Jane's Jigsaws

Jane Phillips loved puzzles.  More than likely, if you walked into the library at her home on Cherokee Avenue, you would find a jigsaw puzzle being assembled on a bridge table close to a comfortable chair.  “I would drop by to see Granny almost every day after school” said Marcus Low Jr., the Phillips’ grandson.  “It seemed like she always had a puzzle she was working on”.  This spring, as part of the Frank Phillips Home 100th birthday celebration, the Home will be placing Jane’s puzzle collection on exhibit for the first time.  

“The puzzles are not only beautiful, but also record the events and attitudes of their time” notes Jim Goss, Director/Curator of the Home.  Jigsaw puzzles for adults were first seen in the early 1900s and were quite a challenge.   Puzzles were cut along color lines and were not interlocking.  There was no picture on the box, and the title of the puzzle was very nonspecific.  At the time the Phillips home was built (1908-1909), Parker Brothers introduced their Pastime Puzzles, which featured figural pieces in recognizable shapes.  These were so popular that Parker Brothers stopped making games and devoted its entire factory to puzzle production in 1909. Following this craze, puzzles continued as a regular adult diversion for the next two decades. 

The exhibit is also timely in light of the current national economic woes -- during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the popularity of jigsaw puzzles grew to staggering levels.  Anne D. Williams, a leading historian of the American jigsaw puzzle, reports that in 1933, puzzle sales reached 10 million per week.  Psychologists attribute their appeal as a way to escape the chaos of hard times and the opportunity to create something beautiful from a disordered array of individual pieces. During the 1930s, puzzle enthusiasts could rent a puzzle from their local store, just as DVDs are rented today. 

Parker Brothers hired only women to uniquely cut their puzzles, and this interesting piece of women's history will be examined in the exhibit. 

It is not known when “Aunt Jane” became interested in jigsaw puzzles or how many she had.  She was known to give puzzles away to friends and employees.  Most of the 26 puzzles she kept were of the Pastime Puzzle brand and their themes reflect her interests and the current events of the time.  The Frank Phillips Home Docents began the project of putting the puzzles together more than two years ago.  When completed, monies were raised to frame the puzzles according to proper museum standards.  The last puzzle to be framed is a two-layer puzzle given to Jane as a Christmas present.  Major contributors to the exhibit include the Jane Phillips Society, The Tuesday Club, Mrs. Georgia Hedrick, Mr. Frank Low, Mr. James Low, Mr. Henry Kane, and The Friends of the Frank Phillips Home.  The exhibit designer is Karen Smith Woods.  The exhibit framer is Pat Kerbs. 

The exhibit will open to the public on Saturday, May 9 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will continue on Mother’s Day, May 10 from 1 to 4 p.m.  Later showings of the exhibit will be on Sunday, June 14 from 1 to 4 p.m. and on “Aunt Jane’s” birthday, Saturday, August 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Puzzle enthusiasts and children will have a “hands-on” opportunity to work with a genuine Pastime Puzzle from the 1930s.  For more information regarding this exhibit, please call 918-336-2491, ext. 103.