Hanes Posau

Mor gynnar â 1760, ymddangosodd y math poblogaidd a buddiol hwn o adloniant bron ar yr un pryd yn Ffrainc a Phrydain. Gludwch lun ar gardbord a'i dorri'n ddarnau bach afreolaidd. I ddechrau roedd y lluniau'n addysgiadol, naill ai ynghyd â thestunau byr a oedd yn addas i bobl ifanc eu darllen, neu i ddysgu hanes neu ddaearyddiaeth i'r bourgeoisie newydd.

In 1762, during the reign of Louis XV in France, a salesman named Dima began to sell map puzzles with small success. This kind of map puzzle, which requires rearranging the pieces, is a very elegant recreation. That same year, in London, a printer named John Spearsbury came up with a similar idea, inventing the enduring puzzle. With the utmost ingenuity, he glued a map of England to the back of a thin dining table, then cut the map precisely into small pieces along the edges of the counties. The idea could lead to huge fortunes, but poor Spearsbury didn't get it, he lived to be 29 years old and didn't see the huge success of jigsaw puzzles. The real significance of his success was that he opened two important markets for his inventions: the burgeoning middle-class consumers hungry for knowledge and status, and the harsh British schools of his time.

Roedd Spearsbury yn byw mewn cyfnod pan oedd y gallu i ddarllen mapiau yn symbol o ŵr bonheddig. Mae'r jig-so wedi'i wthio i'w anterth gan y digwyddiad Grand Touring, digwyddiad anferth sy'n manylu ar Ewrop gyfan. O'r safbwynt hwn, posau jig-so yw'r defnydd o ddarnau pos i astudio o ddifrif ddaearyddiaeth holl wledydd Ewrop -, tywysogaethau, siroedd, dinasoedd, trefi, afonydd ac ati. Roedd gwybod mapiau bryd hynny yr un mor falch â chael eich hafan eich hun nawr.

Of course, not everyone is adamant about puzzles. Contrarians and social critics alike mock the rich for being boring enough to do nothing but spread a pile of cardboard scraps on the table. More than a decade later, puzzle makers began to incorporate historical themes into their puzzles. In 1787, an Englishman named William Dutton made a jigsaw puzzle of portraits of the kings of England, from William the Conqueror to George III. Education and memory are also part of the entertainment, because to successfully arrange all the pieces, you must know the correct order of these kings. However, at that time, jigsaw puzzles were only a game of rich people, and they were not yet popular. Hand-painting, hand-coloring, hand-cutting make puzzles very expensive, equivalent to a month's salary for an average worker.

1789 saw the French Revolution usher in modern Europe, and saw the birth of the modern puzzle in the hands of John Wallis. This imaginative Briton invented brightly colored landscape puzzles. New puzzles require more focus and patience to put together. The new puzzle heralds the end of the era of exquisitely crafted, but expensive, Spearsbury puzzles. Wallis' reproduction techniques soon made his new puzzle a model for a developing trade based on his original printing plate.

Erbyn dechrau'r 19eg ganrif, roedd technegau diwydiannol newydd ar gyfer masgynhyrchu yn rhoi ffurf bendant i bosau. Roedd posau swmpus a swmpus blaenorol yn cynnwys-trefniadau ymylol llyfn o ddarnau y gellid eu tynnu'n ddarnau gan y dirgryniad lleiaf. Tua 1840, roedd gwneuthurwyr posau Almaeneg a Ffrainc yn torri darnau pos gyda pheiriannau snapio cyd-gloi, ffurf sy'n gyfarwydd i gefnogwyr posau modern. Disodlwyd argaenau pren caled gyda phren meddal, pren haenog a chardbord, gan leihau costau'n sylweddol. Yn olaf, derbyniwyd y posau pris isel gan ddefnyddwyr o bob cefndir, a chyn bo hir cychwynnodd gwylltineb posau ymhlith plant, oedolion a'r henoed.

Puzzles quickly became a well-established, mass-market entertainment product that consumers could buy anywhere. Puzzles are used at this time not only for education and entertainment, but also for commercials and political propaganda. The First World War (1914-1918) is a good example. Inexpensive jigsaw puzzles featuring brave warriors desperately fighting for king and country, were popular on both sides of the war and sold well. Jigsaw puzzles have become a way to get closer to people's inner world, into their homes, and to spread information. Puzzles and newspapers, radio, and soon the first generation of television became a simple and direct form of mass media. Should people be encouraged to travel by train? Many puzzles showing majestic trains and happy tourists appeared. Every new invention and trend—steamboats, planes, automobiles, and the latest and most daring women's swimsuits—has appeared on the puzzle.

Ar ôl argyfwng economaidd y byd ym 1929, y Dirwasgiad Mawr a ysgubodd Ogledd America oedd cyfnod brig poblogrwydd di-ffael posau jig-so. Ewch i lawr i'r stand newyddion agosaf am ddim ond 25 cents ar gyfer pos 300-darn, a gallwch anghofio am eich bywyd caled a mwynhau breuddwydion am roi diwrnod hapus at ei gilydd. Mae'r cyfoethog a'r enwog hefyd yn ymroi i'r gwylltineb hwn. Yn Efrog Newydd, gwnaeth dau o werthwyr gwaith, John Henry a Frank Ware, ffortiwn gyda chynlluniau posau Spearsbury gwreiddiol. Beth yw eu cyfrinach? Atgynhyrchiad o ansawdd uchel o sblintiau rhagorol. Buan iawn y sefydlodd Henry a Ware gysylltiadau â’r Astors, y Vanderbilts, Bing Crosby a Marilyn Monroe, ac roedd busnes yn ffynnu.