Behind the Magic 8 Ball - A History of America's Favorite Fortune Teller

For better or worse, the Magic 8 Ball® has made more decisions for more people than the president and congress combined. So what is the secret behind the Magic 8 Ball? What are its mystical origins?

What is the Magic 8 Ball®?
For those who have never heard of a Magic 8 Ball®, the toy looks like an oversize eight ball from pool with a clear, flat area on the bottom. Inside the Magic 8 Ball's hollow plastic sphere is a mysterious blue liquid and a white plastic icosahedral die (twenty-sided die). Each side of the twenty-sided die has a statement printed on it with upraised letters. When the Magic 8 Ball® is turned over to reveal its transparent, flat window, the die floats to the top and a message is revealed.

History of the Magic 8 Ball®
Although currently manufactured and trademarked by Mattel Toys, the Magic 8 Ball® was invented in 1946 by Abe Bookman of the Alabe Crafts Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. But the story from here gets as murky as the dark blue fluid inside the Magic 8 Ball ® itself. It seems that a man named Albert Carter assigned the patent rights to Bookman, so which man actually invented the Magic 8 Ball®? The outlook is uncertain.

According to Bookman, the idea for the toy that would become the Magic 8Ball ® began with Albert Carter's mother, Mary, who was a local psychic and fortune teller in Cincinnati. She had created a device called a Psycho-Slate that used a chalkboard in an enclosed box. When she asked it a question and closed the lid to the box, a few minutes later a message would be written on the chalkboard.

Inspired by this device, Albert Carter created the Syco-Seer, which, according to its label, was the "Miracle Home Fortune Teller." The Syco-Seer wasn't a ball, it was a cylinder, but it still operated under the same basic principles that would be incorporated into the Magic 8 Ball®. Instead of one die, the Syco-Seer had two suspended in the same murky liquid used in the later Magic 8 Ball ®.

Carter took his Syco-Seer to a Cincinnati store owner, Max Levinson, who liked the Syco-Seer so much he wanted to mass produce them. Levinson asked his brother-in-law, Abe Bookman, to figure out a way to efficiently make the novelty. In 1946, Albert Carter and Abe Bookman formed the Alabe Crafts Company to make and market the device. Before the patent was assigned, in 1948, Carter died, and Bookman forged ahead on his own.

Bookman looked for way to make the Syco-Seer less expensive to make. He tried a smaller version, the Syco-Slate and reduced the number of dice inside to one. This version was not very successful. In 1948, Bookman placed the cylinder inside a ball to simulate a fortune teller's crystal ball, but this version wasn't very successful either. However, it did attract the attention of another company interested in making balls - Brunswick Billiards.

In 1950, Brunswick Billiards hired Alabe Crafts to make some of its fortune telling balls look like pool balls as part of a promotional campaign. Alabe responded by encasing its fortune teller cylinders into an oversized 8 ball sphere, and the Magic 8 Ball was born. Once the successful promotion ended, Bookman continued marketing his fortune-telling balls to the public with a new name - the Magic 8 Ball ®.

Tyco later acquired the Magic 8 Ball® from Alabe, and when Mattel Toys bought out Tyco, the Magic 8 Ball® was theirs.

How the Magic 8 Ball® Works
The 20-sided die located inside the Magic 8 Ball® is made of a white plastic material with raised lettering suspended in a mysterious blue liquid. The lettering is raised so that the letters will be visible as they press upon the clear window. You should not shake your Magic 8 Ball® as this may create air bubbles that will interfere with the letters' ability to seal against the clear window, making them illegible.

The Magic 8 Ball's Answers Revealed
Inside a standard Magic 8 Ball ® is a twenty-sided die printed with answers. Of the die's 20 responses, 10 of them are affirmative statements (yes or some variant); five are vague, and five are negative responses (no or some variant).

The 20 answers in a standard Magic 8 Ball ® are:

As I see it, yes

Ask again later

Better not tell you now

Cannot predict now

Concentrate and ask again

Don't count on it

It is certain

It is decidedly so

Most likely

My reply is no

My sources say no

Outlook good

Outlook not so good

Reply hazy, try again

Signs point to yes

Very Doubtful

Without a Doubt

Yes

Yes, definitely

You may rely on it

Virtual Magic 8 Ball®
Just for fun, you can try an online Magic 8 Ball® HERE. This site is not connected with Mattel Toys nor the real Magic 8 Ball ® in any way.

Custom Magic 8-type Balls
You can find a source to make customized 'Fortune Balls' HERE.

Or if you are really industrious you can try to customize your own Magic 8 Ball ® following the instructions found HERE.

Be careful draining the blue liquid, it's evidently difficult to wash off. If you don't believe me, just ask your own Magic 8 Ball®. Its outlook is certain.