Puzzle box

Puzzle boxes produced for entertainment first appeared in Victorian England in the 19th century[1][2] and as tourist souvenirs in the Interlaken region in Switzerland[3] and in the Hakone region of Japan at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.

[4] Boxes with secret openings appeared as souvenirs at other tourist destinations during the early 20th century, including the Amalfi Coast, Madeira, and Sri Lanka,[5][6] though these were mostly 'one-trick' traditions.

[7] Interest in puzzle boxes subsided during and after the two World Wars.

The art was revived in the 1980s by three pioneers of this genre: Akio Kamei in Japan,[8] Trevor Wood in England, and Frank Chambers in Ireland.

[11] Clive Barker's horror novella The Hellbound Heart (later adapted into a film, Hellraiser, followed by numerous original sequels) centers on the fictional Lemarchand's box, a puzzle box which opens the gates to another dimension when manipulated.