The Ouija Board

Ouija Board

Who invented the Ouija Board? The name of the person credited with inventing the Ouija Board is Elijah Bond (1847 - 1921). Elijah Bond is not only famous as the American inventor of the Ouija Board but also as a lawyer and businessman. How did the Ouija board get its name? The word "Ouija" was created as a trademark name by Charles Kennard the founder of Kennard Novelty Company, Baltimore. The word "Ouija" was compounded from the French word 'oui' and the German word 'ja', both meaning "yes". When was the Ouija Board invented? Elijah Bond invented the Ouija Board, also known as a talking board or spirit board, in 1891. The following year the rights to the Ouija Board were purchased by William Fuld (1870 - 1927), a stock holder and employee of the Kennard Novelty Company

Definition of the Ouija Board: The Ouija Board is defined as a board with the alphabet on it used with a planchette (a triangular board supported on casters, derived from the French word meaning "little plank") to spell out answers to questions with supposedly supernatural messages.

 

Facts about who invented the Ouija Board

 

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Fact File about the Invention of the Ouija Board: Invention: Ouija Board *** Date of Invention: 1891 *** Name of Inventor: Elijah Bond *** Lifespan of Inventor: 1847 - 1921 *** Nationality of Inventor: American *** Historical Period: Second US Industrial Revolution / Victorian (1850 - 1914) *** Category: Recreation *** Country of Origin: America *** Facts about the Inventor, Elijah Bond, and the invention of the Ouija Board ***

Fact 1: Who invented the Ouija Board? The Ouija Board was invented by Elijah Bond in 1891. Prior to the invention of the Ouija Board people enjoyed many different types of parlor games and board games. The Movies, Radio and Television had not been invented so playing games at home was a major source of entertainment.

Fact 2: Who invented the Ouija Board? The history of the talking board, or spirit board, dates back to the mid 1850's and became popular during the uncertain time of the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) when people were frantic to learn of the fate of loved ones fighting in the war. Others were desperate to find a way to communicate with the dead.

Fact 3: Who invented the Ouija Board? During this era people became fascinated with science, magic and the supernatural. A new religious movement called Spiritualism emerged which elaborated a method of communicating with the dead in séances through mediums.

Fact 4: Who invented the Ouija Board? In 1882, a group of well known intellectuals founded the Society for Psychical Research and interest in the occult and its association with the supernatural sciences increased still further. The intellectuals associated with the society gave the whole area of the occult and an air of respectability.

Fact 5: Who invented the Ouija Board? Talking boards or spirit boards became popular. By 1870 boards were being produced with a 'planchette' with its index pointing to successive letters and figures on the board. The W. S. Reed Toy Company of Leominster Massachusetts, marketed a novelty device in 1886 that was nicknamed the "witch board".

Fact 6: Who invented the Ouija Board? Talking boards proved popular as Victorian parlor games as they allowed young men and women, not usually allowed to be alone let alone touch a member of the opposite sex, to flaunt the social conventions of the time and touch each others hands.

Fact 7: Who invented the Ouija Board? The environment of the era was ripe to create and exploit a new Talking board game and the Ouija Board was invented by a lawyer named Elijah Bond.

Fact 8: Who invented the Ouija Board? The inventor of the Ouija Board, Elijah Jefferson Bond, was born on January 23, 1847 in Bel Air, Maryland, United States and died on April 14, 1921.

Fact 9: Who invented the Ouija Board? The early years of Elijah Bond were spent in Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland, United States where he was raised by his family. His father was Judge William Bond and his mother's name was Charlotte Howard Richardson. Elijah Bond was the fourth child in the family.

Fact 10: Who invented the Ouija Board? The American Civil War erupted in 1861 and Elijah Bond's education was interrupted when he served as a Confederate during the Civil War.  After the war Elijah Bond completed his education at the Law School of the University of Maryland.

Fact 11: Who invented the Ouija Board? Following his education Elijah Bond opened a law practice in Baltimore. He was a pillar of the community, had a busy social life and kept in contact with his friends from school and University and his army comrades. Elijah Bond married Mary Peters of Maryland and the couple had one son who they named William Brown Bond.

Fact 12: Who invented the Ouija Board? Elijah Bond had an active mind and invented and patented several items including water and steam boilers.

Fact 13: Who invented the Ouija Board? The active social life of Elijah Bond resulted him being involved in many parlor games and inevitably he was introduced to one of the popular talking board games.

Fact 14: Who invented the Ouija Board? Elijah Bond was fascinated by the idea of the talking boards or spirit boards and decided that he could improve the original designs and go on to market such a product. As an inventor he was aware of the process of patenting ideas and potential profits to be made from new inventions.

Fact 15: Who invented the Ouija Board? Elijah Bond created a 15 x 22 inch board printed with letters of the alphabet in a semi-circular shape, numerals from 0-9 and the words "Yes" and "No". Bond also created his version of a hand operated planchette.

Fact 16: Who invented the Ouija Board? Elijah Bond spoke to his friend, William H. A. Maupin, a founder of the newly established Kennard Novelty Company, about the viability of marketing the new board. He liked the idea and so did Charles Kennard, the owner of the Kennard Novelty Company.

Fact 17: Who invented the Ouija Board? Elijah Bond applied for a patent on May 28, 1890 describing it as a toy or game. The patent was granted on February 10, 1891 (Patent number US446054) listing Elijah J. Bond as the inventor and the assignees as Charles W. Kennard and William H. A. Maupin of Baltimore, Maryland.

Fact 18: Who invented the Ouija Board? Elijah Bond was also granted a Canadian patent (Patent number 36,092) for the Ouija board on March 10, 1891

Fact 19: Who invented the Ouija Board? The patent designates the item as Ouija or Egyptian luck-board - the Egyptians apparently always used 'diving tables' before undertaking any important projects.  Charles Kennard had come up with the word "Ouija" which derived from the French word 'oui' and the German word 'ja', both meaning "yes".  The name 'Ouija' had a mysterious, memorable ring to it and the name stuck.

Fact 20: Who invented the Ouija Board? Nowhere in the patent application was the Ouija Board associated with the occult - it was always described as a game or toy. It was sold by all first-class Toy Dealers and Stationers and manufactured by The Kennard Novelty Company, 220 South Charles Street, Baltimore.

Fact 21: Who invented the Ouija Board? An employee of Elijah Bond, named William Fuld, took over the manufacture and production of the Ouija Board. He claimed to have invented it and it became synonymous with his name.

Fact 22: Who invented the Ouija Board?  William Fuld filed for his own patent for 'Games appratus (Patent Number 479,266) which was granted on July 19, 1892 In 1901, Fuld started production of his own boards and popularised the name "Ouija Board".

Fact 23: Who invented the Ouija Board? The Ouija board was regarded as a toy and an amusing parlor game unrelated to the occult until American Spiritualist Pearl Curran (1883–1937) popularized its use as a divining tool.

Fact 24: Who invented the Ouija Board? Pearl Curran claimed that she received the words to poems and novels, via a Ouija board, from a 17th century Puritan English woman named Patience Worth. Interest in the Ouija board increased and it began to be marketed as both fun, family entertainment and a mystical oracle.

Fact 25: Who invented the Ouija Board? Elijah Bond died of a stroke on April 14, 1921 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was buried in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore. The back of his gravestone (which was added to his grave in 2007)  in  is engraved with the image of the Ouija Board. 

Fact 26: Who invented the Ouija Board? The fascination with the Ouija Board continues to the present day. Some say the use of the Ouija board is dangerous, others that it is just harmless fun.

Fact 27: Who invented the Ouija Board? The illusion that the planchette is moving under its own control on the Ouija board is often extremely powerful and sufficient enough to convince many people that spirits are truly at work.

Fact 28: Who invented the Ouija Board? What is true is that in times of disasters such as wars, civil unrest and economic depression desperate people turn to the Ouija Board to provide them with answers to unfathomable questions.

Who Invented the Ouija Board - Elijah Bond - Inventor - Invention - Definition - Meaning - Planchette - Famous - Important - History - Timeline - Innovation - Significant - Development - Recreation - First - Definition - Kids - Facts - Information - Info - Who invented the Ouija? - Dates - When - Why - Impact - Purpose - Use - New - Old - Amazing - Best - Ouija Definition - Ouija Meaning - Awesome - Cool - Second US Industrial Revolution / Victorian Era (1850 - 1914) - American - Ouija History - Ouija Timeline - Elijah Bond