by Furnishly | Oct 29, 2021 | Design Inspiration, Style
Ouija boards are the stuff of blockbuster horror movies, spooky Halloween traditions, and grade school sleepover seances. It has been part of the public collective for over a century, and even though your great-grandparents might have experimented with one, they’re just as popular today as they were a millennia ago. The Ouija board has stayed relevant throughout generations, mainly because people can’t get enough of its spooky possibilities — especially around Halloween time.
While the first advertisement for a Ouija board hit newspapers in 1891 (and promised to provide a link “between the known and unknown, the material and immaterial” according to an article published in the Pittsburgh Dispatch), America’s curiosity over the veil that separated the living and the dead peaked way before then. The early 1800s ushered in a new spiritual awakening, one that involved psychic healers, mesmerists, and mediums according to Brandon Hodge, a collector, historian, and prevailing authority on planchettes and Ouija boards, who talked to Apartment Therapy about the history of the Ouija board.
The movement began to really pick up steam in 1848 when sisters Maggie and Kate Fox claimed to communicate with a “spirit” in their home in Hydesville, New York, through a series of raps and knocks. People were gripped, and the girls quickly became celebrity mediums who convened with spirits in theaters housing thousands of audience members.
Hodge said that table tipping, dial plates, alphabet calling, and talking boards became fashionable parlor pastimes, with guests calling out letters of the alphabet between martini sips, and the spirit tapping out a word. By 1851, one Philadelphia newspaper reported that some 50 to 60 séance circles were operating in the city, and a Cincinnati newspaper estimated that over 1,200 mediums were gathering in town.
The Ouija board was basically a commercialized talking board — which already existed on the market — but with a few improvements. Table tipping and alphabet calling were very laborious, but the Ouija made the process faster by including letters and phrases right on the board. Two rows of letters sat above the numbers 0 through 9, with “yes” and “no” sitting at the top corners and “goodbye” at the bottom. The board came with a “planchette,” which is a teardrop shaped tool that moves one’s hands across the board.
The board got its curious name through Helen Peters, the sister-in-law of one of the original investors. She fancied herself a strong medium, and when she asked the board what it would like to be called, her hands spelled out the word “Ouija.” When asked what that meant, the board replied “good luck.” Seeing how that was sufficiently creepy, the name stuck.
The Ouija board flew off of the shelves and became the “must-have Christmas gift of the season,” according to Hodge, much like the Tickle Me Elmo doll in 1996. The alphabet board then continued its success in waves for over 125 years.
History shows that the Ouija board boomed in popularity during times of loss. “We find that interest in spiritualism, and more specifically these commercial devices, waxes most heavily after great loss of life,” Hodge says. “It’s really no coincidence that it first became popular after the Civil War. Three quarter of a million Americans died in that conflict, so you have a lot of people who lost loved ones, who are then turning toward the consolation and comfort of knowing that their loved ones have persisted after life.”
The Ouija board hit peak popularity in the 1920s, soon after over 116,000 soldiers perished in World War I and over 675,000 Americans died during the 1918 Spanish Flu. It then peaked in popularity again during World War II, and it outsold Monopoly in 1967, right at the height of the Vietnam War.
And over the decades, the Ouija board has remained a staple in literature, movies, and TV shows, which Hodge says has kept its popularity alive and cemented its its spooky reputation. The cardboard game appeared in everything from “The Exorcist” to “I Love Lucy” to “Breaking Bad,” spanning all mediums and genres.
It has helped people cross the veil, and it remains popular today because of that reputation. “I think there is something visceral about it. “There’s just something iconic about that. Those letters on a board, and the mysterious movements of the planchette,” Hodge says. “It continues to draw people.”
Marlen Komar
Contributor
Marlen is a writer first, vintage hoarder second, and donut fiend third. If you have a passion for finding the best taco joints in Chicago or want to talk about Doris Day movies, then she thinks an afternoon coffee date is in order.
by Furnishly | Oct 20, 2021 | Design Inspiration, Style
Leah Groth
Contributor
I am a Philadelphia based writer, editor and mother of two. My work has appeared in/on Glamour, Prevention, Upworthy, mindbodygreen, Women’s Health, Cosmopolitan, Woman’s World, Livestrong, Ravishly, Fit Pregnancy, Oprah, Fatherly, Woman’s World, xoJane, Babble, and LivingHealthy.
Follow Leah
by Furnishly | Aug 29, 2021 | Design Inspiration, Style
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.
Fans of board games may know the struggle of keeping your collection looking neat and tidy. From worn boxes and missing pieces to lids that just won’t stay on properly, if you’ve got a lot of games, it can be an effort to keep everything in order.
The LAX RAX, now on Kickstarter, may be the solution to all your board game storage problems. Designed to work seamlessly with the much-loved IKEA Kallax shelf unit, LAX RAX will allow games to be stored flat on their own shelf, with no wasted space and a super organized and eye-catching display.
“Take your Kallax to new magnificent heights,” the Kickstarter campaign reads. “The wonders of slide-able game storage await!”
If games are stored vertically and aren’t tightly packed, the lid will drift away from the box, making for a messy-looking collection.
“This is because GRAVITY pulls all the bits and bags to the bottom of the box, pushing the lid out,” the Kickstarter explains. “This creates more space for even MORE bits to fall out of their holders…”
The LAX RAX has been designed to ensure users spend less time tidying up and picking a game off the shelf, and more for the gameplay. Each board game will have its own individual shelf so you can slide the game in and out of the storage unit with ease.
To install the innovative shelves and create your very own shelving system, no slots and screws are involved. Stick the LAX RAX grips to the unit, slide in the wooden rods, and you’re good to go. They’re quick and easy to set up, and if you want to temporarily go back to normal shelving, all you need to do is remove the rods.
Fully adjustable, the grips come with “two instant height bumps”, allowing you to switch up the amount of space on each shelf depending on the height of your board games.
Additionally, the LAX RAX shelves are sustainable and have a low-waste design.
“We wanted to create a product that was designed as efficiently as possible, using the most sustainable materials we could, while also providing you with the type of premium quality we’re known for,” the campaign reads. “LAX RAX went through months of iterations until we arrived at this final design that packs in functionality, ease of use, and environmental sustainability into one package.”
LAX RAX also offers a range of add-ons, including acrylic shelving, display cabinets, and dry-erase play count trackers.
by Furnishly | Jul 25, 2021 | Design Inspiration, Style
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.
Today, we’re taking things to New Jersey with one of the latest editions of the game that’s sure to spice up your Sunday dinner. Introducing: “The Sopranos” Monopoly.
Just in time for the upcoming release of the acclaimed series’ film prequel, “The Many Saints of Newark”, The Op Games have released their “The Sopranos” Monopoly board, inviting fans of Tony Soprano and his gang to call all the shots with this thrilling version of the classic board game.
Once you’ve cleared the table of the ziti and gabagool, it’s time lay out the Monopoly board and get money hungry with a round or two.
In this edgy twist on the original game, players will buy, sell, and trade memorable locations from Jersey including Tony Soprano’s House, Whitecaps Shore House, Satriale’s Pork Store, before wheeling and dealing at The Bada Bing. AYY! and OHH! cards are the expressive replacements for Chance and Community Chest, and tokens like The Stugots or Bobby Bacala’s toy train engine will help you along to become the last boss standing.
Each board comes with everything you need for the ultimate mobster experience:
6 collectible tokens (Baby Duck, The Stugots, Bobby Bacala’s Toy Train Engine, Satriale’s Pig, Dr. Mefli’s Chair, Barone Sanitation Truck), 32 houses (renamed Stashes), 12 hotels (renamed Contraband), 28 Title Deed cards, 16 “AYY!” cards, 16 “OHH!” cards, Custom Monopoly money, and 2 dice.
Finally, the game comes with a detailed rule book, because in the words of Tony Soprano himself—“If you can quote the rules, then you can obey them.”
by Furnishly | Jul 17, 2021 | Design Inspiration, Style
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.
So, it only makes sense that there’s now a Monopoly board dedicated to the video game that stole the hearts of Nintendo Switch players throughout lockdown—Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Although the game debuted almost 20 years ago, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a firm favorite among gamers while quarantining, who used the time spent at home to escape to a private island and build up a new society through harvesting fruit, going fishing, and completing tasks set by the island’s landlord, Tom Nook. The aesthetically pleasing video game also allows players to customize and decorate their character’s homes, who have delighted in sharing their whimsical results on the internet.
The Monopoly edition will allow players to immerse themselves in the magical and colorful world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and, although the freedom (and joy) of being able to decorate your own virtual house won’t be entirely possible, the game will involve the standard tasks that can be enjoyed in the video game, making it rather unique compared to a round of the OG Monopoly.
After the first trip around the board, players choose a Skill Card, revealing an ability that can be used throughout the game. Moving around the board with custom tokens inspired by the video game, you complete island tasks and meet other characters. Instead of buying properties and paying rent, you collect bugs, fish, fossils, and fruit. You can also stop at Nook’s Cranny and cash in Bells to buy decorations. These decorations are worth Nook Miles, and the player with the most Nook Miles wins the game.
Each board comes with everything you need for a great Monopoly-meets-Animal-Crossing experience: 4 character tokens, 4 Skill cards, 35 Decoration cards, 14 Chance cards, 14 Nook Miles cards, 160 Resource chips, 40 Five-Bell coins, 54 Bell coins, 40 player markers, a numbered die, a Nook’s Cranny die, a label sheet, and game rules.
The game also features the standard Monopoly staples such as “Jail”, “Free Parking” and “Chance Cards”, while instead of collecting $200 from the Go space, players will get the opportunity to spend Bells at the Nook’s Cranny store to get those all-important decorations.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons, $24.99, will be released in August 2021 and is available to pre-order now.
