History of the Ouija Board • 9
and Pythagoras used talking boards. And before talking boards came to be, planchettes existed on their own. Perhaps based on ancient Chinese fuji, these devices came to find renewed use in America during the Spiritualist movement. After Spiritualist Churches and famous mediums began to bring channeling into the public eye, a less organized movement began in nineteenth-century homes all over the country. People started using planchettes to produce evidence of the spirit world themselves, right in their own homes without the use of a Spiritualist medium. Later, in order to make the movements of the planchette more meaningful, homemade talking boards were crafted for the planchettes so the spirits would be able to deliver messages more precisely. Like the Ouija board, most talking boards contain all of the letters of the alphabet, the numbers zero through nine, and a simple “yes” and “no” printed upon them. Talking boards can be made of paper, wood, or even stone. Like the Ouija board, a planchette pointer is used with a light touch to spell out messages. Unlike the Ouija board, however, talking boards can be any shape, not just rectangular. The planchette can also vary in construction materials and shape, although the method of use remains the same.
Invention of the Ouija Board It wasn’t long before somebody thought to patent and mass produce a talking board. Attorney and inventor Elijah Bond got together with businessman Charles Kennard to draft the idea. On February 10, 1891, the Ouija board was issued U. S. Patent number 446,054. The first explanation for the board’s