Museum of Talking Boards: J.M. Simmons

J.M. Simmons & Company
Chicago, Illinois
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"THE MYSTERIOUS TALKING BOARD. Many scientists claim that this board does not answer questions from an unknown power; that its animation "flows" from personal magnetism. Spiritualists claim that invisible spirits guide its movements, a superior intelligence ruling our future. Whether you accept one theory or the other, the fact remains that you can have endless entertainment with the OUIJA BOARD. It holds you spellbound with its answers. The OUIJA BOARD has baffled the greatest minds." - J.M. Simmons

So began J.M. Simmons Ouija Board instruction sheet in 1920. The J.M. Simmons Ouija is the quintessential Halloween talking board and you know this the first time you see it. There is a witch, a black cat, two four-leaf clovers, a swastika, and a hexagram. In the center is the silhouette of a magical Middle East city, perhaps Baghdad. It is a curiosity, to be sure. The occult imagery and the weird juxtaposition of the German Nazi symbol with the Star of David are enough to raise the eyebrows of the most stoic. The more emotional won't even touch the board and may, on rare occasions, run screaming into the street. It wasn't always so. Back in the twenties, the swastika was a good luck symbol common on specialty coins, postcards, and many lucky trinkets and had nothing to do with the Third Reich. It's interesting how perceptions change over time. There aren't many now who think Baghdad magical and only the foolhardy would decorate an item with a swastika, luck or no luck.

J.M. Simmons was a toy maker known for his games 1000 Bingo, Bingo Corn Games, Jumbo Lotto and Keno. The idea of capitalizing on the lure of the occult appealed to him and he expanded his business to include books on mind power and personal magnetism. Among his offerings was his "Ouija Bottle," a bizarre glass tube device filled with a blood-red fluid. Used as a pendulum, and touted as "THE WONDERFUL MIND READING BOTTLE," it would supposedly answer any "yes" or "no" question by swinging in a straight line or circle. The instruction sheet came with dozens of questions to ask if drew a blank and couldn't think of any on your own. These novelties are gone now and you are unlikely to find them except by sheer chance. But you do find his Ouija boards of which he sold hundreds of thousands. Printing was usually better on his large plywood boards—the smaller editions were often smeary, and over the years, as plywood became more expensive, he changed to hardboard and finally cardboard. During the war years he wisely replaced the swastika for the more palatable lucky horseshoe.Just to let everyone know there was no German connection he stamped on the back "MADE IN THE USA" in huge letters. He sold through the mail and advertised in magazines under the Ouija name and as the ASKME board. In a bold move, he made a second Ouija design with Asian characters, witches, and a big bag of money, all, we imagine,connected with one another in some odd way. It didn't sell very well and is now the rarest of the Simmons boards

Perhaps the biggest surprise was Simmon's willingness to express his personal distain for his customers. Not often do we see a manufacturer so eager to shoot himself in the foot with his remarks. Not a quiet man, this was one of many articles based on personal interviews:

The Public Are Fools And Ouija King Laughs Loudly
Simmons Makes a Fortune From Boards He Has No Faith In

By EDWARD M. THIERRY, N. E. A. Staff Correspondent. CHICAGO—A jolly little fat man sits in a rickety chair in a dusty factory office and laughs so heartily he shakes like a quivering cone of Jelly. Mirth overwhelms him when you mention the ouija board. For the jolly chap is J.M. Simmons, "Ouija King." He can afford to laugh. For the people are buying the ouija boards he makes so fast he's rolling in money.

LAUGHS AT PUBLIC- "The public are fools!" laughs the "Ouija king." "They'll bite on anything," he continues. "The public belief In the ouija board is a joke. We don't foster it. But the poor deluded fools want the board and we're giving it to them by the thousands. The past year 500,000 ouija boards were sold by J. M. Simmons & Co., made in a little second floor factory with 10 employees on Chicago's West Side. Simmons said as many more were sold by the William Fuld company of Baltimore. Does "Ouija King" Simmons use the ouija board himself? He does not!

WONDERS AS TO FUTURE- If the man who makes the ouija really thought the ouija had any mystic power he would sit right down and ask the ouija to tell him whether the ouija craze is going to last through the winter. And—precisely quoting Mr. Simrnons: "I ain't such a fool as to waste my time asking the ouija questions about the craze. Gosh, though! I'd like to know whether the fool public's going to yell for the ouija next winter. It's hard to get the three-ply lumber stock the boards are made out of unless you order it long in advance. I don't know whether to order lumber or not." Simmons probably will take the chance. For he's moving into a factory four times as big as the old one. And if the ouija fails him he'll go back to making toys.

IT'S THE BUNK, SAYS HE- Simmons says he doesn't foster mystic belief in the ouija. Yet the directions he puts out contain these statements: "Many scientists claim this board does not answer questions from an unknown power; that its 'animation' flows from personal magnetism. Spiritualists claim that invisible spirits guide its movements, a superior intelligence ruling our future. If you fail to get results in playing the board, it is at no time the fault of the board. It is merely that the so-called psychic force is undeveloped in the operators. In that case, simply ask some one who has played a board before to operate it with you, and you will undoubtedly secure immediate results." "Of course, that's all bunk," says jolly Mr. Simmons. —The Ogden Standard-Examiner, August 12, 1920 (article courtesy Robert Murch)

Whether Simmon's mirthful attitude had anything to do with the fire that burned his factory to the ground we cannot say. Newspapers were unsympathetic and headlines read: "OUIJA FAILS TO OPERATE WHEN FIRE DESTROYS THE PLANT OF ITS MAKERS" and "FIREMEN HAVE HOPES OF FIGURING OUT CAUSE OF BLAZE IF OUIJA RECUPERATES." Undaunted, Simmons built another factory and continued in the Ouija board business well into the 1960s. Buyers may currently find his boards in antique stores, online on eBay, and occasionally, if the stars are smiling, at fire sales.

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