#1: Kennard Novelty Company
This is THE Ouija board that started it all from Kennard Novelty Company. It was assembled of five separate boards joined side by side and braced by two vertical slats on the back. Stamped on the reverse side is the patent date: Feb 10th 1891.
#2: MYSTIC TRAY- Haskelite Manufacturing
Serve "spirits" on this beautiful Haskelite Tray. What would your guests think? In the lower left corner is the Old Hag from Walt Disney's Snow White. Now you know why they called Ouijas witchboards.
#3: OUIJA- William Fuld
This Ouija design, first introduced in the late 1930's by William Fuld, is the standard for all current Parker Brothers boards today.
#4: OUIJA- Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers made three boards in the late 1960's. The standard edition was similar to the board sold up until 1999. A second larger edition allowed two people to operate the Ouija more comfortably. The third edition was this special Deluxe Wooden Edition with its lovely golden finish. It came with a wood planchette.
#5: OUIJA- J.M. Simmons
What's this? A Nazi Ouija board? Things seem a bit confused with the Mogen David on one side and the swastika on the other. Prior to World War Two, the swastika was a popular good luck symbol appearing on everything from postcards to lucky coins. There was no connection to the Third Reich whatsoever.
#6: OUIJA QUEEN- American Novelty Company
If the brown Ouija Queen was too plain for your tastes, there was always this colorful blue and yellow one. A variant of this board with white across the center was also available.
#7: YOGEE- Lee Industries
It glows in the dark! Turn out the lights; grab a partner, no candles required. They didn't come any more lurid than this. Absolutely guaranteed to bring two people closer together.
#8: I-D-O PSY-CHO-I-D-E-O-GRAPH- Theodore H. White
Why stick to numbers and letters when you can add sixty other symbols as well? Maybe your Medimestic Indian Guide (see tepee, upper left corner) can tell you. A picture is worth a thousand words. Isn't it?
#9: Espirito- W.S. Reed Toy Company
Following quickly on the success of the Ouija board was this Espirito board from W.S. Reed Toy Company. Unfortunately, the board only lasted a year. "We could not compete with the widely-known and wonderful Ouija." Reed said, by way of explanation.
#10: MYSTIC GENII BOARD- Zolar Enterprises, Inc.
The Mystic Genii Board could probably be described as the "better mouse trap" of talking boards. Not only was it a conventional talking board, but the planchette could be converted by the simple attachment of a special ball point pen cartridge into a standalone message writer.
#11: TALKING BOARD- A Barrel of Fun
Why worry about product liability? This manufacturer must have had a good reason for not printing any information on the packaging. They also made the We-ja Girl and Crystal Gazer.
#12: Ka-bala- Transogram Company Inc.
This place will give you the shivers. It was abandoned after Katrina, and was never reopened or finished. Some say that many people died there during the construction and that's why it hasn't been reopened or finished.
#13: ZIRIYA- Ziriya Creative Arts Associates
At a loss for words? Then this is the one for you. Few boards capture the imagination like the Ziriya Message Board. Maybe it's the design, the color scheme, or the claim printed right on the board that: Ziriya will be what you want it to be.
#14: MITCHE MANITOU- Wilder Manufacturing Company
This is obviously a Fuld clone circa 1920 but at least it has an interesting and user friendly letter and number design. As everyone knows, Mitche Manitou is the Native American (Algonquin) spirit guide who will answer all your questions. What? You didn't know that?
#15: FINGER OF FATE- Colorforms
Ultra bizarre! Sitters place their fingertips on the rim of the sphere and the pointer takes over, spelling out the messages from the spirits. Bold in concept, the actual contraption leaves a lot to be desired because the finger pointer is so twitchy that it takes forever to spell out a word, much less a full sentence. It gets high marks for originality, though.
