Josephine Flood started the Picture Puzzle Mart (PPM) lending library in NYC in 1929 to help raise money for Tuberculosis relief. It ended shortly after her death in 1950. Pastime Puzzles produced all of the PPM puzzles. She regularly went to Salem, Mass to take images she wanted cut into puzzles by the ladies at Pastime, though she did occasionally use some prints they had in the Pastime catalog. Many of the images she brought were travel posters with bold colors.
Miss Flood also requested the best cutters cut puzzles for PPM and that they be extra tricky. The harder the puzzle, the longer someone kept it at home and thus the more they paid to rent it, bringing in more money for charity. According to the cutters Anne Williams interviewed, they were allowed more time to cut each PPM puzzle.
See Anne Williams article, written for the Association for Games & Puzzles International for more information on Josephine Flood and her Picture Puzzle Mart.
Please see the Dating Pastime Puzzles post to understand how this data has been obtained and its limitations. For personal use only.
