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:
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 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 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
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.
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.
(second half of the figure from Puzzles Old And New, Copyright 1986, page 28)
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