AMERICAN CRAZE

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 76, 31 March 1933, Page 7

AMERICAN CRAZE

JIG-SAW PUZZLES

WHOLE NATION SMITTEN

(From "The Post's" Representative.) NEW YORK, March 2, A man was sentenced to death in Pennsylvania. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Tho Warden notified tho condemned man »^ a"v HeaV n!'' t]lG P»s°ner ojacuof^VnV"l^ day ' the of the Ohio State penitentiary announced that largo supplies of iig-s IW puzzles had been ordered, as pn'soners b? tScn, S> d bCCn grCatly diverte<l A few days later, a. woman in a Western state had her huaban aiiested, on a disorderly conduct • charge, IL 'place!" klCkCd hM '*» *" ™l

' 1^ m.sil 1 ell J'appcnings it may logically be deduced that tho next step will bo tho jig-saw divorce. Tho craze for jig- saw puzz]os menced three months ago. Now Englane land o f quiet £ omost fl f credited with having provided the'impetus that caused it to sweep the counyfromMaincto California, from the Great Lakes to the Rio Grande A manufacturing firm in nn Atlantic btato is turning out 500,000 puzzles a week. At tho time of writing, it is saidthcre arc 2,000,000 different puzzles, containing from 100 to 1000 'pieces Phoro aro, jig-sqw Übrariea and clubs which issue puzzles on loan. At iig' saw parties, four persons at one table compote with four at another on simi° lar puzzles.

Why the craze? The manufacturers answer the question by advancing the theory that tho world, worn out by depression and economic failure, is sighing for home atmosphere and appropriate pastimes. Psychologists—their number is legion in theso gullible days— aver that the "jig" awakens the creative instinct,' causing man to think he is still capable of accomplishing something. The Communists say the puzzles are designed to prevent people irom realising how bad things arc. Before the New Year, the puzzles illustrated the Landing of the Pilgrim iathcrs, stago coaches of pioneer days, knights in shining armour, and so forth. Latterly the craze is being exploited by' advertisers, and "Hollywooded," to tho extent of providing cinema stars with a royalty of one cent for each puzzle that presents their' photographs to idolising "fans."