Margaret Richardson

Margaret Richardson operated her Perplexity puzzle business in New York City on even a larger scale than Isabel Ayer. She claimed credit for bringing the puzzle craze from Boston to New York in early 1908. She used only solid wood with lots of color line cutting and cut many of her puzzles in a distinctive “squiggly” elongated non-interlocking style. She arranged an exclusive marketing agreement with Brentano’s Bookstore and her business became so successful that at one point she hired more than 40 employees. By 1910 she had made enough money to retire to Cape Cod where she continued to cut a few puzzles. See also Williams, “Jigsaw Puzzles: An Illustrated History and Price Guide” p. 37.