When did the Ouija board become more popular than Monopoly? In 1967 the American company Parker Brothers sold 2.3 million Ouija boards - 300 thousand more copies of Monopoly. Moreover, both games belonged to the same manufacturer: the company had acquired the rights to Ouija just a year earlier for $975,000. The history of the board began in the 19th century, when Americans became addicted to séances. The participants held their hands on a board with letters and a pointer, asked questions and made up answers from the letters they moved to. True, even then scientists explained the movement of the pointer by the idiomotor effect - involuntary muscle movements of the participants who themselves do not notice how they direct the tablet. In 1890, entrepreneur Charles Kennard organized the production of similar boards in Baltimore. Already in February 1891, his partner Elijah Bond received a patent for a device called Ouija. Later, the business was taken over by William Fold - he was the one who managed to turn spirituality into mass entertainment. The Ouija board was advertised as a party game that promised answers to questions about the past and the future. In the mid-1960s, Ouija once again found itself on the crest of a wave. It could be purchased at regular toy stores and the board cost about $3. The Parker Brothers promoted it heavily on the radio: in 1967 the promotional song "Hey Ouija" was played on 60 stations. Interestingly, for a long time the Ouija board was associated with home entertainment. The movie "The Exorcist" brought her an evil reputation.

When did the Ouija board become more popular than Monopoly? In 1967 the American company Parker Brothers sold 2.3 million Ouija boards - 300 thousand more copies of Monopoly. Moreover, both games belonged to the same manufacturer: the company had acquired the rights to Ouija just a year earlier for $975,000. The history of the board began in the 19th century, when Americans became addicted to séances. The participants held their hands on a board with letters and a pointer, asked questions and made up answers from the letters they moved to. True, even then scientists explained the movement of the pointer by the idiomotor effect - involuntary muscle movements of the participants who themselves do not notice how they direct the tablet. In 1890, entrepreneur Charles Kennard organized the production of similar boards in Baltimore. Already in February 1891, his partner Elijah Bond received a patent for a device called Ouija. Later, the business was taken over by William Fold - he was the one who managed to turn spirituality into mass entertainment. The Ouija board was advertised as a party game that promised answers to questions about the past and the future. In the mid-1960s, Ouija once again found itself on the crest of a wave. It could be purchased at regular toy stores and the board cost about $3. The Parker Brothers promoted it heavily on the radio: in 1967 the promotional song "Hey Ouija" was played on 60 stations. Interestingly, for a long time the Ouija board was associated with home entertainment. The movie "The Exorcist" brought her an evil reputation.