Sources page biographical material

6.W.6. ALTEKRUSE PUZZLE
William Altekruse. US Patent 430,502 -- Block-Puzzle. Applied: 3 Apr 1890; patented: 17 Jun 1890. 1p + 1p diagrams. Described in S&B, p. 72. The standard version has 12 pieces, but variations discovered by Coffin have 14, 36 & 38 pieces.

Western Puzzle Works, 1926 Catalogue. No. 112: 12 piece Wood Block. Possibly Altekruse.

6.W.7. OTHER BURRS
See also 6.BJ for other 3D dissections. I have avoided repeating items, so 6.BJ should also be consulted if you are reading this section.
Catel. Kunst-Cabinet. 1790. Die grosse Teufelsklaue, pp. 9-10 & fig. 20 on plate I. 24 piece 'squirrel cage'. Cost 16 groschen.

Bestelmeier. 1801. Item 142: Die grosse Teufelsklaue. The 'squirrelcage', identical to Catel, with same drawing, but reversed. Text may be copying some of Catel.

C. Baudenbecher, toy manufacturer in Nuremberg. Sample book or catalogue from c1850s. Baudenbecher was taken over by J. W. Spear & Sons in 1919 and the catalogue is now in the Spear's Game Archive, Ware, Hertfordshire. It comprises folio and double folio sheets with finely painted illustrations of the firm's products. One whole folio page shows about 20 types of wooden interlocking puzzles, including most of the types mentioned elsewhere in this section and in 6.W.5 and 6.BJ. Until I get a picture, I can't be more specific.

The Youth's Companion. 1875. [Mail order catalogue.] Reproduced in: Joseph J. Schroeder, Jr.; The Wonderful World of Toys, Games & Dolls 1860··1930; DBI Books, Northfield, Illinois, 1977?, p. 19. Shows a 'woodchuck' type puzzle, called White Wood Block Puzzle, from The Youth's Companion, 1875. I can't see how many pieces it has: 12 or 18?? Slocum's Compendium also shows this.

Slocum. Compendium. Shows: "Mystery", Magic "Champion Puzzle" and "Puzzle of Puzzles" from Bland's Catalogue, c1890.

The first looks like a 6 piece burr with circular segments added to make it look like a ball. So it may be a 6 piece burr in disguise. See also Hoffmann, Chap. III, no. 38, pp. 107 108 & 141 142 = Hoffmann-Hordern, pp. 106-108 = Benson, p. 205.

The second is a six piece puzzle, but the pieces are flattish and it may be of the type described in 6.W.5.

The third is complex, with perhaps 18 pieces.

Bartl. c1920. Several versions on pp. 306-307, including some that are in 6.W.5 and some 'Chinese block puzzles'.

Western Puzzle Works, 1926 Catalogue. Shows a number of burrs and similar puzzles.

No. 86: 6 piece Wood Block.

No. 112: 12 piece Wood Block. Possibly Altekruse.

No. 212: 11 piece Wood Block

The last page shows 20 Chinese Wood Block Puzzles, High Grade. Some of these are burrs.

Collins. Book of Puzzles. 1927. Other cluster puzzles, pp. 139-142. Describes and illustrates: The cluster; The cluster of clusters; The gun cluster; The point cluster; The flat cluster; The cluster (or secret) table; The barrel; The Ball; The football. All of these have a key piece.

Jan van de Craats. Das unmögliche Escher-puzzle. (Taken from: De onmogelijke Escher-puzzle; Pythagoras (Amsterdam) (1988).) Alpha 6 (or: Mathematik Lehren / Heft 55 -- ??) (1992) 12-13. Two Penrose tribars made into an impossible 5-piece burr.