Fun fact: Ouija was originally conceived as a simple board game with no relation to the occult whatsoever

It wasn't until the mid-20th century when the idea of it being some divining tool to contact spirits came about, which has twisted around its harmless origins as a mere board game. Which makes it hilarious when it's used as a plot point or even the centerpiece in horror, when it's essentially just a toy.

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BlueSkyKing · M

Imagine making a board for the Chinese language. It would need a small room.

The Ouija board was first introduced to the American public in 1890 as a parlor game sold in novelty shops.

E.C. Reiche, Elijah Bond, and Charles Kennard ... created an all new alphanumeric design. They spread the letters of the alphabet in twin arcs across the middle of the board. Below the letters were the numbers one to ten. In the corners were "YES" and "NO."

Kennard called the new board Ouija (pronounced 'wE-ja) after the Egyptian word for good luck. Ouija is not really Egyptian for good luck, but since the board reportedly told him it was during a session, the name stuck.*

Kennard lost his company and it was taken over by his former foreman, William Fuld, in 1892.

One of William Fuld's first public relations gimmicks, as master of his new company, was to reinvent the history of the Ouija board. He said that he himself had invented the board and that the name Ouija was a fusion of the French word "oui" for yes, and the German "ja" for yes.*

https://skepdic.com/ouija.html

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