Puzzle,Takitapart
date: label: date made
content: 1938-1939
notes: label: Description
content: John D. Boyle (1891-1968), an English-born New York advertising executive who lived in Greenwich, Connecticut, patented several mechanical puzzles. At least two of these were produced, including this one, which sold under the name TAKITAPART. The puzzle consists of ten wooden pieces – four rectangular blocks with square faces, two interlocking cross bars, and four dowels that hold the other pieces together. A coin (according to the advertising, a penny, but in this example, a dime) fits into a slit in one of the blocks. The object of the puzzle is to take apart the pieces and claim the coin. In addition to the puzzle itself, there is a sheet of instructions and a box.
label: Description
content: A mark on one of the cross pieces reads: TAKITAPART (/) MADE IN USA. A mark on the box reads: PAT (/) PEND. TAKITAPART (/) TR (/) MK. Another mark, on the back of the box, reads: 20th Century’s (/) GREATEST PUZZLE SENSATION. Boyle applied for a patent for this puzzle June 25, 1938 and received it November 28, 1939, which suggests the date of the object.
label: Description
content: Compare MA.333295 and MA.333289.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: John D. Boyle, “Puzzle,” U.S. Patent 2,181,116, November 28, 1939.
label: Description
content: “John D. Boyle, 77, Ex-Head of an Advertising Agency,” <I>New York Times</I>, May 30, 1968, p. 25.
label: Description
content: Jerry Slocum and Jack Botermans, <I>Puzzles Old & New: How to Make and Solve Them</I>, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1986, p. 52.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Mathematical Recreations
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Edith R. Meggers
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.335289
label: catalog number
content: 335289
label: accession number
content: 314637
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Puzzle
label: Object Name
content: puzzle
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (box, instructions material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (pieces material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (coin material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1.5 cm x 7.75 cm x 7.75 cm; 19/32 in x 3 1/16 in x 3 1/16 in