These are sliding-block puzzles where the object is to put the numbers 1 through 15 in order (without lifting a block out of the box). You can click on a photo to make it larger.
OLD PUZZLES
"15" PUZZLES
These are sliding-block puzzles where the object is to put the numbers 1 through
15 in order (without lifting a block out of the box). You can click on a photo to
make it larger.
1. The Boston Puzzle; or game of 15 and 16
Has 16 wooden pieces, but they're round. Instructions say to either
remove the 16 to make it a sliding block puzzle, or keep the 16 in
and try to arrange the blocks so that each row/collumn adds up to 34.
2. "GOOFY" The Puzzle That will chase the blues
Yet another sliding block puzzle w/ numbers 1-15. Box says "price ten
cents, by mail 20 cents prepaid, Manuf/sold by W. Scott Crawford, ???
Swede St. Norristown, Penna."
3. The Fifteen Puzzle
Another sliding block puzzle w/ numbers 1-15, but this is in a cardboard
box with metal peices. Says copywrite 1933.
4. 15 PUZZLE
The classic sliding block puzzle with numbers 1 thru 15. In
a cardboard box, painted wooden tiles. Says "no 3209" on box.
5. Lowe's 15 Puzzle
Plastic version of the 15 puzzle that comes in a pouch. Says that there
are 2,615,348,736,000 variations.
6. Scotty's "Oriental Puzzle"
Yet another sliding block puzzle w/ numbers 1-15. Box says "price 15c,
SMITH-CARSON Novelty Co, 453 East Louden street, Philadelphia"
7. The Double Puzzle of Crack Brain And Thirty Four
Same as "The Boston Puzzle" listed above. Pieces are wooden, and they're
in a wooden tray (inside of a cardboard box). The cardboard box has
a sticker that says "F.P. Coggeshall, Dealer in Books & Stationary,
51 Merinack St, Lowell, Mass. Blank books made to order".
8. UNOCANDO
Another sliding block 15 puzzle, with large (1" square) plastic
tiles. Copyright 1946 Goetz Games Company.
OTHER SLIDING-BLOCK PUZZLES
These are sliding-block puzzles where the object is to re-arrange the blocks
without lifting a block out of the box.
1. Humdinger Puzzle
Sliding block puzzle with painted wooden pieces in cardboard box.
Says "Manufactured by WOOD PRDUCTS SALES CO, YORK, PA" and "sold
everywhere 25-cents" on box. With instructions/solution.
2. Dad's Puzzler
Sliding block puzzle with wooden pieces in a cardboard box.
Box says "distributed by S-M NEWS CO INC, 229 FOURTH AVE, NY city",
"Manufacturers: The Standard Trailer Co, Cambridge Springs, PA",
and of course, the price: "10-cents". Solution included.
Copyright 1926. (I have another of these that has a lighter colored
box and is stamped "Princess Novelty Shop, 321 So. Clark St, Chicago
ILL.")
3. The Moving puzzle
Another wooden sliding block puzzle in a small cardboard box. Pieces
are marked as "piano", "chair", "sofa", "table", "clock", "lamp", "rug"
and "mat". Apparently it was an advertisement for the Empire Warehouse
Moving co. I have another one of these From "Fireproof Storage Company",
that says "copyright 1941 by Frederic E. Aaron" on this inside. I have
a third one that says "Rankin Transfer & Storage Co, Norfolk Virginia"
on it.
I have another one of these that says "copyright 1927, by Frederick E. Aaron"
and "Merchants Transfer & Storage Co. Washington D.C. Fireproof Storage".
4. Eskimo Pie Puzzle
Sliding block puzzle with wooden pieces in a cardboard box. Object
is to move the "Eskimo Pie" piece from "Eskimo Land" to "the USA".
Box says "Perkinson's, not a fad but a food; Eskimo Pie Corperation,
Louisville, Ky.
5. "The Leech puzzle"
Another wooden sliding block puzzle in a small cardboard box. It seems
to be an advertisement for Leech Cement, Leech Products Co, Hutchinson,
Kansas.
6. The Flying Puzzle
Sliding block puzzle w/ wooden blocks in cardboard box. Large square
block says "plane", other blocks say things like "fog", "clouds",
"rain", "snow", etc. Box says patented march 27, 1928.
7. Silver Label Puzzle
Sliding block puzzle for Silver Label Beer.
8. Family Bundle Puzzle
Sliding block puzzle made especially for "Laundry Age
Publishing Co, 1476 Broadway, New York NY".
Box says "Billion $$$$ laundry business by 1930". Pieces
are labled "Dry Cleaning", "Wet Wash", "All Ironed", etc.
9. Get My Goat
Sliding block puzzle; one of the blocks says "Patented Oct 6, 1914".
Object is to slide the piece with the goat into the large circle.
Box says "GET MY GOAT, OFFICE 1058 BROA S., PROV. R.I. PRICE 25
cents".
10. The Traffic Jam Puzzle
Sliding block puzzle with painted wooden pieces in cardboard box.
Has 12 starting positions. Wooden pieces are stamped with names
of cars, including: Hudson, Oakland, Reo, Nash, Paige, Ford, Buick,
etc.
11. New Deal Puzzle
Sliding block puzzle. One block has picture of Roosevelt, the
others spell out "THE NEW DEAL NRA", and you have to move the
picture of Roosevelt from one corner to the other.
12. South Pole Expedition
Sliding block puzzle. Box describes contest to find shortest
solution by July 1, 1934. Daddy & Jack's, 22 Bromfield St,
Boston Mass.
13. Ma's Puzzle
Sliding block puzzle with wooden pieces in a cardboard box.
Box says "A true to life, hard to get, Ma's Puzzle, Patent no 1633397,
by Charles L.A. Diamond".
14. George Washington Puzzle
Sliding block puzzle, probably from 1920's. Big piece is stamped
w/ "George Washington", little pieces are stamped w/ words like:
Honest, Loyal, Just, Faith, Noble, Liberty, War, Peace, Integrity,
Brave, and Independence.
15. Time Puzzle
Sliding block puzzle with Roman Numerals 1 through XII, plus two
blank tiles and one with a clock showing a time of 8:18. Oddly, the Roman
numeral 4 is "IIII" instead of "IV". Comes in a case that's like a book,
and says "Vol. 514 E.S. Lowe" on the bookcover.
16. Prosperity Puzzle
Cardboard sliding block puzzle, cover says "FARMERS NATIONAL BANK, New Castle,
Ind. Capitol & Surplus $110,000, Resources $463,000, ..."
2-DIMENSIONAL PUZZLES
These are 2-dimensional puzzles where the object is typically to arrange them
to make a shape or pattern.
1. The BUG HOUSE Puzzle
14 pieces can be assembled to make a checkerboard.
Company name is rather crypic: "E.I.H. Co., F. & K.".
2. Checker Board Puzzle
14 cardboard pieces form a checkerboard. Box says the price is 15c.
Inside of box says $500 in gold offered for the greatest number of
correct solutions, but it also says the contest expires March 1, 1927.
The Vasen Company, Davenport Iowa.
2a. The Famous and Baffling Checker Board Puzzle
Same as above, but with different markings.
Cardboard box containing 14 pieces of cardboard of various shapes,
with white & black squares printed on them. The object is to put
the pieces together to form a checkerboard (unfortunately 2 pieces
are missing). Inside box says "The Vasen Mfg. Company, Davenport Iowa".
Inside top says a Voss Electric Washer will be given to the person
mailing the largest number of correct solutions by Nov 1, 1928.
3. The "TESA" MOSAIC SQUARE
8 wooden peices painted with mosiac colors. Fit peices into square such
that where peices touch, the colors match. Not sure how old it is.
4. Vess Mystery Puzzle
Advertisement for Vess Billion Bubble Beverages.
Contains 9 cardboard squares with different colors on each side, and
you have to arrange them into a 3x3 square with matching colors where
the smaller squares touch.
5. Zany
Box says "Copyright 1943 BERCO". It's your basic
tangrams puzzle, made of cardboard. Contains a sheet
of paper with shapes to make and another with the
solutions.
6. Horse Blanket Puzzle
Place 10 peices, print side up, to make a square. Box says "5A Horse
Blanket Puzzle, W.M.Ayres & Sons, Philadelphia".
7. German Trouble Killer Puzzle
Small cardboard box with 7-piece tangrams puzzle. Pieces are made of a
substance similar to brick. Contains a booklet w/ shapes to try to build.
Made in Germany; booklet says "London E.C. Dr Richter's Publishing
Office, 41 Jewin St, Alderagate".
PUZZLES BOXES
These are boxes where the puzzle is to figure out how to open them.
1. Wooden Matchbox Puzzle
Small wooden box to keep matches in. Has two pegs and you have
to figure out how to swing open the top pieces. Has a picture
labled "Bar Harbor ME." on it. The ebay seller estimated it was
circa 1880.
2. Japanese Puzzle Box
Wooden puzzle box, opened by a series of sliding panels. Inside it
says "made in occupied Japan", so I think that dates it to before 1952.
PARTY PUZZLES
These are puzzles that came in sort of a "kit" containing many puzzles.
1. Uncle Sam Puzzles
Box says copywrite 1920 JLSommer Mfg co. Full of twisted wire puzzles.
4 sides of box tell story: 1) Games begin, 2) Off to puzzle land, 3) Dance
of the Ferry Puzzlers, 4) Crowned king of puzzlers.
2. Gilbert Party Puzzles No 1032
A bunch of metal wire puzzles in a box with instructions on how to have
a "puzzle party" with them.
Box says copyright 1940 by the A.C. Gilbert company. Old "A.C. Gilbert"
must have been pretty sexist, as his letter on the instructions starts out
"Dear boy friends:", and also has the sentence, "You can have a lot of fun
with these puzzles, boys." Was it considered a bad thing for girls to like
puzzles in the 1940's???
OTHER PUZZLES
These are puzzles in various other categories.
1. Key with ring
Brass key with steel ring, object is to get the ring off.
Markings say "PAT. OCT 23,94", and what looks like:
"NICOL&CO. C41"
2. The Double Star & Crescent
Metal puzzle with 2 star shaped pieces, a cresent moon shaped piece, and a
horseshoe shaped piece. One of the starts must be removed to solve the puzzle.
No markings but may have been offered as a cracker-jack prize.
3. The Doggy Puzzle
This one has no markings, but I've seen it in a book as either
"The Puzzle Pup" with the dog standing or "The Doggy Puzzle" with the
dog sitting. My dog is sitting. Object is to put the odd-shaped
metal collar onto the metal dog.
4. The Chilean Puzzle
This is the same as the "arm-n-a-leg" puzzle from Howard R. Swift.
It has a ring, 2 balls, 2 disks, and 5 metal segments, and the object
is to get the ring off. One of the disks says "PHENYO CAFFEIN CURES
HEADACHE AND NEURALGIA PHENYO C. CO WORCHESTER MASS".
5. Lock & Key
Large steel lock with a key. Key has a sharp pick
attached to it. You must use the pick to open the
latch to find where to put the key in. I beleive it
is Chinese.
6. Puzzle Toy Furniture Suite
Block of redwood, cut into pieces of miniature furniture. All peices fit
together to form a rectangular block. Box says "America's newest puzzle
toy, price 25 cents. Manufactured by Partidge Manuracturing Co, Inc,
290 Taaffe place, Brooklyn, NY."
7. The Panama Cone or Disc Puzzle
Basic "tower of hanoi" puzzle made of wood.
8. The Jeep Board
Cardboard checkerboard with pegs and a booklet that describes
25 different games and solitaire puzzles. Booklet says "E.S.
Lowe Co Inc, 27 West 20 Street NY 11 Copyright 1944"
9. Pyramids
7 disks with different diameters form a pyramid. Move them from one
post to the 3rd post without putting a large disk on top of a smaller
one. Knapp Electric, Inc. manufactured by P.R. Mallory & Co,
200 Fifth Ave, NY
10. Golden Rod Puzzle
Manual-dexterity puzzle where you have to roll the
5 plastic yellow pegs into their different-sized openings.
Circa 1930's, although mine is in such good condition that
it's almost surely a reproduction. Made by R. Journet & Co.,
London.
11. Mayfair Jig Picture Puzzle
The only 2-D Jigsaw puzzle in my collection. From 1928.
12. Story Book Puzzle Blocks
Box w/ 9 blocks in it, arrange the 9 blocks into 3x3 arrangement
to make a picture. 6 pictures can be made. Made in Phiippines.
13. Takitapart
I have several of these but this one has a cardboard
wrapper that says: "1939's GREATEST PUZZLE SENSATION".
The part with the manufacturer is ripped off, but it
does have a tip from "Douglas, The Magician". It's a
wooden puzzle with a chamber that holds a penny.
14. Peter Pastime Puzzle 549
A 6-piece burr puzzle w/ instructions. Box says: "When minutes drag
too slowly by, And you just long to make them fly, These puzzles are
the very thing, Amusement and delight to bring." and "Rust Craft Boston"
15. The Yamato Puzzle
This is a 6-piece wooden burr in a cardboard box. The box says
"THE YAMATO BLOCK PUZZLE" and "MADE IN JAPAN".
16. Automobile Puzzle
Flat metal puzzle shaped like a really old car, with the round pieces
with letters that spell A-U-T-O-M-O-B-I-L-E in tracks. You must slide
the letters through the tracks to get them in order.
17. The Eclipse
Cover shows it as one of 4 puzzles in a series. There's a wooden disk with
slots in it. You have to maneuver the disk through a maze of nails from
start to finish. Copyright 1936 by MYART MFG CO.
18. Drueke's Solitaire
Wooden puzzle with plastic pegs, where you jump pegs & try to end up with
only 1 peg left.
19. Puzzle-Peg
Classic solitare peg-jumping puzzle (same as Kohner Hi-Q). Copyright
1929 by Lubbers & Bell Mfg Co, Clinton Iowa. Includes book with
various starting points - try to leave 1 peg standing. I actually
have 2 of these.
20. Puzzle Blocks
Box w/ 30 blocks in it, arrange the 30 blocks into 6x5 arrangement
to make a picture. 6 pictures can be made.