Though William Fuld Did Not Invent The Ouija Board He Was The Marketing Mastermind Behind The Game’s Popularity. Photo: Courtesy, WilliamFuld.com
Did The Ouija Board Cause William Fuld’s Death?
William Fuld did not invent the Ouija board; that credit belongs to Charles Kennard, another Baltimore businessman who came up with the idea of commercializing the “spirit board,” a previously homemade divination tool or toy used by spiritualists in the late 1800s. Nor did Fuld name the Ouija board. In fact, the Ouija board apparently named itself.
However, Fuld was the great entrepreneur who took control of Kennard’s company in 1892, the year after the Ouija business started, and ran it for three and a half decades. In the interim, Fuld successfully promoted his talking board, popularizing it until it became a bonafide international craze.
Fuld also built larger and larger Ouija board factories in order to keep up with constantly growing demand. And it was in 1927, while walking on the roof of his newest factory, that Fuld suffered the freak accident that ended his life. He make the tragic mistake of leaning on a support that gave way, lost his balance, and plunged to his death on the ground below.
Fuld’s survivors later reported that the Ouija entrepreneur had told them it was the Ouija board itself that had recommended that he build that particular factory. . . .
His family carried on with the business following his untimely passing.
