ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER

Abelman, Frayne, &Schwab

On January 10, 1950 William A. Fuld received a trademark registration for his mystical game board, claiming first use back to 1890:

This first patent for a Ouija board was filed on May 28, 1890 and granted on February 10, 1891. It listed Elijah J. Bond as the inventor and the assignees as Charles W. Kennard and William H. A. Maupin, all from Baltimore, Maryland. Whether Bond or his Baltimore cronies actually invented anything or merely took advantage of an existing fad using their own design is open to conjecture, but there is no doubt that they were the first to market the board as a novelty. Charles Kennard called the new board Ouija (pronounced wE-ja) after the Egyptian word for good luck. Ouija is not Egyptian for good luck, but since the board reportedly told him it was during a session, the name stuck. Or so the story goes. It is more likely that the name came from the fabled Moroccan city Oujda (also spelled Oujida and Oudjda). This makes sense given the period's fondness for Middle Eastern cites and the psychic miracles of the Fakirs. Charles Kennard and his business partners incorporated as the Kennard Novelty Company and began producing the first ever commercial line of Ouija or Egyptian luck boards. An 1891 advertisement read:

OUIJA

A WONDERFUL TALKING BOARD

Interesting and mysterious; surpasses in its results second sight, mind reading, clairvoyance; will give intelligent answer to any question. Proven at patent office before patent was allowed. Price $1.50. All first-class toy, dry goods, and stationary stores. W. S. Carr & Co., 83 Pearl street; New England News Co., 14 Franklin street; H. Partridge & Co., Hanover and Washington streets; R. Schwarz, 458 Washington street: R.H. White & Co.; Houghton & Dutton.

Charles Kennard was not long for the Ouija business. Kennard's business partners, unhappy with the way things were going, withdrew his authorization to produce the Ouija board after only fourteen months. The firm continued under corporate control as the Ouija Novelty Company for a full ten years and then appointed an employee, William Fuld, to the helm. With that single stroke of fate, William Fuld came to be the one that history would forever designate as the father of the Ouija board. Although Kennard continued in the toy business and even produced and patented other talking boards, he is scarcely remembered today.

William Fuld embarked successfully on his new venture in 1901, and with his brother and business partner Isaac, manufactured Ouija boards in record numbers. Nevertheless, this business partnership was not to last. After a bitter dispute, Isaac was ousted from the company. This not only ended the union but it created a family rift that was to last for generations. Isaac went on to produce and sell Ouija facsimiles, called Oriole talking boards, and pool and smoking tables out of his home workshop. William became the most successful Ouija manufacturer of his time, selling millions of Ouija boards, toys, and other games. In addition to his toy business, he kept a job as a US customs inspector and later in life became a member of Baltimore's General Assembly.

One of William Fuld's first public relations gimmicks, as master of his new company, was to reinvent the history of the talking board. He said that he himself had invented the board and that the name Ouija was a fusion of the French word ":oui" for yes, and the German "ja" for yes. He also made other unlikely claims. Whether he took himself seriously is a matter lost to history. He may have thought apocryphal tales a fun way to sell Ouija boards and to poke fun at a gullible press.

For twenty-five years William Fuld ran the company through good times and bad. In February 1927, he climbed to the roof of his Harford Street factory in Baltimore to supervise the replacement of a flagpole. A support post that he was holding gave way and he fell backwards to his death. Following his death, William's son William A. Fuld took over and marketed many interesting Ouija versions of their own, including the rare and marvelous Art Deco Electric Mystifying Oracle. In 1966, the family sold the business to Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers produced an accurate Fuld reproduction and briefly even made a Deluxe Wooden Edition Ouija. They own all trademarks and patents to this day.