An obsession with spiritualism led to the creation of the Ouija board back in the late 1800s in the United States. It had to be shown to actually “work” before a patent was issued for it and there is some controversy about who invented the first board. The early boards looked similar to how they look today and are sometimes referred to as spirit boards or talking boards.
Its name comes from the board makers asking the board what they should call it with the board replying – Ouija. When asked what Ouija meant, the board replied – good luck.
Sold as a magical device for answering questions about the past, present, and future, the board had instant success with spiritualists using it as well as it being used as family entertainment. It seemed to be non-threatening until it started appearing in movies as a way to communicate with Satan.
When I was a child, I had an aunt who had one of those boards. She used it daily. It was fun watching her ask questions and waiting and wondering how it would answer. It wasn’t like the ones you can buy today, hers was homemade and she didn’t think it was evil or demonic at all.
One day she was amusing all of us with it when it revealed to her that her husband was going to die! A few days later he died in an accident at work!! That did it, I was convinced that the board knew what it was talking about. And, I’ll repeat, my aunt did not think the board was evil or demonic.
So, now I wanted my own board and received one for Christmas as a child. The board was sold in the toy aisle at stores in the board game section by Parker Brothers (I think) who later sold it to Hasbro. It was used for fun and never failed to amuse.
When I was a teenager, my family moved to a new house. I packed up all of my belongings into large moving boxes. My board games, which included the Ouija board in its retail box, went into one box. The games went in first at the bottom of the box with other items that were lightweight on top of the board games. Once packed, I personally taped and secured the moving box using more tape than was required. Yes, I always over tape!
A couple days later at the new house, I began unpacking. As I got down to the bottom of the moving box with the board games, I immediately noticed something – the Ouija board was gone!! Nothing else was missing, just that board!! The moving box had not been tampered with as the tape was still intact when I began unpacking.
I’ve told this story many times and some have suggested that I forgot to pack the board but that simply isn’t the case as I am very meticulous and have been all my life. Others suggested that family members must have removed the board from the box, Again, that couldn’t have been possible. As I said, I am and was meticulous even back then. I always took care of my things. I have my dolls from the late 60s and early 70s that look brand new today!!
Through the years I’ve wondered about the Ouija board from time to time and I still have no idea what happened to it. It is a mystery! And no, I did not get a new one after that one went missing.
Has anything like this happened to you? Have you ever had one of those boards or knew anyone that had one?
** DO YOU ATTEND BLOG PARTY LINKUPS?
We’d like to invite you to ours. See current link parties here!
4 Comments
Leave your reply.