Richter Numbered Puzzles Summary
The manufacture for the Richter Anchor Puzzles began in the 1890's, where the puzzles numbered above 17 were made in the World War I era. The 1893 Hoffmann book describes the Anchor, Circular, Cross, Pythagoras, and Tormentor puzzles (and also the Star Puzzle). A history of the Richter puzzles is presented in The Anchor Puzzle Book by Jerry Slocum (see also the Slocum and Botermans books). The puzzle boxes were made with a variety of cover art (see the following page), although the stone pieces, made with the Richter Co. patented process, are the same. Perhaps what made these puzzles so popular were the fun booklets that came with them, giving a host of shapes to make.

Here is a booklet that came with the Anchor Puzzle, and also a corresponding solution booklet that one could purchase by mail:



Generally, booklets have more or less the same cover art as the box top, but not always. For example, on the left and middle are booklets for versions of the Tormentor and Cross Puzzle that look very different from the corresponding box top, and on the right is a booklet for a version of the Anchor Puzzle that has blank covers (and nothing inside besides the problem figures):



Here are two examples of additional work booklets that came with the Anchor and Lightning Conductor puzzles:


Examples of Different Richter Box Styles
Some box themes were highly regular; here are some examples (the last one in the first row is used on boxes numbered above 17, and the others for 17 and below, where the last three in the second row are dated in the The Anchor Puzzle Book as relatively late versions first made in 1922, 1925, and 1932 respectively):





Other themes used fun graphics (e.g., people thinking, specialized graphics, cartoons); here are some examples (all used on puzzles numbered 17 and below):








Richter Anchor Puzzle Shapes 1 - 17

Richter 1
The Nine

Richter 2
Lightning Conductor

Richter 3
Egg Of Columbus

Richter 4
Patience Prover

Richter 5
Trouble Killer

Richter 6
Heart Puzzle

Richter 7
Kobold

Richter 8
Anchor Puzzle

Richter 9
Circular Puzzle

Richter 10
"Cross Puzzle"

Richter 11
Not Too Hasty

Richter 12
Pythagoras

Richter 13
Tormentor

Richter 14
Be Quiet

Richter 15
Sphinx

Richter 16
Magic Egg

Richter 17
Wrath Breaker

Richter Anchor Puzzle Shapes 18-36

Richter 18
Archimedes

Richter 19
Ende Gut, Alles Gut

Richter 20
Pass Auf

Richter 21
Eile mit Weile

Richter 22
Sorenbrecher

Richter 23
Kopernikus

Richter 24
Pyramide

Richter 25
Nur Mut

Richter 26
Bose Siben

Richter 27
Ritze Ratze

Richter 28
Frisch Gewagt

Richter 29
Zeitvertreiber

Richter 30
Zeppelin

Richter 31
Kiebitz-Ei

Richter 32
Wer Wegt Gewinnt

Richter 33
Fur Kluge Leute

Richter 34
Hexenmeister

Richter 35
Teufeldien

Richter 36
Heureka

Shapes Shown In An Old Richter Brochure
Here are pages from an old Richter Brochure (courtesy of Jerry Slocum, Puzzles Old And New, Copyright 1986, page 28); see also The Anchor Puzzle Book by Jerry Slocum.



Shapes Used To Make The 36 Richter Anchor Puzzles
Here (and on the following page) are the shapes used to make the 36 Richter Anchor Puzzles (courtesy of Jerry Slocum, Puzzles Old And New, Copyright 1986, page 28); see also The Anchor Puzzle Book by Jerry Slocum.


Shapes Used To Make The 36 Richter Puzzles, Continued
(second half of the figure from Puzzles Old And New, Copyright 1986, page 28)


Further Reading
The Anchor Puzzle Book, from: http://www.SlocumPuzzles.com
Richter Company U.S. Brochure, from: http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~storer/JimPuzzles/ZPAGES/zzzRichterBrochure.html
Anker Page, from: http://www.ankerstein.org
Richter History, from: http://www.ankerstein.org/html/CO.HTM
Wikipedia Tangram Page, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangram
Rubiks.com Double Tangram booklet, from: http://www.rubiks.com/World/Rubiks%20downloads.aspx
Rob's Tangram Page, from: http://home.comcast.net/~stegmann/tangram.htm
Slocum Database, from: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/images/search.htm?scope=lilly/slocum