Biography - Photos - References - Media - Contact - Appearances & Events - WilliamFuld.com Media Ouija board makes connection to Wheaton's past It's no secret that Wheaton's history is rooted in communication, as some of the first and most powerful radio transmissions were broadcast from there. But the area is also entwined in the past of a far less conventional means of communication, one that claims to connect an unseen world with that of our own. The Ouija board, a dark yet popular board game that supposedly channels the spirit world by spelling words for those who play it, became the first mass-manufactured game of its kind in Baltimore during the 1890s. But Wheaton and Ouija board historians say the immensely popular game would not have been possible without the financial backing of Col. Washington Bowie, one of the most influential developers of Wheaton in the 19th century. Bowie was a prominent and well-connected man whose family settled in what is now called Wheaton in the 1750s. Their estate, the Hermitage, lay just north of what is today the Glenmont Shopping Center, said Laura-Leigh Palmer, a Kensington resident and author of the historic photo book "Wheaton." Palmer said the Bowie family was influential in maintaining Georgia Avenue, one of two main thoroughfares in Montgomery County. In those days, Palmer said, roads were always awash with debris and it was up to private residents to make them passable. In the 1890s, Bowie put much of his family money into a Baltimore business called The Kennard Novelty Co., one of the first companies in the world to begin manufacturing a "spirit board," which they marketed as the Ouija board and sold for $1. One of the first models had a fixed dial much like a sundial that moved in an arch over letters printed on the board, said Massachusetts resident and Ouija board historian Robert Murch. Murch, who started researching the origins of the Ouija board after collecting them for a fraternity prank in college, said it's important to note that no one actually invented the Ouija board. Spirit boards have been around as long as society, but Col. Bowie was one of the first to manufacture it, he said. Ever the invisible hand behind the company, Bowie eventually bought out most involved in the company, changed the name to the Ouija Novelty Company and put his good friend, William Fuld, in charge of running it. He and Fuld held a patent they received in the 1890s for the Ouija board and knocked down many imitations from their former business partners with hefty lawsuits. As the century turned and more people had disposable income, the Ouija board was a household name, synonymous with spirit board, in all of North America, Murch said. "By that time, it's like the word ‘Kleenex,'" he said. But Bowie remained quiet about the Ouija board's success by refraining from doing any newspaper interviews, most likely to enhance the board's mystery, Murch said. "No one wants to demystify the Mystifying Oracle," Murch said. Murch noted an interesting trend and perhaps key to the Ouija board's success: Its sales always follow wars or economic downturns. According to Murch, after Bowie sold his rights to the board to Fuld for $1, its popularity didn't rise again until the 1940s, then again in the 1960s, and sales are just now picking up again. Murch said he thinks it's because the board gives people hope that there's something more beyond this world. "Imagine something so simple of letters and numbers on a piece of paper could actually put you in touch with the person you never got to say goodbye to," Murch said. "If you can make contact, it means you're not going to be alone on the other side." OUIJA® and MYSTIFYING ORACLE® are both trademarks of Hasbro, Inc.
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