Types of Ouija Boards

Uses

• Ouija boards have long held a reputation for allowing users to converse with spirits using the planchette to move across the board to various letters. The board needs at least two users, and each person must place the tip of one finger on the planchette. Many believe that when the planchette moves in response to questions asked that spirits or demons are moving it. However, many others believe that only the players are doing the moving, perhaps to play pranks on friends. Today, the Ouija board is seen less as a serious occult item and more as a harmless parlor game.

Kennard Novelty Company

• The Kennard Novelty Company distributed the first commercial Ouija boards in 1891. These boards were made of wood and were assembled from five slats that had to be joined side-by-side and braced on the back by two vertical slats. The board set the precedent for Ouija board designs by including all of the letters of the alphabet, the numbers zero through nine, and options for "Yes" and "No" and "Goodbye."

William Fuld Boards

• William Fuld took control of the Ouija Novelty Company in 1898, and his first board was an exact copy of the Kennard Novelty Company design. However, over time he began to experiment with different types of plywood to find a way to avoid warping. He also made the decorative designs of the moon, stars, and sun more prominent than they had been on the Kennard Novelty Company board.

  In 1917 he introduced both a large and smaller variety, and in the late 1930s he produced one made of paper-hardboard. The latter board set the precedent for later Ouija boards made by Parker Brothers.

Parker Brothers Boards

• In 1966 Parker Brothers bought the Ouija Novelty Company and produced a few different types of boards. The standard board was made of paper-hardboard and the decorative designs were changed yet again to make the board seem more appealing. The sun and moon were given mischievous smiles, and in the bottom corners appeared silhouettes of people playing Ouija. Parker Brothers' other editions included a larger board for ease of play, a glow in the dark board and a Deluxe Wooden Edition board with a wooden planchette.