History of the Ouija Board
History of the Ouija Board
For as long as I can remember the Ouija board has had a negative connotation around it short of the few clips of it in Charmed. Over the years I've seen 2 sides of this. You are either “They are fine just a tool to be used” or “They are evil and don't use them.” There has never been a middle ground that I have seen.
Ouija boards have a bad rap of they are used to help open a doorway to the other side to speak to spirits but there is a high chance once you open that door you can be manipulated by evil and or have evil things attached to you or you may not be able to close that door once opened.
Because of the connection with spirits, the Ouija board has become a popular item to use during a paranormal investigation.
I have owned a Ouija board on and off for over 15 years. Currently have 3 and will continue to. Years ago one of the first times I ever worked with the board it attracted a spirit. The planchette moved a bit and that was it. Since then I have used the board on multiple occasions none turned out like Hollywood wants you to think. They make a good tool to use with spirits if said spirit has enough energy to actually move the planchette. Not all entities have that much energy and some that do really could care less to work with us. During an investigation, I had a spirit come sit with me and try to move the planchette but was unable to muster the energy it took.
Now with that being said I wanted to put together a bit of history of the Ouija board and perhaps shed some light on it for some. What we call the Ouija board is fairly new there have been talking boards for many years prior to “Ouija” and that is also what we will get into here.
So where did the famous Ouija board come from?
Items much like said Oujia board have been found as far back as 551 BC Ancient China. Automatic writing a form of spiritualism “words are created by spirit and comes through you” is not new. There is mention of Fuji or “planchette writing” dating to around 1100 AD in documents from the Song Dynasty China
These spirit boards were commonplace back then. Believing they could help you talk to a lost loved one. In Roman times there is reference to a pendulum dish with letter on the outer rim being used. There is even a story of 2 people in ancient Rome using a talking board to predict the King's successor.
During 1848 before the official Ouija board there were 2 Sisters Maggie and Kate Fox became quite popular a household name if you will for their abilities of being able receive and decipher messages from spirits via knocks on the wall. This only sparked more public interest in interaction with long-departed people. Slowly but surely this aided in making way for what we know today as Ouija boards.
Spiritualism had been popular for many years in Europe. After all London England holds the earliest known pattern for a talking board in 1854. So it's no surprise it made its way to the US. The Ouija board was viewed as a game some would even go as far as to say the perfect date-night game. During the Victorian era men and women weren’t supposed to be alone much less touch and this “game” brought some excitement to the mix. After all you’re supposed to be down on your knees, close together and fingers touching the planchette. Even the first lady wasn't above “playing” such a game. President Lincoln’s wife Mary. Is said to have held séances in the White House after losing her 11-year-old son to fever in 1862.
Prior to the formal Ouija board, the use of talking boards was so common that by 1886 the news reported them taking over spiritualist camps in Ohio.
During times of meaningless loss of life and uncertainty like the Civil War, World War, and great depression spiritualism rose in popularity as did talking boards. In 1944 for a 5-month time span, a single store in NY sold 50k boards. Then during 1967 when more troops were sent to Vietnam. It seems for every tragedy there is a huge spike in spirit boards. At one point even outsold Monopoly.
In 1886 Kennard's business in Cheastertown MD went a wee bit belly up and at that time he shared a hallway with a gentleman named Reiche. Well, Reiche had an interesting backstory including being a coffin maker but was known for being a tinker also. So Kennard drafted his help. The 2 made several porotypes of talking boards during this But wasn't until Kannard moved to Baltimore that things got a wee bit more serious.
After Kennard pitched his talking board numerous times a man by the name Elijah Bond took an interest. He was a lawyer and claimed his sister-in-law (Helen Peters) to be a medium. Soon enough Kennard Novelty Company, started putting out talking boards better known today as Ouija boards. The US patent office was quite skeptical but in 1890 after the 3 claim to have held seance, Helen was able to win them over. Was that mediumship or a woman's charm? I'll let you decide. Not only did Miss Helen get the patene office to agree to the patene she claims the board itself told her its name. “Ouija”, means “good luck” but In reality, ouija was written on a necklace the lass was wearing at the time. According to the Guardian “The building where Peters named the board is now a 7-11 convenience store, which has a plaque commemorating the event on the wall.” 529 N. Charles Street.
By 1891 there was trouble in Paradise, (Insert new name) William Fuld, he worked for but more importantly he invested in Kannard Novelty Company and ended up buying it out or depending on the source stole it. Once he acquired its patent he even had advertisements in the Sears catalog for Oujia! Not just 1 either! Here is a 1911 ad he ran.
He went on to make millions after taking his brother (Isaac) out of the company. Isaac tried to continue to make Ouija boards, but there was a huge lawsuit and in 1901 a judge ruled in Williams's favor. However, Issac wasn't letting it go so easily and after a 19-year court battle, he still lost. The whole mess caused a huge split down the family and the 2 sides went 96 years not speaking.
William made quite a sum of money over the years before his accident. In 1919s issue of the Baltimore sun William had said the Ouija board had told him to build his Harfor Ave factory and that is where his demise happened in early 1927. While overseeing a flag being put up he fell off the roof. Interestingly enough the factory still stands and is now a senior apartment complex. Williams's last wish for his family was to not sell the Oujia brand. To manys surprise they held that wish for 4 decades. And that my readers is where the well-known Parker Brothers comes in. In 1966 Parker Brothers bout out the Willaims Fuld family. Which later (1991) was bout out by Hasbro.
After the brothers purchased the manufacturing moved to the home of the famous witch trials of Salem MA and In 1967 the first year they sold 2 million boards.
It wasn't until 1973 with the movie The Exorcist where a girl is portrayed as getting possessed after playing with an Oujia board it got its scary name. Which is quite interesting since the first appearance of “Ouija board” in a movie comes from a 1944 movie called The Uninvited but that didn't have the same effect as The Exorcist. That movie (the exorcist) scared the daylights out of people It didn’t help that a few years prior in 1966 Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan and you had people like John Todd and David Hanson who began to plant ideas that evil witchy cults run the world as well as fear from the late 1960s cult murder and the Zodiac and Alphabet killers and like easily molded clay society quickly changed its stance on the Ouija board.
In 2009 after 100s of years of use Darren Evans came on the scene claiming a demon “Zozo” is behind the Oujia board. And once again caused mass hysteria.
Leave it to Hollywood to turn the tables. Because of this things will never be the same for this board. Since 1973 hollywood has used the Ouija board in more than 20 films and countless paranormal-themed TV shows. In 2014 with the movie Ouija. The movie did so well and once again there was a spike in Ouija board sales there were yet again petitions made by evangelical Christian groups to ban the Ouija board.
There has been Research and experiments have pointed to the moving of the planchette by itself is the phenomenon of what is called Ideometer effect. Some would say just like automatic writing. Some scientists say it's a way of tapping into parts of our mind. Spirituals would say it's tapping into our higher self.
So whether it be something scientifically explained, some supernatural phenomenon or actual spirits from the other side talking to you. That is an opinion you will have to form for yourself.
Now for some folklore and “rules” of playing with an Ouija board.
These come up all the time in pagan groups and of course, in some of my research but in reality in my opinion it is a board. It is a tool that might help some connect to spirit.
Never play alone
Always say goodbye
Never ask when you’ll die
Always cleanse the board and space before and after use
Store in a dark place
Always make sure you have protection when using the board
Don't use it in your home
Don't use it if you fear it.
When working with spirits or dealing with the supernatural one advice I give is DO NOT DO IT if you are afraid of it whether that be a Ouija board or anything else supernatural.
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