The Magic 8 Ball's background

 The Magic 8 Ball's background

Following the success of Barbie, Mattel is preparing further toy-themed movies, one of which is reportedly a horror-comedy directed by Jimmy Warden of Cocaine Bear and starring... the Magic 8 Ball.

But how did a billiards ball with fortune-telling abilities come to be?

An excellent traditional seance

Laura C. Cooper Pruden, a medium from Cincinnati, was one of several clairvoyants who profited from the spiritualism fad of the early 20th century.

Slate writing was her area of expertise. She and her clients were each holding a corner of a closed chalkboard that contained a bit of chalk. Her free hand was still on the table, but the chalk continued to write by itself.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a well-known admirer of Pruden's, once said, "It was an odd sensation to hold the slate and experiencing the thrill and vibration of the pencil as it hammered away inside."

family identity

The Psycho-Slate was the name of Pruden's contraption. Albert Carter, her son and inventor, expanded on the concept and produced the Syco-Seer: The Miracle Home Fortune Teller.

Inside a liquid-filled, windowed tube was suspended a dice with "answers" inscribed on both sides. Flip a question to discover your fate.

Carter asked Abe Bookman, a graduate of the Ohio Mechanics Institute, to assist in mass producing it. In order to market the "liquid filled die agitator" Carter and Bookman founded Alabe Crafts in 1944. Carter, however, never experienced the triumph of his creation. In 1948, a haemorrhage claimed his life.

Bookman continued

He repeated the process, creating a smaller replica before transforming it from a cylinder to a spherical, like a crystal ball.

Although it didn't sell well, Brunswick Billiards saw it and decided to use it as a promotional item. Having an eight-ball shape.

Even after the contract ended, Bookman continued to market and sell the eight ball version.

Morris and Rose Michtom, the creators of the teddy bear, formed Ideal Toys, which Bookman sold Alabe to in 1971. Ideal was purchased by View-Master International in 1984, View-Master by Tyco Toys in 1989, and Tyco by Mattel in 1997 for a total of $755 million ($1.4B in today's dollars).

As of 2012, the Magic 8 Ball was still a top seller, selling more than one million copies annually. And now a Hollywood celebrity will be involved.

By the way, the Ouija board has a similar history, with Hasbro, a major toy manufacturer, turning it into a movie. Here you may read all about it or listen to it.