A pictorial jigsaw puzzle is usually a picture glued or printed onto a thin sheet of wood or cardboard which is then cut into small pieces and then reassembled as a recreational or educational activity. The first first commercial jigsaw puzzle is generally believed to have been invented in England, around 1760, by John Spilsbury. This London map-maker sold his dissected map puzzles to teach geography and this educational device was very popular amongst upper class parents. By 1800 many other publishers and map-makers had entered the business extending the content to include the Bible, morality and historical subjects. Originally, these hand-cut and hand-coloured toys were luxury items but the introduction of mass production techniques for printing, colouring and cutting puzzles brought down prices and made them more widely accessible.

In the 1930's the jigsaw fad peaked as people sought an inexpensive diversion from their day-to-day concerns. Printers sold weekly puzzles at newsstands. Popular characters from motion pictures and radio became the subjects of puzzles. Jigsaw puzzle lending libraries made it possible for people on limited budgets to feed their jigsaw puzzle habits at limited expense. Unemployed men set up workshops in their homes to produce jigsaws for sale. In 1933, as part of its Festival of States, St. Petersburg, Florida assembled a 50 by 30 foot map of the United States in its baseball park. That same year, jigsaw puzzle sales peaked at six million per week.

Advertisers fed the addiction to puzzles by offering them as free premiums. Toothbrush sales soared by 400% when the Prophylactic Brush Co. started giving away a 50 piece puzzle of Frances Tipton Hunter's picture of a boy brushing his puppy's teeth. The company responsible for this campaign, Einson-Freeman Company, shifted from making window displays for advertising to making puzzles. One of their lines of production featured Radio stars such as Eddie Cantor, Rudy Vallee and Kate Smith.

Canadians were not oblivious to this fad. When Imperial Tobacco opened its Poker Hand Premium store on Queen Street in Ottawa on April 1, 1933 customers could take home a free jigsaw puzzle of the popular Turret cigarette dog poster. Having served as a Parliamentary Printer and Queen's Printer, the firm of John Lovell and Son Limited produced Lovell's Picture Weekly Puzzle which sold for 25 cents. Eaton's Fall and Winter Catalogue for 1935 offered shoppers clearance prices on 300 piece jigsaw puzzles at two for fifteen cents. Subjects included "Shore Birds," "Dutch Scene," "Cardinal's Portrait," "Lions at Sunset," "Seigniory Club," and "Quebec Citadel." In 1938-1939, retailers wanting to stock jigsaw puzzles in their general stores for Christmas, could purchase a dozen four hundred piece puzzles from the trade catalogue of Nerlich and Company in Montreal for $8.40.

Jigsaw puzzles, apart from being popular as gifts, have several Christmas connections. Raphael Tuck and Sons, an English manufacturer of postcards and puzzles, combined its products to produce postcard puzzles that could be sent through the mail. These were introduced in the United States in 1909. Within a few years the line was expanded to include Christmas cards. Various Christmas scenes have frequently been featured on puzzles. Around 1880 the McLoughlin Brothers produced Aunt Louisa's cube puzzles which depicted six different images such as "Nellie's Christmas Eve" (a family decorating its Christmas tree). This sort of puzzle is depicted on Guernsey's "Childhood Games" Christmas issue of 1994. Around 1910 Milton Bradley marketed a Santa Claus Puzzle Box with scenes including "Santa in an auto," "Descent down a chimney," and "Santa at a Christmas tree." In the 1930's companies such as C.S. Hammond in Brooklyn, New York and Harry N. Walker, possibly of Massachusett's created plywood "Merry Christmas" and "The Season's Greetings puzzles" with cardboard mailing boxes. As a gift and as a holiday pastime, the jigsaw puzzle would have been a part of Christmas in many homes.

Christmas night was actually the subject of a stamp issued by Austria in 2016 in the form of a jigsaw puzzle, but many other topics have been covered on stamps featuring jigsaw puzzles. Austria has issued several other similar souvenir sheets depicting other topics. There are die cut separations between the parts of the puzzles that make up these minature sheets. They have depicted popular topical themes including the characters from the animated movie "Madagascar" (2012), Halloween (2013), the comic bee Maja (2014), Easter bunnies (2015), Christmas (2016), a birthday party (2017) and a letter's journey (2019). Other countries have used jigsaw puzzles as symbols of successes realized by putting together a variety of pieces to solve a problem or fulfill a vision. This is evident in the use of the jigsaw motif on stamps celebrating a variety of social and scientific achievements and the promotion of social cohesion.

This site features many examples of these stamps.

Armenia


The 5th Anniversary of the Eurasian Economic Union
Issued August 9, 2019

Austria


Characters from the animated movie Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
Issued October 5, 2012

Halloween
Issued October 14, 2013

"Maja Bee"
Issued August 29, 2014

Easter Bunnies
Issued March 7, 2015

Happy Birthday Greeting
Issued March 4, 2017

"A Letter's Journey"
Issued April 24, 2019

Brazil


"MERCOSUR - Fight Against Discrimination"
Issued April 2, 2014

Canada


"Literacy" (die cut opening to represent missing puzzle piece)
Issued September 9, 1996


"Stampin' The Future: Children's Stamp Design Contest Winners"
Issued July 1, 2000


"Mental Health"
Issued September 6, 2011

China


Meter Mark with Jigsaw in Design
Dated March 10, 2021
Text Translation

France


"15th Anniversary of Territorial Administrative Changes"
Issued February 11, 1978


"Centenary of the Law Guaranteeing Freedom of Association"
Issued July 1, 2001

Great Britain


"Britain's Entry into the E.E.C." (low value from set of three)
Issued January 3, 1973


"Genetics - Scientists with a Jigsaw Puzzle"
Issued February 25, 2003


"200th Anniversary of the Birth of Charles Darwin"
Issued February 12, 2009

Great Britain
Guernsey


"Christmas - Antique Toys"
Issued October 1, 1994

Hungary


"EUROPA"
Issued May 9, 2000

Lesotho


"Action to Combat Racism Decade - White and Black Equal"
Issued December 12, 1977

Netherlands


Personalized Stamp with Jigsaw Vignette
Issued July 1, 2010

Portugal


EUROPA Issue
Issued September 14, 1964

Singapore


"National Day - Together As One"
Issued August 1, 2024

Spain


"America Issue - Youth, Education and Literacy"
Issued October 14, 2002

Switzerland


"National Census"
Issued November 20, 1990


"Caritas Centenary"
Issued March 13, 2001

United Nations


"International Year of the Disabled"
Issued March 6, 1981


"International Year of the Disabled"
Issued March 6, 1981