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Research 研究 / Origin of Klotski
The origin of Klotski, the sliding puzzle game, has always been mysterious, and likely remains so in the future. So many legends are involved that, people from quite a few countries are claiming Klotski as invention of their beloved ancients.
Dig into the whole mess to find the truth can be really difficult and possibly fruitless; nonetheless significant spare time have been spent, and here I attempt to dispute various claims and analyze information available on web, possibly giving a conjecture about its true origin in the future.
Most of my research has been written down on English Wikipedia page, thus readers may discover that a large portion of this text is merely repeating what is said in Wikipedia. But just don’t leave yet 
Wikipedia has strict rules, so some claims and facts can’t possibly be shared there, while I can freely express everything within this little space. They are not rants, like what I have written in the past about Chinese claims of Klotski origin [1] [2].
This article is divided into several topics:
- Comparison of various cultural variations
- Refutation of Polish origin, and discussion on where the name ‘Klotski’ comes from
- Refutation of Chinese origin
- Situation in Japan and other places
- Patents and copyrights in Europe and America
I think the puzzle is older in Poland than it’s being given credit for.
I remember as a small child playing with these blocks in the Red Donkey configuration(pre 1968), called Klocki, that belonged to my great grandmother. Her father had made them for her when she was a child. I remember the big one being red, it was stained with beet juice! The little boxes had cute rabbits drawn on them, and the long blocks were green and had leaves on them, and were in a box with a lid that covered the open edge of the inner tray.
I don’t know what happened to the game after she died (I would love to have it today), but I remember thinking the only way to get the beet out of the garden (the big red block) was to eat it, as it was never going to slide out! My Great Grandmother (Babci in Polish) emigrated to America in 1917 (from a place near Katowice in Poland) and died in 1968. The box was carved “1900″ and my GGG-father’s name, “to” and her name, and the Polish words “get the beet out of the garden before the rabbits eat it up”. She was born in 1894, so this is proof it existed, in Poland, as a puzzle, in 1900 at least. That it was known by my great-great grandfather, who was a horse trainer and breeder who never wandered far from home, for him to carve it means it must have been around in Poland before 1900 but I never heard it called anything but Klocki (Blocks) or the beet game. I do wish I knew what happened to it- I have asked older adults in the family and they remember it, but probably one of my cousins took it home with them and it was lost to childhood as “toys” often are.
My Babci said her father told her that had one of these when he was younger (he was born in 1875) and learned how to solve it by watching his father (who died in 1887). She was blind when I knew her (I was born in 1963, she died in 68), and could still solve it by feeling the blocks with her fingers.
Thanks a lot, Tekla. Your account of ancestors’ memories were more than valuable to me, as I would never been able to figure out local wisdoms and untold histories by myself.
Currently the only source of information I can get is web, and it is seriously English dominated; info about Polish is scarce, even there is, I can’t understand them at all. Thus currently I knew nothing beyond the fact that it is patented in England in 1934.
I’ll try to modify the article when deemed fit, as soon as I have some time to sit down and think about it. Again, please accept my speechless thank-you