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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Franklin Roosevelt Jigsaw Puzzle
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Franklin Roosevelt Jigsaw Puzzle

Object numberMO 1952.429
Name Puzzle, Jigsaw
Maker (American, born c. 1915)
Photographer (American, 1901 - 1982)
Publisher
Date1933
Mediumpaper adhered to cardstock
Dimensionsoverall H 12 1/8 in x W 10 1/4 in (30.8 cm x 26 cm )
DescriptionA jigsaw puzzle made from a newspaper photograph featuring a rotogravure color portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The 1932 image depicts FDR, while serving as Governor of New York, at his desk in Albany, New York. FDR is wearing a light gray suit and is seated in a large, high-backed red chair at a desk. Printed along the bottom of the image is text that reads: (EXCLUSIVE MIRROR COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY). A newspaper caption printed below the image reads: "HUMANITY, WITH ALL ITS FEARS, WITH ALL THE HOPE OF FUTURE YEARS, IS HANGING BREATHLESS ON THY FATE!" / Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States by the Will of Its People and with Their Prayers that the Divine Hand Guide Him.

The puzzle comes in a cardboard folder on the cover of which is a handwritten note in ink that reads: Compliments / From 18 yrs Old / Joseph Prendergast / 613 Wyoming St. / Dayton Ohio.
Label TextAmerica experienced a mania for jigsaw puzzles during the Great Depression. The craze peaked in early 1933, when sales reached an astounding ten million per week.

Cheap and accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds, jigsaw puzzles offered a welcome distraction from troubled times. Home amusements like these were an inexpensive family pastime.

Depression-era jigsaw puzzles cover a wide range of subjects, including political figures like FDR. This puzzle, created from a newspaper photograph of FDR, was sent to FDR in March 1933 by Joseph Prendergast of Dayton, Ohio. A facsimile of this puzzle is on display in the ROOSEVELT IN POP CULTURE exhibit in the Museum’s NEW DEAL gallery.
Additional Details
Credit LineEstate of Franklin D. Roosevelt
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesPortraits (National Archives Identifier 778816)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
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