svoj ťažký život a oddať sa snom o poskladaní šťastného dňa. V tomto šialenstve sa vyžívajú aj bohatí a slávni. V New Yorku dvaja-nezamestnaní{5}}predajcovia, John Henry a Frank Ware, zarobili bohatstvo na originálnych dizajnoch puzzle Spearsbury. Aké je ich tajomstvo? Kvalitná reprodukcia excelentných dlah. Henry a Ware čoskoro nadviazali vzťahy s Astorovcami, Vanderbiltovými, Bingom Crosbym a Marilyn Monroe a biznis bol na vzostupe.