This is a rare survivor from the 1960s - it is a board game that was released by Waddingtons of Leeds. It consists of a wooden Ouija Board - with a printed design on the top (with grain to resemble wood - but it was printed on paper and varnished). It also have a pointer - which would have been pushed over the board to the letter - to spell out words and messages to the participant from the "over side". It was all designed initially by William Fuld. The pointer in my game does not have the little glass covering the hole in the centre of the pointer.
Ouija boards first appeared in the 1880s when American Spiritualist group used boards and pointers or planchettes to communicate with the dead and spirits.
William Fuld, a businessman, took over the Kennard Novelty Company in 1892, which later became the William Fuld Manufacturing Company in 1901. After Fuld's death in 1927, his children continued production until Parker Brothers acquired the company in 1966.
Waddingtons, a British board game manufacturer, then acquired the rights to produce the Ouija board for the British market in 1968. The design of the Waddingtons Ouija board was nearly identical to the 1960s Fuld boards (indeed the pointers or planettes are identical).
The Waddingtons Ouija boards were initially a commercial success in 1968 - but it soon met with media hysteria with the thought that innocent teenagers were engaging in occult and paranormal practices. Waddingtons decided to remove the game from shelves after a year, deeming it unsuitable for a family business. So these boards are now hard to source - and are highly collectable board games from the Waddingtons range.
Please note that the Waddingtons games are harder to find than the Fuld's ones made by Parker - due to them having to be quickly withdrawn from production and sale!
The board measures 30 x 45 cm. The board is in pristine condition - and I don't think that it has ever been played with - the surface of the paper is not rubbed or scuffed in any way. The cream hearted shaped pointer is also in good clean unused condition but seems to not have a glass cover in the centre.
The box - has not faired so well. There are a couple of little tears - where the little sides closure flaps on the shorter sides slot into the main box (the tears were down by excited hands rushing to open the box). This occurs on both side of the box - and have photographed this for you - not so obvious when the flap is inserted. The top and back has just fine - with no tears, stains or scuffs.
The little bit of damage to outer box is reflected in my asking price. This is a fair price as not many of these survive - especially with an unused board! This is probably an item for the collector of rarer 1960s board games or occult themed toys!
It will be sent to you on the UK with Royal Mail Medium Size Parcel This will be applied to your order at the checkout.