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The Ouija Board
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Detailed History of William Fuld and the Ouija Board
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In the United States the first talking board combined the curiosity of the planchette and the ease of use of its European cousin, the dial plate. However, the birth of the talking board was a much more secular capitalist venture. We know that homemade talking boards were documented in the mid 1880's described in detail in an article first posted on the Museum of Talking Boards. This article first appeared in the Atchison Daily Globe on April 9, 1886. It would take seven men to create a commercial success and put talking boards in nearly every home in North America. Together Charles W. Kennard, Harry Welles Rusk, Colonel Washington Bowie, Elijah J. Bond, William H. A. Maupin, John T. Green, and of course, William Fuld succeeded in doing just that. Five of these men Kennard, Rusk, Bowie, Maupin, and Green pooled their land, resources, and money to create the Kennard Novelty Company of Baltimore, Maryland.

While many were Masons they had two things in common. All of them were looking to try something new, and each were either lawyers or politicians. It's likely they met through their everyday business dealings, yet many of their connections run deeper. William H. A. Maupin married Elijah Bond's niece, Elijah Bond and Col. Washington Bowie had other patents assigned to them, Col. Washington Bowie and William Fuld formed a life long friendship and worked together in the Custom's office, while Harry Welles Rusk and Charles Kennard remained friends for years. Perhaps sitting around a table smoking cigars and with a drink in hand they made a pact to form the Kennard Novelty Company. They appeared on October 20th 1890 in a Baltimore court to sign the incorporation papers which were certified on October 30th 1890.

Col. Washington Bowie held a firm grip on any matters involving the company. A capitalist a heart this business venture was about the bottom line. Rusk was named president, as he had the most experience in patent law. Kennard had the land and a building left over from his fertilizer business that he had recently dissolved. The address of 220 South Charles Street in Baltimore was perfect, and Kennard, for his land, got his last name into the new company's. Bond held the first talking board patent which would dominate the young company. To date there is no record of Bond officially being part of the company, but his talking board patent, when filed, was immediately assigned to members of the company. Maupin's relation to Bond through married explains his association with the company. Listed as a varnisher in the Baltimore City directory in 1890, William Fuld played a major role in the daily operations, including production. This would not last for long. Fuld was full of inventions of his own, but due to his age and monetary stature compared to his other partners, he had to work to get to the top. Less than a year passed before Fuld began his sudden climb.

Historically, William Fuld has been listed as the inventor and father of the Ouija board. In fact, the first patent on the Ouija or talking board (No. 446,054) was granted to Elijah Bond on February 10th 1891 and assigned to Charles Kennard and William H. A. Maupin, both of Baltimore and two of the founders of the Kennard Novelty Company. The trademark on the word Ouija (No. 18,919) was granted to the Kennard Novelty Company on February 3rd, 1891. However, it wouldn't be long before William Fuld, under Col. Washington Bowie's guidance, would take over production of the Ouija board and forever be tied to it as it's Father and promoter.

By late 1891, the Ouija board was selling well. Just eight days after the Bond patent was granted, Kennard filed for an improved version of the talking board and called it that by name. On November 10, 1891 Kennard's patent (No. 462,819) was registered. It states, "Be it known that I, Charles W. Kennard, residing at Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Talking-Boards of which the following is a specification." This talking board was more like the previously mentioned dial plates, where the moveable piece was fixed on one end and could swing in an arc to point at the letters, numbers, or words.

This was Charles Kennard's final act as a member of the Kennard Novelty Company. Shortly after his patent was granted, Charles Kennard, John T. Green, and William H. A. Maupin were removed from the company. Bowie and Rusk were all that remained of the original five founders. By 1892, they were longer listed in connection with Kennard Novelty Company while Bowie is listed as the manager and William Fuld is listed as supervisor. The company was moved to 909 East Pratt Street and in that same year, the name was officially changed to the Ouija Novelty Company.

Kennard tried to sell another version of the talking board he called the Volo. Bowie and Fuld answered this with a swift marketing maneuver. The Ouija Novelty Company purchased or leased the trademark Espirito (No. 20,566) from the well-known northern W. S. Reed Toy Company, and placed an exact copy of Kennard's Volo design on the back of their Ouija. Consumers delighted in getting two talking boards for the price of one, while Kennard's Volo business crumbled as he had no such trademark on his Volo board. Yet in 1897 an advertisement for "Igili - the marvelous talking board" places the American Toy Company at 222 South Charles Street, Baltimore Maryland. Though it's one number off from the original address of the Kennard Novelty Company it's likely it is the same location. For the Igili board Charles Kennard joined with J. M. Raffel and Albert C. Strobel to form the American Toy Company. Like others once involved with the Ouija board Kennard kept trying to get back in the game.

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