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Stencils
1898 - 1920
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Cut Out Ouija Stencils

The fact that these stencils survived is a miracle. Stuart Fuld and his sister Patsy Magsamen found these stencils at the bottom of an old trunk that as it turns out belonged to their grandfather, Isaac. They are an important piece of the Ouija board's history and tell the sad tale of the Fuld family feud. When Isaac joined his brother William making Ouija boards in 1897 they continued the practice that the Kennard and Ouija Novelty companies employed to make Ouija boards. They used brass stencils which were placed over blank pieces of wood and rolled ink over them creating the lettered face of the board. Once these dried they were varnished and ready to ship. These early Ouija boards were truly handmade. Stuart retells the stories passed to him as a child about how the whole family got into rolling ink and varnishing talking boards.

Oriole And Other Stencils

After the brother's falling out Isaac kept a few stencils and stamps from their partnership. The first two stencils shown are Ouija board stencils that Isaac used as a template to create his own Oriole boards. You can see how he cut out the Ouija mark and presumably put in his own Oriole one. This fact is key because in the court cases between William and Isaac which spanned from 1901 – 1920, Isaac received an injunction baring him from manufacturing any of William's patented or trademarked games including the Ouija board. He would claim his boards were all together different but as you pass through the stencils you will see the only difference between the two is the trademark. The next stencil shown on the right is an Oriole stencil Isaac used to make his talking boards. The last stencil reads “FROM SOUTHERN TOY CO, BALTIMORE, MD.”

Ouija PPF Stamp

Stuart and Patsy both passed these stencils down to their children who all display them as part of their family heritage. During our first trip to Baltimore in 1997 we took a Ouija and Oriole board to compare them to the stencils. As we held the stencils over boards, we got goose bumps when they matched perfectly! The Ouija PPF stamp displayed on the left compliments its PPF stencil above. The stamp was created in a mirror image so when stamped in ink then on a board or box it would read correctly. It is made of wood with a raised metal design. The Ouija PPF stencil and stamp are particularly interesting. The scroll work almost makes one believe the word is Quija with a Q rather than Ouija with an O. When the Museum of Talking Boards placed a talking board bearing this mark in their galleries, we knew we had something. Without this stamp and stencil, we would have no idea it was a Fuld board at all! Wondering what the PPF stands for? Again the Museum of Talking boards came to the rescue. "Past, Present, and Future" was phrase that was commonly used in early Ouija ads and rightly so integrated into this Ouija variant.