Mystic Quiz. Japan: Shackman, ca. 1956. Fortune telling Ouija board game in the original box with screen-printed wooden board and planchette. “For fortune telling, mind reading, seances, hypnotizing, automatic writing". Halloween graphics and an unusual planchette. One of the smallest boards made, uncommon. Board 7 x 11 3/4". Scuffing to the board. Some staining and tape on the box. Good.
“B. Shackman of New York City was a well-established family of novelty importers, formed first by the family's German immigrant patriarch, David Shackman, in the 1880s. After David's passing in 1898, his wife Bertha assumed control of and renamed the company under her own banner as B. Shackman & Co., which she and her children expanded over the ensuing decades into one of America's most prolific importers and distributors of toys and novelty goods. With a catalog that grew to encompass a wide range of esoteric offerings over the years, including cake charms, fortune-telling cards, and tasseography teacups, the company added to their occult products in 1956 when they imported diminutive talking boards from Japan and Taiwan branded as the Mystic Quiz talking board, with this model's right-hand corner pentagram symbol indicating it is of Japanese origin."
- Brandon Hodge, The Mysterious Planchette