Object Details
- Description
- Puzzles popular in one era often reappear in another. Invented in China around 1800, a seven-piece puzzle known as the tangram proved wildly popular in Europe and then in the United States in the early nineteenth century. This is a twentieth century version of the recreation.
- The seven black wooden pieces are arranged in a square box. Also in the box is an instruction leaflet that shows 121 ways to arrange the pieces. Printing on the lid of the box reads: 121 PUZZLES (/) Carrom Co. Ludington, Mich. Further text reads: 15 Hours of Fun (/) 15¢.
- The Carrom Company was in business in Ludington under that name from 1912 until 1939. The firm took out a copyright for the term “121 puzzle set” in about 1934. The instructions indicate that the term is copyrighted. Hence the date assigned to the object.
- References:
- Library of Congress, Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [B] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1934, p. 1086.
- Jerry Slocum, The Tangram Book, New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 2001. This volume does not specifically discuss this particular form of the tangram.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Edith R. Meggers
- ca 1935
- ID Number
- MA.335287
- catalog number
- 335287
- accession number
- 314637
- Object Name
- Puzzle
- puzzle
- Physical Description
- wood (pieces material)
- paper (box, instructions material)
- Measurements
- overall: 1.2 cm x 9.5 cm x 9.5 cm; 15/32 in x 3 3/4 in x 3 3/4 in
- place made
- United States: Michigan, Ludington
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Science & Mathematics
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Mathematical Recreations
- Record ID
- nmah_694581
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-2f55-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
