Holosky Podcast

The Ouija board was born out of America’s deep desire to speak with the dead. In 1848, the Fox sisters of New York demonstrated how spirits could communicate through knocks and raps, and from there, Spiritualism swept across the nation. In an age of short life spans, disease, and the devastating losses of the Civil War, nearly every family sought contact with loved ones who had passed. Séances, automatic writing, and table-turning became common, and the belief that spirits guided the living was both widespread and respected.By the 1880s, Spiritualist camps in Ohio were already using early talking boards to communicate quickly with the spirit world. In 1890, Charles Kennard and his partners formed the Kennard Novelty Company to bring this device to the public. During a session, the board itself gave its name: “Ouija,” which it said meant “good luck.” The following year, the spirits proved their power at the U.S. Patent Office by correctly revealing the patent officer’s name — winning the Ouija its first patent