Mystic Tray. Chicago: Haskelite Manufacturing Co., ca. 1940s. Wooden tray Ouija board covered in lithographed paper. With the original wooden “Mystic Hand" planchette. 15 ½ x 25". Scattered scuffing, staining, and abrasions. Good.
“The Haskelite Manufacturing Company specialized in the production of items using a propriety formula of waterproof glue produced from blood albumin, discovered around 1913 by the company's founder, Henry Haskell. By the time of the Second World War, the company had utilized the compound to develop a new form of composite plywood that that could be steamed pressed into a wide variety of shapes, including lightweight canoes, furniture, household goods, and a popular line of attractive yet affordable lithographed serving trays that reportedly sold over five million units annually. Walter F. Gibian, the head of Haskelite's Specialty Division who was instrumental in the development of the product line, noted the reemerging interest in Ouija as WWII drew to a close, and introduced the Mystic Tray to capitalize on the coming craze. The company advertised the tray sets heavily in the pages of Life and other high-profile national publications, making them one of the era's most iconic talking boards, and in the summer of 1944 expanded their product catalog with the introduction of the Hasko Mystic Board, among other designs."
– Brandon Hodge, The Mysterious Planchette