Ouija Board Origins

History and Development

The history of the Ouija board isn't straightforward, there are various different theories.

The basic concepts behind the Ouija Board - a "talking board" for psychics or spiritualists - have been around for many centuries. However the first modern Ouija Boards came into being on the back of the spiritualism boom of the late nineteenth century.

Many mediums during that period undertook "automatic writing" whereby a message was written down by them, purportedly under the direction of a spirit.

Ouija Board:
Glow-in-the-Dark

The Planchette

An early forerunner of the Ouija Board was, so legend has it, invented in the 1850s by a Frenchman by the name of Planchette. This talking board was a small wooden table with pencils attached that wrote as it moved. Some people have cast doubt on the origin of this device, not least because the name "Planchette" (which means "little plank") seems too good to be true.

Who Invented the Ouija Board?

The first real Ouija board was invented towards the end of the nineteenth century. There is considerable disagreement as to who actually invented it - names mentioned include Elijah Bond, E.C. Reiche and Charles Kennard. The first patent for the new form of talking board was filed in 1890 and listed Elijah Bond as the inventor with Charles W. Kennard and William H. A. Maupin as assignees.

Charles Kennard and associates formed the Kennard Novelty Company and began to produce and sell Ouija Boards commercially.

In 1966 the rights to Ouija Board production were sold to Parker Brothers who retain them to this day. It is interesting - if slightly depressing - to think that what began as a tool for spiritualists, psychics and mediums you can today buy over the net as a glow-in-the-dark children's toy.