Museum of Talking Boards - Board Gallery Page Four

Museum of Talking Boards

Gallery of Talking Boards
Page Four

	ORACLE William Fuld Design on wood 1915 Patented January 19, 1915 William Fuld's first "Oracle" was a complete departure from his regular Ouija. Fuld designed and produced a number of oddball talking boards. Few survive today.
MYSTIFYING ORACLE William Fuld Design on wood 1920 By 1920, the Oracle became the "Mystifying Oracle" as evidenced by the name change in the center black circle. Although the peculiar letter design was interesting, it was not to last. See Mystifying Oracle: Gallery Page Three.
	MITCHE MANITOU Wilder Manufacturing Company Design on wood 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?
MITCHE MANITOU Wilder Manufacturing Company Design on wood The Mitche Manitou came in a variety of styles and sizes. Here is a variation of the above board. Wilder also made a duplicate "Mystic Ouija Board" which we think predates the Mitche Manitou. Wilder may have made the name change with a little persuasion from William Fuld, but that is only a guess.
	OUIJA Copp Clark Publishing Design on hardboard If you are going to copy a Ouija board, you might as well do it right and start with the original Kennard design. That is exactly what this Canadian manufacturer did after negotiations with the original patentee in 1891. Copp Clark made many Ouijas, some wood, some hardboard, all (except for the packaging and message indicators) exactly alike.
WE-JA GIRL Manufacturer unknown Design on hardboard The "Unknown Manufacturer" as we like to call him, made two versions of We-ja Girl. The first version was this one. The second version had the title and girl in red and yellow like the Crystal Gazer below.
	CRYSTAL GAZER Manufacturer unknown Design on hardboard The Crystal Gazer brings to four the number of talking boards we have found so far by the "Unknown Manufacturer." You might call this one the new and improved deluxe We-ja Girl.
MAGIC MARVEL Lee Industries Design on cardboard 1940's If you were bothered by the garish colors of the original yellow Magic Marvel and red glow in the dark Yogee, you could have the best of both designs in this toned down (but boring) light tan Magic Marvel/Yogee combo.
	OUIJA Baltimore Talking Board Company Design on wood 1920 Collectors call this the "Smiley Face Ouija" for obvious reasons although you may need to look closely to find out why in this picture. There seems to be some debate among experts whether that's George Washington or the Sphinx in the lower right hand corner of the board.
STAR GAZER Alice-Lee Manufacturing Design on paper This Star Gazer Mystical Question Board was designed as a talking board serving tray. Sandwiched between two pieces of glass is a double sided sheet of paper with the talking board on one side and the "Mysterious Palm," a palmistry/zodiac fortune game, on the other.
	MIDAS BOARD 718778 Ontario Limited Design on cardboard 1987 Actually it's the Midas Golden Touch Prophesying Board, and if there ever was a game that could pick your winning lottery numbers then this talking board from Canada would be the one. According to the instructions, anyway. It came complete with Midas Prophesy Cards and a plastic message indicator.
FINGER OF FATE Colorforms Design on paper-plastic 1971 About the size of a grapefruit, this odd talking board is housed in a clear plastic sphere and uses a magnetic finger pointer suspended from the roof of the ball as a message indicator. 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. Oh, and it's cute. Very cute.