Quirky Baltimore History: Happening Upon the Historical Marker for the Ouija Board Naming at the 7-Eleven at Charles & Center - Entrepreneur Generations

Historical marker in 7-11

On a recent trip for some coffee, I stopped at 7-11 on Charles and Center Street (529 N. Charles St.), and saw a historical marker proclaiming that this was the spot where the Ouija board got its name. I'd heard a little bit about this before, but not much; some cursory research, however, revealed some interesting facts about Baltimore that I never knew: that the Ouija Board was developed and named here, and that, for 76 years (1890-1966), Baltimore was the industrial center of the Ouija Board industry, with 13 different factories around the city.

This cool little historical marker was just put up in 2015 I've transcribed the historical marker's speech below, along with some photos:

History is rife with tales of prophecy, fortune-telling, and divination. At this site in April 1890, one of the world's most popular methods for diving one's fate received its name, and the Oiuja board -- Baltimore's famous Mystifying Oracle* -- was born.

The historical marker is located to the right of the donuts, by the door!

For generations, Ouija's mysterious messages have intrigued people of all ages. When users rest their fingertips lightly on the planchette, the pointer moves over the board's alphabet to spell out words, answer questions, and deliver cryptic messages. Ever fascinating, Ouija has become an integral part of popular American culture.

It was here at 529 North Charles Street where the famous Ouija board received its name. According to those present, the board named itself when asked what it wanted to be called.

On that night an American icon was created -- one that every generation results. Led by William Fuld, Ouija became a leading industry in Baltimore, produced in thirteen different factories across the city from 1890 to 1966.

In 1919, Ouija's first manufacturer, Charles Kennard, recounted the origins of Ouija's name to the Baltimore American and Sun papers:

View of outside, just south of Washington Monument.

"One evening about April 1890, while trying the board with a Miss Peters... in a large boarding house at the time on the corner of Charles and Center streets... I remarked that we had not yet settled on a name, and as the board had helped us in other ways, we would ask it to propose one. It spelled out O-U-I-J-A. When I asked the meaning of the word it said 'good luck.' Miss Peters there upon withdrew from her neck a chain which had at the end a locket, on it the figure of a woman and at the top the word 'Ouija.' We asked her if she had thought of this name, and she said she had not. We then adopted the word."

To be honest, the Miss Peters story about the word actually already being on her locket feels a little dubious to me, but Ouija Boards are all in good fun anyway, right?

A little more research reveals that Robert Murch, Chairman at the Board of the Talking Board Historical Society, is responsible for the historical marker, and also was responsible for this awesome headstone at Elijah Bond, the man who patented the Ouija Board According to this website, Mr. Murch searched for the burial location of Mr. Bond for 15 years before discovering his unmarked grave in the beautiful Greenmount Cemetery (my blog entry about visiting it is here); then (the year was 2007), with the blessing and permission of Bond's then-98-year old great grand nephew, Walter Dent, Jr., he raised money for the headstone below, which is designed as an Ouija Board. Pretty cool Baltimore history if you ask me.

Elijah Jefferson Bond's headstone at Greenmount Cemetery.

from Epiphany in Baltimore http://ift.tt/29zZA0D Quirky Baltimore History: Happening Upon the Historical Marker for the Ouija Board Naming at the 7-Eleven at Charles & Center - Entrepreneur Generations

Posted by Entrepreneur Generations

Tweet