Magic Eight Ball

Magic Eight Ball is one of those toys that's almost not really a toy, much in the same realm as one of those balls with the electricity inside or those beaded plates you make impressions of your hand in. It's barely a toy, but darn it, it's famous enough to qualify, and to celebrate Blumhouse shelving their Magic Eight Ball horror movie, I'll be discussing the toy this week on the blog. I think everyone my age had a magic eight ball. I still do, in fact, it sits on my work desk. And when I say it's barely a toy, I'm not kidding. 

To me, to qualify as a toy requires a number of things. First off, you have to be fully interactive, and perhaps even playable with other toys. The Magic Eight Ball is not. It belongs to no man. It is its own thing. Second, you have to be able to be played with someone else. It can't. I mean, sure you could do it with someone else, but they'll likely beat you with it after not getting the answers they want. Third and finally, you have to have more than 1 moving part. This has 1 moving part, and it's a part you can't even touch that's encased in glass and what I can only assume are the liquified remains of souls.

But you know what it does have? A weird history.

The Magic Eight Ball was invented in 1946 by Albert C. Carter and Abe Bookman and is currently manufactured by Mattel. The functional component of the Magic 8 Ball was invented by Albert C. Carter, who was inspired by a spirit writing device used by his mother Mary, a Cincinnati clairvoyant. When Carter approached store owner Max Levinson about stocking the device, Levinson called in Abe Bookman, Levinson's brother-in-law, and graduate of Ohio Mechanics Institute. In 1944, Carter filed for a patent for the cylindrical device, assigning it in 1946 to Bookman, Levinson and another partner in what came to be Alabe Crafts, Inc., combining the founder's names, Albert and Abe. Alabe marketed and sold the cylinder as The Syco-Slate, but Carter died sometime before the patent was granted in 1948. Bookman then made improvements to The Syco-Slate, and in 1948 it was encased in an iridescent crystal ball. Though this iteration was not successful, the revamped product did catch the attention of Chicago's Brunswick Billiards, who in 1950 commissioned Alabe Crafts to make a version in the form of a traditional black-and-white 8 ball, which was possibly inspired by a gag in the 1940 Three Stooges short film, You Nazty Spy!

So, let's try and get this story straight, shall we?

A man, inspired by his mother who spoke to the dead, makes a toy designed to sort of give off that same mystical vibes. He then creates a company and gets a patent, but the toy doesn't sell well. The man then himself dies before it is financially successful, and after his death, the toy - still unsuccessful - somehow gains the attention of a Billiards company (what they're doing looking at toys remains to be seen) who then asks if they can remake the toy in the style of a traditional billiards eight ball, which may or may not be a reference to a sight gag in a 1940s Three Stooges short film. That is one hell of a weird ass history, which fits perfectly since this is one hell of a weird ass toy.

I'll say this much for it, it hasn't changed really at all since its billiards remake. They've been slight quality of life modifications and improvements, certainly, but nothing about the fundamental nature or design has been altered. In 1975, an addition by new owners, Ideal Toy Company, fixed the bubble problem with their patented "Bubble Free Die Agitator", an inverted funnel, which rerouted the air trapped inside and the solution has been utilized ever since, but really other than that it has been left alone, which to me is a miracle. Toys are often reconceptualized (that's a word now, you're welcome) every few decades to make them more appealing to the current generation of children who are the target consumer, but the Magic Eight Ball was so perfect from the get go, that is simply hasn't required an update in any way shape or form. Well, and there's also the fact of how do you update a ball.

If anything, the only truly cosmetic changes to the toy have come in the form of its packaging.

You may have noticed at the top of the post, the image I selected to represent it is in a very basic package, but there's something elegant about simplicity isn't there? The box is just red with cute yellow lettering, and it isn't trying to look flashy or cool. If anything, I think this packaging only adds to the mystique, because it's so plain, it draws you in and makes you wonder, "Well wait, this sounds spooky, why is it packaged so mundanely? I gotta check this out!". You may have also noticed the second iteration I chose to include, which is the packaging my Magic Eight Ball came in and I think today the standard packaging overall. It's a purple box with little white stars on it and a much more fun font design. Overall it's a lot cuter, a lot more visually enticing, but I still kinda like the simplicity of the first one more for some reason. This one, while great, feels like it's trying too hard. But you know what? Neither compares to my personal favorite.

This to me is the best one.

This combines the simplicity with fun design choices and even includes a pair of hands that look like they're preparing to tell your future in a crystal ball. It actually includes a callback to the original design format of the ball proper, and that's a neat little love for the history of the toy, honestly. I also love the color combination of the faded yellow and the cobalt blue. Sure the title font isn't amazing like the second one is, but it's good enough.

So yeah, if anything, the packaging of the Magic Eight Ball is the one thing that has changed most consistently over the years and I think it's because its one of those toys that is made by everyone, despite being owned. You can find Magic Eight Balls made by multiple companies in multiple places; Walmart, Spencers Gifts, that weird little hobby shop in the mall that nobody's ever in yet it never seems to go out of business so you question whether selling yarn or books about origami is actually their main source of income or if they are in fact, as you've theorized time and time again, simply a front for a massive drug operation. These things are inescapable, and they were one of the few toys you could bring to school and not have them immediately be considered toys or stolen because of how generic they were. A fun time could be had by all!

So that's the Magic Eight Ball. Not a lot to say, but it's a classic, and I think it was well overdue for its spot on the blog. I have one more thing to add though. On the Wikipedia entry, at the very bottom, are the patents listed for the toy.

First off, we have U.S. Patent 2,452,730 - Liquid Filled Dice Agitator ca 1944. Then we've got U.S. Patent 3,168,315 - Amusement Device 1961. But my personal favorite is the one that's in between the two, U.S. Patent 3,119,621 which is tied to Liquid Filled Dice Agitator Containing a Die Having Raised Indicia on the Facets Thereof 1962. That's such SO specific, and I love it.

God bless the patent office.