The Niagara Puzzle, (with File & Compass)

Contributed by Kalani Craig

The Niagara Puzzle, (with File & Compass) Courtesy, The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. For commercial uses, please contact the Lilly Library at 1200 East Seventh Street, Bloomington, Indiana, 47405-5500 or at http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/

About this object

This item is a plastic-encased puzzle that shows a drawing of a waterfall, presumably Niagara Falls (a popular tourist destination as early as the 18th century). Users are asked to get all of the little balls off of a “bank” (a small wooden piece set flat inside the puzzle at the top of the falls) into a “whirlpool”, a hole at the top right corner of the box.

Similar puzzles by the same manufacturer, R. Journet, were sent to British solders imprisoned in Germany during WWI with a hacksaw, a compass and a map hidden inside to facilitate their escape.

Dublin Core

Originating Archive Object

Lilly Library LL-SLO-000630

Subject

Puzzle

Description

This box-shaped puzzle asks the user to aim several small metal balls into a small hole in one corner.

Creator

R. Journet

Contributor

Kalani Craig

Date

circa 1914

Type

Physical Object