Newspapers and magazines often held puzzle contests to exercise the mind, with a reward at the end. Puzzles were part of the patent insides industry.
Nobody ever imagined that a puzzle contest would inspire one magnificent unknown artist to create an entirely new artform and then demonstrate it with a category-killing masterpiece!
In 1929 the Minneapolis Tribune held a crossword puzzle contest consisting of 28 puzzles to be solved over a period of months. Mabel Gardner submitted her answers on a pair of white crepe de chine pajamas embellished with each of the 28 fully solved puzzles embroidered in black silk thread.
Mrs. Gardner worked from 10 to 14 hours every day from the day the contest opened in June until 10 p.m. Thursday night to solve the puzzles and make the pajamas, she said. When she was done she had used 1,000 yards of silk thread for the letters, edging and the like, and 40 yards of skein thread for filling in the black squares. The contest also included a 50 word essay, which Gardner embroidered in poem form on a matching white handkerchief.
When an entire artform can’t possibly be reproduced, it’s above and beyond copyright laws.
Polistra's Mill 