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The Talking Board Historical Society began in 2008 as a loose affiliation of talking board collectors and enthusiasts, brought together by talking board historian Robert Murch to bring recognition to the forgotten founders and history of the enigmatic Ouija. In that year, the group assembled and raised funds to erect a talking board-inspired headstone at the unmarked grave of Ouija patentee Elijah Bond in Baltimore’s historic Green Mount Cemetery, which has since become the historic cemetery’s most-requested gravesite. The following year, the TBHS worked to bring recognition to William Fuld’s iconic Harford Avenue Ouija factory, built in 1919, which became the first public landmark in Maryland acknowledging the city’s Ouija history. These years also mark a flood of discoveries by the TBHS’s historians and researchers, including the discovery and documentation of the Chestertown, Maryland home where Charles Kennard claimed to invent the Ouija, identifying Ouija’s 1886 “Witch Board” precursor by W.S. Reed Toy Company, and uncovering the enduring legacies of Ouija’s founders in the Igili, Nirvana, Volo, and Weird-A talking boards, among many, many others. In 2014, the TBHS officially incorporated and became a registered non-profit 501(c)(3), naming Robert Murch Chairman of the Board. The TBHS has since worked tirelessly to preserve the history of this unique pop culture phenomenon. Their next project is the construction of a grave marker recognizing the medium Helen Peters for her role in giving the Ouija its unique name, and through this project and others, the Talking Board Historical Society hopes to bring greater and wider recognition to the nearly-forgotten stories and lives of this incredible institution.

Talking Board Historical Society4 days ago

Happy Birthday, Elijah Bond!

Elijah Jefferson Bond was born January 23rd 1847, 175 years ago! Elijah is best known for patenting the iconic 'Ouija' board. Although he was not a member of the Kennard Novelty Company who first manufactured the board, Elijah Bond would assign the original Ouija patent (No. 446,054) registered on February 10th 1891 to William H. A. Maupin and Charles W. Kennard.

Read more about Elijah Bond, Charles Kennard, and William H.A. Maupin at the link below:

https://williamfuld.com/ouija_people.html

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Talking Board Historical Society2 weeks ago

‘A Frightening Prediction’

This scene as depicted by American artist Charles H. Twelvetrees adorned the cover of Pictorial Review in 1920 and served as inspiration for the oil painting and ‘Heirloom Tradition’ porcelain figurine seen below as well.

Twelvetrees is best known for his red-cheeked, puffy faced children that accompanied advertisements, Valentine’s Day cards, and magazines throughout the 1920’s. His piece below is certainly our favorite!

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Talking Board Historical Society3 weeks ago

Check out this 1944 photograph of women service members playing their 'Mystifying Oracle' board. During the Second World War, talking boards were immensely popular amongst service members and civilians alike!

What do you have to ask your board this afternoon? Let us know in the comments below!

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Talking Board Historical Society3 weeks ago

Join TBHS President, Chairman of the Board Robert Murch and TBHS Director Logan King tonight at 9:00 PM Eastern on the I Want to Believe Channel! Murch and Logan will be discussing how they got interested in talking boards, opinions on the board, and the boards’ appearances in the media!

Tune in here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCh7DD4zkgE

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Talking Board Historical Society3 weeks ago

🎶 “There is a game played by nearly every family, seems to be the thing! Rich and poor folks play this little game to see what future days may bring!” 🎶

Have another selection from our playlist today! Weegee (Ouija) Weegee (Ouija) Tell Me Do was another popular song from the 1920’s with lyrics by William Jerome and music by Harry Von Tilzer.

Listen to it here:
https://youtu.be/aiWEJImFvnQ

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Talking Board Historical Society4 weeks ago

Today in talking board history: New Year’s Day, 1987. 35 years ago today, you could have been waking up from a restless night if you had seen Kevin Tenney’s Witchboard in one of the 15 test markets it was released to the night before, on December 31st, 1986.

Three months later it was released across the country scaring audiences from coast to coast.

If you haven’t seen this classic, check it out today streaming on Prime Video!

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Twitter

Followers: 1060

TBHS · 2 years ago
@TalkingBoardHS

This special release of #Witchboard from @nsm_records will be available 12/23/2019! Limited to only 666 sets. Preorders are going like hot cakes! Order yours while you still can! Only sold on Amazon Germany but they ship to the US. #ouija #tbhs

https://t.co/9gnYF8le2Q

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TBHS · 2 years ago
@TalkingBoardHS

Happy Hallo-Ouija-Ween! Have fun, be safe, and eat lots of candy (Ouija assures us that Halloween candy is calorie-free)! #Ouija #Halloween #TBHS #TalkingBoards https://t.co/rKBN0qfmxY

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TBHS · 2 years ago
@TalkingBoardHS

#Ouija #TalkingBoards #TBHS #CuriousGeorge #Halloween https://t.co/l1phIotr51

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TBHS · 2 years ago
@TalkingBoardHS

Here’s a drone photo of #Ouijazilla! Thank you to @boston_camera for capturing it! #WorldsLargestOuija #RipleysBelieveItOrNot #SalemMA #Ouija #TBHS #HausOfSchreck https://t.co/gFGKRgZirU

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TBHS · 2 years ago
@TalkingBoardHS

Here ya go... #Ouijazilla #RipleysBelieveItOrNot #RecordBreaker #SalemMA #WorldsLargestOuija #Ouija #TBHS https://t.co/4dH3Rg0isi https://t.co/Ygrosgd0iO

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Jeff Belanger@THEJeffBelanger
We’re gonna need a bigger planchette... #ouijazilla #Ouija #ouijaboard #salem #tbhs World’s largest Ouija board! https://t.co/oJ4kVlW0cg

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TBHS · 2 years ago
@TalkingBoardHS

What's heavier than an #elephant, longer than a #brontosaurus, and large enough to park five, full-size eighteen-wheelers on? The World's Largest #Ouija Board, or as we like to call him, #OUIJAZILLA! Stay tuned over the next month for more tweets and information! https://t.co/CkOqVWqj9h

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Instagram

Press Releases

Talking Board Historical Society to Honor “Mother” of the Ouija Board
The Talking Board Historical Society Issues A Warning to Ouija® & Talking Board Collectors
City of Baltimore to Recognize Ouija Board’s 125th Birthday at OUIJACON Event April 24th
Ouija® to Celebrate its 125th Anniversary at OUIJACON in Baltimore April 23-25

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