Ouija board was granted a patent in 1891 after a successful demonstration to the chief patent officer, who asked the board to write down his name. Creator Elijah J. Bond was a patent attorney and may have known the officials’ names. The board’s name was suggested by Bond’s sister-in-law, Helen Peters.
An early advertisement for Ouija, the Wonderful Talking Board describes the product as having been “tried to the Patent Office before it was allowed” – a claim that is essentially true, according to historian Robert Murch. Descendants of creator Elijah J. Bond told Murch that the chief patent officer asked for a demonstration, in order to verify that the board could indeed bring answers from the spirit world. The patent officer, along with Bond and his sister-in-law, sat down and asked the spirit board to write down the name of the officer, presumably unknown to the appellants. When the planchette led to the correct letters, the visibly shaken official granted patent no. 446.054, issued February 1891.
Casting a spell at the patent office:
The historian notes that Bond was a patent attorney and may have known the names of all the patent office officials in Washington, DC, especially those he was likely to meet.
Murch adds that the Patent Commissioner’s Annual Report for the year 1890 states that 30 patent examiners worked in the office at the time.
Bond’s sister-in-law Helen Peters was responsible for the name, pronounced wee-ja. The family says Peters asked the board what her name should be and the board wrote OUIJA.
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