About

PAR Puzzles, as seen in the New York Times, LIFE Magazine, CBS, ABC, the Wall Street Journal and Newsday, makes one-of-a-kind, custom, hand-cut wooden jigsaw puzzles.  Started during the Great Depression, John Henriques and Frank Ware were young creatives that became engrossed in the idea of interlocking wooden jigsaw puzzles designed for the rich and famous. They were early angel investors in Bob Fosse and the theater productions he would create, and knew countless celebrities which commissioned puzzles to be showcased in the homes of Gold Coast steel barons and financial tycoons like Carnegie and Rockefeller. A PAR Puzzle was put together in Hearst Castle when visitors would come stay the weekend.

A perfect gift idea - you suggest a theme and let us design a special puzzle and surprise you.  Commission a puzzle from personal photographs you email us or a favorite art print you love, and let us do the rest.  Par Custom Creations come without a picture on the box, and a difficult PAR Time!! Go ahead and try and beat PAR TIME.  Marilyn Monroe and Buster Keaton both failed to meet PAR TIME....so did Henry and Clare Booth Luce.  Now, the Duke & Duchess of Windsor, they beat it, once....

John and Justin Madden are Par's current designers and cutters...a tradition passed down from our Founder's and their apprentice Arthur Gallagher.  John Madden worked alongside Frank Ware and Arthur Gallagher toward the end of Ware’s career. John maintains Par’s unique style in design and still includes their many hand-drawn unique silhouettes; many of which date back to the 1930’s and 1950’s.  PAR Puzzles come disassembled in a black PAR Puzzle box without a picture.   Share with us your tears and jeers on Instagram at @par_puzzles or Facebook, or a good old handwritten note.

Read More on PAR’s History in this wonderful article by Anne Williams, renowned Puzzle Historian:

Making PAR Puzzles for the Rich & Famous

Article: NYTimes 1978 - "A Jigsaw to End All Puzzles"

Article: NYTimes 1966 - "Boom in Jigsaw Puzzles: Three Pieces or Enough to Fill a Billiard Table"

Article: NYTimes 2020 - Soaring Sales for $4,500 Puzzles? In a Lockdown, It All Fits 

Contact

John & Justin Madden

70 Theodore Drive
Coram, NY 11727

justin@parpuzzles.com

+1 516-510-9405