Mystery Puzzle History: The Progenitor Age: Cipher Stories Puzzle Book

Cipher Stories Puzzle Book is a collection of 25 unrelated short story puzzles that all use a similar mechanism to solve.  It was first printed on February 28, 1928, published by Lewis Copeland Co. (1)

 It was written by Kenneth S. Cooper and Illustrated by Olin Wakefield.  We cannot find any other works by either man at this point, so must think this was their first and only book, or that they were pseudonyms of others at this time that may not have wanted to be associated with this genre.   

The short story puzzles are also called Cipher Stories and are actual stories that reach a point where a Transposition Cipher must be solved in order to progress.  To solve the bigger puzzles, the reader must first learn the key in a mini puzzle which is based on a hint in the story itself.  Most stories have two puzzles and have clues to assist you in solving them.  

The primary cipher to solve is generally set up to look like a crossword puzzle in layout (boxes with numbers in them).  A clue in the story can be filled into the "key" puzzle.  From there you can fill in the known letters from the key puzzle into the main puzzle to get the solution and finish the story.  (Mind you, you could just brute force the whole puzzle...but that is less fun...this is designed as a more casual introduction to ciphers and is meant to be fun versus a tough challenge).

The preface does a really nice job of walking the reader through how to do this type of cipher, and provides tips on how to do a few minor variants should they be met.  This is a fun type of cipher that gives the brain enough challenge by figuring words based on having a few letters to fill in and play around with, without being mentally taxing.  It hits a nice "fun zone" in puzzle games, but is definitely on the easier side, especially as we compare it to today's Mystery Puzzle Games. 

The artwork by Olin Wakefield is very cute throughout!  Below is a sample page with a keyword mini puzzle, and one of the two full puzzles.  The artwork is similar throughout and is enjoyable to look at.

The first mention of this book our research has found is in the March 10th, 1928 issue of The Publisher's Weekly.

This books seems to not have made a large impact anywhere, as evidenced by the lack of much information on it, articles about it, or modern reprints.  However, it was included in the "Bibliography of cryptography; a catalog of books pertaining to the science of codes and ciphers, compiled by James D. Volts." This being a list of the author's attempt to list every published work ever that dealt with cryptography (in 1938)!

By 1929 it was still in print, as evidenced by this ad in Popular Mechanics July issue (2):

And an ad in The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) on 15 May 1930):

There is also one reference to it being put into a local library...but that is about it.  So why does it fit into the history of Mystery Puzzle Games?  It really is an early example of moving beyond the popular puzzle books of the day (mainly crosswords) and including narrative and a little but of mystery into the puzzle game.  It is one of the earliest books that contains elements of story, puzzle, and mystery.  It also leans into cryptography in general with a little history and instruction on the topic.

Overall, this is a fun little book that tried to push the boundaries on the puzzle-books of the day through story and cryptography.  It would appear not to be an influence on any future books, but does hint at the future of puzzle books of even the modern day that may contain 1-2 page puzzles to solve, usually through a variety of puzzle methods and often an overarching story or theme...whereas this book has, instead, an overarching puzzle style.  This isn't meant to be a "solve it in one session" type experience, but more to be a casual game you play when you have time (similar to many modern puzzle books).

This book came at a time of major growth in the puzzle market and seems to be one branch on the tree towards the modern Mystery Puzzle Game--a branch of self-described "cipher stories" that seems to have died on the vine (there appear to be no sequels or spiritual direct descendants), but was still on the path to the modern Mystery Puzzle Game.  

To purchase this book, you can sometimes find a copy here:  Cipher Stories Puzzle Book

1. Cooper, K. S., & Wakefield, O. (1928). Cipher stories puzzle book: Consisting of twenty-five original short stories, dealing with life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; each story containing at least two vital cipher puzzles.
2. Popular Mechanics.  Jul 1929. 312 pages.  Vol. 52, No. 1. p70.
3. Volts, J. D. (1938). Bibliography of cryptography: a catalog of books pertaining to the science of codes and cyphers. Cincinnati.