Scratching my head here. Can we know when he did it?

TM

"an engraver and mapmaker who invented something we still enjoy today" - hmmmm....the name Spilsbury rings a bell for some reason. I think I need clues, big time.

I am so envious of your spring flowers. While the weather is definitely spring-like here, we are weeks and weeks away from any blooms. Sigh. There are some tulips up about 2 inches down the street, though. Guess I'll focus on those!!

Nancy.

Just did an irish jig, I'm pretty sure I know this one :).

Annette

Spilsbury invented this in 1767 as an educational tool. Still popular today for that, but also adored as entertainment by many today-mostly in winter, though I suspect.

Why, Annette! So glad and I did forget to say Happy St. Pat's Day to everyone. Was saving that for later! ;)

Cynthia

OK, rule out flash cards - not very entertaining.
Rule out substitute teachers - entertaining, but not very educational.
Rule out Irish step dancing - not very educational.
Rule out protractors - no one adores them.

So what's left?

Just had a thought. He didn't invent crossword puzzles, did he? Would that fit with doing it mostly in the winter? Hmmmm. Don't think so.

Will keep scratching head.

TM

LOL, TM, especially the sub comment. That will have me smiling all day. It isn't the slide rule either, although Chuck still treasures his and can (like you, I imagine) still use it. I never could quite get the hang of it and needed to be talked through every calculation with it. :(

No, Spilsbury invented this, but others created the versions we have today. Shall I tell you your guess may be half right?

Re-read Annette's response if you want to get it. Otherwise, wait for me to come back with more clues. :)

I'll bet your grandkids enjoyed these when they were little and learned from them, too! Very popular in preschools and kindergartens.

Just came back from a grocery run and we can't believe what weather we are having here. We're talking sunny and mid-seventies, not just a freak day or two, but for days to come, according to the weather boffins. This would be unusual for us even in early May.

I think I finally put the pieces together and know the answer for today. It must be the exposure to sun and warm weather that triggered my brain.

TM

To market, to market to buy a fat pig,
Home again, home again, jiggedy jig.

:)

Heck, I can't even use an abacus. I was starting to think he might have hybridized some flowers, but that idea passed. Hmmm...flash cards?? I guess they can be fun and entertaining. I suppose that they have 'developed' over the years, but really, a flash card is a flash card. Something did 'flash' through my mind though - what about structural thingies?? Is that obtuse enough, and am I even warm??

Nancy.

Are you still puzzling over this, Nancy? Not flash cards.

Spilsbury used what he had (maps) to make the first ones. Chuck, being a map freak, would probably actually enjoy them.

Cynthia

I've got this one from the clues. We used to set up a table in the winter to work on one of these.

Went to the Orchid Society Spring Show today and saw many different and beautiful orchids.

Temps in the high 70s here with high humidity. It feels like late June. Yesterday was perfect with low humidity and high 70s. No blooms to see but some perennials are starting to green up.

DC sounds so beautiful this spring. Wish we could visit and see all those blooms.

lol. The jig is up!! I finally clued in. Yes, I do enjoy these in the winter time - in fact, I have a table in the LR that can be, and is, used for these. I guess I am the last to figure it out - picture puzzles! I did a very pretty one last winter of tea cups and pots. Made me think of Lavender Lass on here!!

Nancy.

**** for Annette, TM, Bobbie, and Nancy!

Yes, the answer is the jigsaw puzzle. John Spilsbury created the first one in 1767 to help with the teaching of geography. He attached his maps to flat hardwood and then used a fine saw to cut along the borders of the European countries. Hand-painted and made of wood, the puzzle was a map of England and Wales, with each county making up a separate piece. Seems he sensed a business opportunity as he created puzzles on eight themes - the World, Europe, Asia, Africa, America, England and Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

It didn't take long before people began making pictorial jigsaw puzzles to entertain rather than to teach. The pieces in these early puzzles were not interlocking. Not until the invention of power tools more than a century later did jigsaw puzzles with fully interlocking pieces come into being.

In 1880, Milton Bradley made the first jigsaw puzzle for children "The Smashed Up Locomotive." He printed a lithograph of a steam engine locomotive and cut it into pieces. The "smashed up" effect was achieved when a child opened the box to find the locomotive all broken up. Apparently, his Puritan upbringing led Bradley to seek order in his life. Therefore, the object of the "The Smashed Up Locomotive" was to make the locomotive whole once again.

Thanks for playing everyone. Have a lovely Sunday-not as nice here as yesterday (grey and cooler), but still worth some weed-pulling time! :)

Cynthia

Super question, Cynthia, and very interesting answer. Thanks to your and Annette's clues I got it. Fun one.

Thanks for the fun.

TM

Love jigsaw puzzles, especially on the computer where they don't take up table room. Try one or two or.... in the link below.

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Jig Zone

Those puzzles are fun, Annette! Addictive, too.

Cynthia