- Joined
- Dec 18, 2011
- Messages
- 38
Got it wrong
Corrections
William Fuld, first user of the "Ouija" name was not the inventor of the planchette system of automatic writing, nor was he the earliest patentee. The system goes back much earlier. There are reliable Chinese reports of a similar system in the 12th Century. Proponents and opponents of the game will even claim an earlier origin, usually Egyptian.
Not having access to the back issues of FT, I cannot confirm a memory of an early report of possession (Thanks, Monstrosa) in the 1900s. My suspicion is that it may be a report of a report, or an editing error such as "The Yellow Newspaper Times reported that in 190X ..." changing to "The Yellow Newspaper Times reported in 190X that ..." An unsubstantiated report of my own is that Microsoft "Word" grammar auto correct used to play tricks like that.
The earliest time for possession/hysteria for which I found a reference is supposedly from 1920 in El Cerrito, California found in Paranormal Suite 101 but there is no reference to where this report appeared at the time. Other unsourced reports can be found at the same site.
Some links I found displayed the same cavalier attitude to sources. Others, like the site Ouija: Not a Game referenced fonts (pun intended) of journalistic accuracy such as the "National Examiner" and "The Sun".
People interested in the history of the Ouija board should visit the site constructed by Robert Murch, William Fuld. com
Corrections
William Fuld, first user of the "Ouija" name was not the inventor of the planchette system of automatic writing, nor was he the earliest patentee. The system goes back much earlier. There are reliable Chinese reports of a similar system in the 12th Century. Proponents and opponents of the game will even claim an earlier origin, usually Egyptian.
Not having access to the back issues of FT, I cannot confirm a memory of an early report of possession (Thanks, Monstrosa) in the 1900s. My suspicion is that it may be a report of a report, or an editing error such as "The Yellow Newspaper Times reported that in 190X ..." changing to "The Yellow Newspaper Times reported in 190X that ..." An unsubstantiated report of my own is that Microsoft "Word" grammar auto correct used to play tricks like that.
The earliest time for possession/hysteria for which I found a reference is supposedly from 1920 in El Cerrito, California found in Paranormal Suite 101 but there is no reference to where this report appeared at the time. Other unsourced reports can be found at the same site.
Some links I found displayed the same cavalier attitude to sources. Others, like the site Ouija: Not a Game referenced fonts (pun intended) of journalistic accuracy such as the "National Examiner" and "The Sun".
People interested in the history of the Ouija board should visit the site constructed by Robert Murch, William Fuld. com
