The Ouija Board

In the year 1848, something unusual happened in a Hydesville, New York cabin. Two sisters, Kate and Margaret Fox, contacted the spirit of a dead peddler, became instant celebrities and sparked an obsession that spread across the United States and Europe. It was the birth of modern Spiritualism.

It seemed the world was ripe for communication with the dead. Spiritualist churches sprang up everywhere and people able to talk to spirits were in great demand. These mediums invented a variety of interesting ways to communicate with the spirit world. Table turning (tilting) was one of these.

The medium and sitters would rest their fingers lightly on a table and wait for spiritual contact. Soon the table would tilt and move and knock on the floor to letters called from the alphabet. Entire messages from the spirits were spelled out in this way.

The Ouija Board is also known as the talking board or witch board. It can be a controversial tool when used to contact the dead. It can prove useful to contact spirits who once lived in a property but has also been seen to attract evil entities. The Ouija Board became popular between 1890 and 1950 in the United States and throughout Europe. It was said to be a game. Different versions of the board were introduced by manufacturers. Each manufacturer claimed their board to be the best and each suggested that the Ouija was a portal to the spirit world. The Ouija board was capable of putting one in touch with the dead of all ages. In 1892 William Fuld became the owner and president of the Kennard Novelty Company, who had developed the final form of the talking board. He renamed it the Ouija Novelty Company. Fuld was an enthusiastic promoter. He claimed that he had invented and named the board.

Capitalizing on public fascination with the exotic and mysterious Far East, Fuld declared that Ouija was the Egyptian word for good luck. It's more likely that he derived the name from the Moroccan city of Ouija. Mr. Fuld died under mysterious circumstances as he fell off a factory roof whilst doing repairs. Some said it was suicide but the mystery surrounding his death was never solved.

The Ouija Board is not difficult to use and requires two or more people to sit around a table facing a rectangular board with a row of curved letters from the alphabet. These can be written out on loose pieces of paper and placed in a circular pattern around the table. Below that it another row is added showing numbers from 1 to 0. It is also traditional that the words ‘Yes’, ‘No’

and ‘Goodbye’ should take precedence at the bottom of the board. A tumbler or glass is also required at the centre of the table. It is advisable to say a short prayer before attempting to contact the spirits as a means of psychic protection against evil entities. The Ouija board has inspired its own body of superstitions and legends. Most of the superstitions relate to ways to make sure that evil spirits can't make use of the board to enter our world and create mischief. Placing a silver coin on the board is supposed to prevent spirits from coming through but if you don't have a silver coin there are other things you can do. Never use the board in a cemetery or any place where a murder or other unnatural death has occurred. Never use it when you are sick as evil spirits can take possession of anyone who is in a weakened condition. Other precautions are: never play alone, don't let the glass fall off the board and don't allow it to go straight through the numbers or the alphabet as these provide a direct path for the spirit's release. If the planchette makes a figure eight several times or goes to the four corners of the board you have contacted an evil spirit and should turn the glass upside down to use it.

People around the table have to place their fore-finger on top of the upturned glass. The energy from the living people around the table may attract spirits of people beyond the grave. One person asks if there are any spirits present in the room and invites them to communicate using the energy from the glass. When a spirit person is present, the glass should move from letter to letter to spell out their name or to give answers to questions that are being asked. The spirit may spell out messages or only to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to questions. When you feel that the spirits have left the atmosphere remember to close the session with a prayer of protection to disburse all evil.

There were those who felt they should use the right equipment if they were going to contact the spirit world correctly. These individuals built alphanumeric gadgets and odd-looking table contraptions with moving needles and letter wheels. These early machines were over engineered. Called dial plate instruments or psychographs a few of these devices appeared on the marketplace under various names.

American and European toy companies actively advertised the planchette which made it very popular but virtually ignored the dial-plates. This was probably because planchettes were easier to make and market cheaply as novelties. Both took a back seat in 1886 when a new "talking board" sensation hit the newsstands. It was mentioned on March 28th 1886 in the Sunday supplement of the New York Tribune. The story spread rapidly across the country.

"The 'yes' and the 'no' are to start and stop the conversation. The 'good-evening' and 'good-night' are for courtesy. A little table three or four inches high is prepared with four legs. You can make the whole apparatus in fifteen minutes with a jack-knife and a marking brush. Take the board in your lap and have another person sitting down with you. Each grasps the little table with the thumb and forefinger at each corner next to you. Then ask if there any communications?' Pretty soon you think the other person is pushing the table. They think you are but the table moves around to 'yes' or 'no.' Continue asking questions and the answers are spelled out by the legs of the table resting on the letters one after the other. Sometimes the table will cover two letters with its feet. Ask that the table be moved from the wrong letter.

All this was amazing because this new message board was simple to make and did not require understanding, skill or mediumistic training. When the message indicator moved by itself from letter to letter to spell out a message it looked magical. It didn't take long before interested parties filed a patent for a device similar to the "new planchette." This first patent was filed on May 28th 1890 and was granted on February 10 1891. It listed Elijah J. Bond as the inventor and the assignees as Charles W. Kennard and William H. A. Maupin, all from Baltimore, Maryland. Whether Bond or his Baltimore cronies actually invented anything or took advantage of an existing craze using their own design is open to debate. There is no doubt they were the first to market the board as a novelty. Charles Kennard called the new board Ouija (pronounced wE-ja) after the Egyptian word for good luck. Ouija is not Egyptian for good luck but he claims the board told him it was during a session so the name stuck. It is more likely that the name came from the fabled Moroccan city Oujda (also spelled Oujida and Oudjda). This would seem logical given the period's fondness for Middle Eastern cites and the psychic miracles of the Fakirs. Charles Kennard and his business partners came together as the Kennard Novelty Company and began producing the first commercial line of Ouija or Egyptian luck-boards.

Charles Kennard was not in the Ouija business for long. Kennard's partners were unhappy with the way things were going so he withdrew his authorization to produce the Ouija board after fourteen months. The firm continued for nine years under corporate control as the Ouija Novelty Company. They appointed an employee, William Fuld as manufacturer in 1901. William Fuld is the one remembered as the father of the Ouija board. Charles Kennard remained marginally in the toy business and produced and patented other talking boards but he is largely forgotten today.

William Fuld went in to business with his brother and business partner Isaac and manufactured Ouija boards in record numbers. This business partnership did not last. After a bitter dispute, Isaac was ousted from the company. This ended the union and created a family rift that lasted for generations. Isaac went on to produce and sell Ouija facsimiles, called Oriole talking boards, pool and smoking tables out of his home workshop. Ouija Novelty continued to collect revenues on the Ouija name. In 1919 the remaining patent rights were handed over to William Fuld who became the most successful Ouija manufacturer of his time. He sold millions of Ouija boards, toys and other games and kept a job as a US customs inspector. Later he became a member of Baltimore's General Assembly.

One of William Fuld's first public relations gimmicks was to reinvent the history of the talking board. He said that he had invented the board and that the name Ouija was a fusion of the French word "oui" for yes, and the German "ja" for yes. He also made other unlikely claims. He may have thought apocryphal tales were a fun way to sell Ouija boards and to poke fun at the gullible press.

For twenty-five years William Fuld ran the company through good times and bad. In February 1927 he climbed to the roof of his Harford Street factory in Baltimore to supervise the replacement of a flagpole. A support post that he was holding gave way and he fell backwards to his death. Following his death, William's children took over and marketed many interesting Ouija versions of their own. These included the rare and marvellous Art Deco Electric Mystifying Oracle. In 1966, they retired and sold the business to Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers produced an accurate Fuld reproduction and briefly made a Deluxe Wooden Edition Ouija. They own all trademarks and patents to this day.

Almost from the beginning, William Fuld's Ouija board competed with fierce competition from other toy makers. Everyone wanted to make a variation of the Wonderful Talking Board. Ouija imitations with names like "The Wireless Messenger" and I Do Psycho Ideograph entered the market. Some companies, like J.M. Simmons and Morton E. Converse & Son used the Ouija name and the identical board layout. Fuld responded with legal threats and marketed a second, less expensive talking board, the Mystifying Oracle. The 1940s saw an artistic and colourful talking boards coming onto the market. Other major players were two Chicago novelty companies, Gift Craft and Lee Industries.

Today there are companies who produce many different variants of the talking board. Many designs reflect current trends in New Age sentiment. Some of these designs are simple letter boards while others are of astrological and Tarot symbolism. With a few exceptions, manufacturing costs limit these boards to the folding cardboard variety. In early 1999, Parker Brothers stopped manufacturing the classic Fuld Ouija board and switched to a smaller less detailed glow in the dark version.

The history of the Talking or Spirit Board began before Mr. Fuld patented the idea. Though Mr. Fuld may have believed his idea was an original one this type of tool had been in use for at least 2,500 years. No single person or culture can take complete credit for its development. The talking boards origins are multiple and ancient. They have been reinvented and rediscovered in a great many locations.

In China, centuries before the birth of Confucius, the use of instruments like the Talking board was common. It was considered a non-threatening way to communicate with the spirits of the deceased.

In Greece, the philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras (ca 550 B.C.) encouraged his disciples to use a Talking Board like instrument to unearth revelations. The participants gathered in a circle around a mystic table that moved on wheels. The table sat on top of a stone slab on which signs were inscribed.

In Rome, such instruments were popular as early as the third century A.D. In one case, three experimenters predicted the name of the person who would succeed the reigning emperor. The three were tried for treason and Theodosius, the soldier named as successor by the board was executed. In 13th century Tartary, the Mongols used Talking board type instruments for divination and instructions. In North America, long before Columbus' arrival, native Indians used instruments like talking boards to locate lost articles and missing people.

The board had symbols instead of alphabet letters on it. They also transmitted information as to when and how certain religious ceremonies should be performed. In France, the planchette appeared during the 1850s. Beyond this the accounts are conflicting and suggest spontaneous generation in many different quarters. One investigator reports emphatically that in 1853, French spiritualist, M. Planchette, invented this instrument. This seems a coincidence considering the fact that planchette is a common French word meaning "little board." Other accounts of the period stick to 1853 as the year of discovery but say the Germans discovered this phenomenon. One reporter insists that a German milkmaid held a pencil gripped in a pair of scissors at arm's length and found that the pencil began to write on a conveniently nearby piece of paper.

A French explorer returning from China in 1843 reported one practice so common that every household did it. A table or smooth floor was sprinkled evenly with bran or flour. Two people then sat at opposite sides of the powdered area holding a small basket between them. A reed or chopstick was fastened to the basket so that its point rested in the flour. The spirits were invoked by the observers and the basket moved about. The trailing chopstick would spell out messages or make signs and pictures the group could interpret. By the 1850s table-rapping and levitation was common among Spiritualist. Table-rapping has a long history going back at least to the thirteenth century Mongols.

The planchette first surfaced in the nunneries and monasteries of France. The little board's use was so widespread among the monks and nuns that in 1856 the Bishop of Paris issued a pastoral letter forbidding the planchette's use among the clergy. All this activity remained as something of a sideshow in Spiritualism and psychic phenomena in Britain, France and the United States. Dramatic mysteries had taken hold of the public imagination. It took American capitalism to bring the possibility of personal psychic experience into every home and made the planchette popular.

The Planchette was a small table with three legs. Two legs were castors and the remaining leg was a pencil stuck through a small hole at the front. As the pencil was one of the planchette's legs it couldn't lift off the paper between words. The resultant continuous line of letters often crossed out when the planchette moved from the end of one line to the beginning of the next and sometimes couldn’t be deciphered. The dial-planchette became a popular improvement.

The dial-planchette was like a roulette wheel. It was a circular board with a pointer attached at the centre. Around the outside of the circle the letters of the alphabet, numbers, yes, no, goodbye and don't know were printed. The participants placed their fingers on the pointer. The pointer then travelled the circumference of the circle easily on ball bearings or rollers, stopping on the chosen letters of its message. With someone present to write down the words spelled, this device was as fast as the planchette and completely legible.

This nineteenth-century invention is one of the more complicated forerunners of the Talking Board. A pulley is attached at one end to a cylinder at the bottom of the table leg and at the other end to a pointer in the centre of a round alphabet-marked board. The medium places their hands on the table and spirits begin to move the table about. This causes the cylinder on the table leg to roll, the pulley turns the pointer and letters are spelled out. The alphabet board is mounted with its back to the medium so that they can't see the words as they're spelled.

The exact origin of the talking board in nineteenth century Europe is another mystery. The trademark Ouijar, a combination of "yes" in French and in German, suggests an association with those two countries, but no one really knows. The apparatus itself is so simple and ancient an idea that it seems likely it would have evolved naturally from the planchette and dial-planchette, perhaps first appearing in several different places at about the same time. Once again, though, it took the acquisitive American spirit to popularize the idea on a wide scale.

Around 1886, people began modifying the planchette. They removed the pencil and set the planchette on top of a message board printed with all the letters of the alphabet, the numbers one through ten, the words "yes" and "no," and the phrases "good evening" and "good night." Players would place their fingers on the planchette and permitted spirits to move it around the board to spell out words or dates. The spirits could answer yes or no questions. "Good evening" and "good bye" were for courtesy (the Victorian inventors didn't want to anger the spirits with bad manners).

The earliest known patent for a talking board in the patent offices in London, England was by Adolphus Theodore Wagner. Wagner was a professor of music and resident of Berlin of the Kingdom of Prussia. Wagner described his device as a “psychograph for indicating a person’s thoughts through nervous electricity on January 23, 1854. This patent goes on to describe the device and identify it as a talking board.

The apparatus consists of a combination of rods or pieces of wood joined so that all parts are free to move. From one of the legs hangs a tracer. On one or more of the other legs is a fixed disc where the operator places their hand. From this extremity or these extremities hangs another tracer. The other parts consist of a glass slab or other non-conductor, an alphabet and a set of figures or numerals. A person possessing nervous electricity placing his hand upon one of the discs will make the instrument work immediately. The tracer will spell using the alphabet what is passing through the operator’s mind.”

Various instruments have been devised in order to keep spirit communications independent of the medium’s mind. One of these is a form of dial-plate. The letters of the alphabet are ranged like those on the dial of the electric telegraph. This consists of a moveable needle set in motion through the medium’s influence. This is done with the help of a conducting thread and pulley and points out the letters.

Another instrument is the one devised by Madame Emile de Girardin. The instrument consists of a little table with a moveable top that was eighteen inches in diameter. It turned freely on an axle. On its edge are traced the letters of the alphabet, numbers and the words “yes” and “no.” In the centre is a fixed needle. The medium places their fingers on this table which turns and stops when the letters are brought up under the needle. The letters indicated were written down one after the other and words and phrases are obtained often very quickly.

It should be noted that the top of the little table does not turn round under the fingers. The fingers remain in their place and follow the movement of the table. A powerful medium might obtain an independent movement.

WARNING! PLEASE DO NOT USE THE QUIJA BOARD IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE IT. GET SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO USE IT