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6.AQ. DISSECTIONS OF A CROSS, T OR H
The usual dissection of a cross has two diagonal cuts at 45^o to the sides and passing through two of the reflex corners of the cross and yielding five pieces. The central piece is six-sided, looking like a rectangle with its ends pushed in and being symmetric. Depending on the relative lengths of the arms, head and upright of the cross, the other pieces may be isosceles right triangles or right trapeziums. Removing the head of the cross gives the usual dissection of the T into four pieces -- then the central piece is five-sided. Sometimes the central piece is split in halves. Occasionally the angle of the cuts is different than 45^o. Dissections of an H have the same basic idea of using cuts at 45^o -- the result can be a bit like two Ts with overlapping stems and the number of pieces depends on the relative size and positioning of the crossbar of the H -- see: Rohrbough.
S&B, pp. 20 21, show several versions. They say that crosses date from early 19C. They show a 6 piece Druid's Cross, by Edwards & Sons, London, c1855. They show several T puzzles -- they say the first is an 1903 advertisement for White Rose Ceylon Tea, NY -- but see 1898 below. They also show some H puzzles.
Charles Babbage. The Philosophy of Analysis -- unpublished collection of MSS in the BM as Add. MS 37202, c1820. ??NX. See 4.B.1 for more details. F. 4r is "Analysis of the Essay of Games". F. 4v has a cross cut into 5 pieces in the usual way.

Endless Amusement II. 1826? Prob. 30, p. 207. Usual five piece cross. The three small pieces are equal. = New Sphinx, c1840, pp. 139-140.

Crambrook. 1843. P. 4.

No. 10: Five pieces to form a Cross.

No. 11: The new dissected Cross.

Without pictures, I cannot tell what dissections are used??

Boy's Own Book. 1843 (Paris): 435 & 440, no. 2. Usual five piece cross, very similar to Endless Amusement. One has to make three pieces of fig. 2. = Boy's Treasury, 1844, pp. 424 & 428. = de Savigny, 1846, pp. 353 & 357, no. 1.

Family Friend 2 (1850) 58 & 89. Practical Puzzle -- No. II. = Illustrated Boy's Own Treasury, 1860, No. 32, pp. 401 & 440. Usual five piece cross to "form that which, viewed mentally, comforts the afflicted." Three pieces of fig. 1.

Parlour Pastime, 1857. = Indoor & Outdoor, c1859, Part 1. = Parlour Pastimes, 1868. Mechanical puzzles, no. 7, p. 178-179 (1868: 189). Five piece dissection of a cross, but the statement of the problem doesn't say which piece to make multiple copies of.

Magician's Own Book. 1857. Prob. 17: The cross puzzle, pp. 272 & 295. Usual 5 piece cross, essentially identical to Family Friend, except this says to "form a cross." = Book of 500 Puzzles, 1859, prob. 17, pp. 86 & 109. = Boy's Own Conjuring Book, 1860, prob. 16, pp. 234 & 258.

Charades, Enigmas, and Riddles. 1860: prob. 33, pp. 60 & 66; 1862: prob. 33, pp. 136 & 143; 1865: prob. 577, pp. 108 & 156. Usual five piece cross, showing all five pieces.

Leske. Illustriertes Spielbuch für Mädchen. 1864? Prob. 584-12, pp. 288 & 406: Ein Kreuz. Begins as the usual five piece cross, but the central piece is then bisected into two mitres and the base has two bits cut off to give an eight piece puzzle.

Frank Bellew. The Art of Amusing. 1866. Op. cit. in 5.E. 1866: pp. 239-240; 1870: pp. 236 238. Usual five piece cross.

Elliott. Within Doors. Op. cit. in 6.V. 1872. Chap. 1, no. 1: The cross puzzle, pp. 27 & 30. Usual five piece cross, but instructions say to cut three copies of the wrong piece.

Mittenzwey. 1880. Prob. 188, pp. 35 & 88; 1895?: 213, pp. 40 & 91; 1917: 213, pp. 37 & 87. This is supposed to be a 10 piece dissection of a cross obtained by further dissecting the usual five pieces. However, pieces 3 & 4 are drawn as trapezoids in the problem and triangles in the solution and piece 2 in the solution is half the size given in the problem. Further, pieces 1 & 2 appear equilateral in the problem, but are isosceles right triangles in the solution. One could modify this to get a 9 piece version where eight of the pieces are right trapezoids -- four having edges 1, 1, 2, 2 and four having edges 2, 2, 22, 2, but the arms would be twice as long as they are wide. Or one can make the second four pieces be 2, 2, 2 isosceles right triangles. In either case, the ninth piece would be a rectangle.

Lemon. 1890. A card board puzzle, no. 33, pp. 8 & 98. Usual five piece cross.

Hoffmann. 1893. Chap. III, no. 12: The Latin cross puzzle, pp. 93 & 126 = Hoffmann Hordern, pp. 82-83, with photo. As in Indoor & Outdoor. Photo on p. 83 shows two versions: one in metal by Jaques & Sons, 1870-1895; the other in ivory, 1850-1900. Hordern Collection, p. 59, shows a Druid's Cross Puzzle.

Lash, Inc. -- Clifton, N.J. -- Chicago, Ill. -- Anaheim, Calif. T Puzzle. Copyright Sept. 1898. 4 piece T puzzle to be cut out from a paper card, but the angle of the cuts is about 35^o instead of 45^o which makes it less symmetric and less confusing than the more common version. The resulting T is somewhat wider than usual, being about 16% wider than it is tall. It advertises: Lash's Bitters The Original Tonic Laxative. Photocopy sent by Slocum.

Benson. 1904. The cross puzzle, pp. 191 192. Usual 5 piece version.

Wehman. New Book of 200 Puzzles. 1908. The cross puzzle, p. 17. Usual 5 piece version.

A. Neely Hall. Op. cit. in 6.F.5. 1918. The T puzzle, pp. 19 20. "A famous old puzzle ...." Usual 4 piece version, but with long arms.

Western Puzzle Works, 1926 Catalogue. No. 1394: Four pieces to form Letter T. The notched piece is less symmetric than usual.

Collins. Book of Puzzles. 1927. The crusader's cross puzzle, pp. 1-2. The three small pieces are equal.

Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopedia 'Wonder Box'. The Children's Encyclopedia appeared in 1908, but versions continued until the 1950s. This looks like 1930s?? Usual 5 piece cross.

A. F. Starkey. The T puzzle. Industrial Arts and Vocational Education 37 (1938) 442. "An interesting novelty ...."

Rohrbough. Puzzle Craft. 1932. The "H" Puzzle, p. 23. Very square H -- consider a 3 x 3 board with the top and bottom middle cells removed. Make a cut along the main diagonal and two shorter cuts parallel to this to produce four congruent isosceles right triangles and two odd pentagons.

See Rohrbough in 6.AS.1 for a very different T puzzle.