A planchette, which comes from the French word for "little plank," is a small, flat piece of wood shaped like a heart. It has two wheels, a hole for holding a pencil, and is used to help write messages automatically. People believed that planchettes could help communicate with spirits during séances in the Victorian era. Over time, planchettes changed into simpler tools used on Ouija boards, which became more popular than the original writing planchettes. Scientists say the movement of planchettes is caused by the ideomotor effect, while others think spirits or energy move them.

During their most popular time, planchettes had many different shapes and sizes. In America, they were often heart- or shield-shaped, but makers created many designs to stand out in the competitive market. They used materials like wood, rubber, and glass, along with wheels made of bone or plastic. In Britain, planchettes had round, blunt ends and flat backs. Most planchettes had brass wheels and came with boxes filled with paper, pencils, and instructions about their mysterious powers.

Planchettes were very popular during the Victorian era but are now most often linked to the heart-shaped pointers on Ouija or "talking boards." These modern tools point to letters and numbers on a board instead of writing. Writing planchettes became famous in the mid-1800s spiritualist movement, which means they appeared about 40 years before the rise of talking boards.

History

Planchettes became popular after spiritualism started in America. Spiritualism began in 1848 with the Fox Sisters, who claimed to talk with spirits. This led to games, séances, and experiments where people tried to communicate with spirits. During these events, tables moved strangely, and spirits sent messages through knocks that meant "yes" or "no." In other cases, people spelled out messages by calling out letters in the alphabet and recording the knocks. Believers tried to improve these methods, such as pointing to letters on cards, automatic writing, and direct channeling.

In the winter of 1852–53, spiritualism spread to Europe. Allan Kardec, a French educator and founder of Spiritism, said that during a séance on June 10, 1853, a spirit suggested a faster way to communicate than knocking or calling letters. The spirit recommended using a pencil attached to a basket, allowing multiple people to write messages together. After improving the design with a wooden plank, the device became known as a planchette. News of the invention spread to Paris and England, where many people began making the devices.

Planchettes became popular in Europe, drawing the attention of the Bishop of Viviers, who criticized their use in a letter in 1853. Despite their importance in Spiritualism, planchettes remained a special novelty for followers for the next 15 years. They were made only by small businesses or on special request by instrument makers. During this time, planchettes were mainly used by Spiritualists and groups who relied on famous mediums like the Fox Sisters and D.D. Home, rather than using the devices themselves. Mediums often opposed planchettes, warning about the risks of amateur use.

Planchettes reached America in 1858 when Spiritualist Robert Dale Owen and his friend Dr. H.F. Gardner saw them in Paris. They brought several back, and their friend G.W. Cottrell started mass-producing planchettes in Boston the next year.

In 1867, the British magazine Once a Week published a dramatic article about planchettes. The article was reprinted in newspapers worldwide, and by 1868, many booksellers and toy makers were producing planchettes to meet high demand. Kirby & Co. claimed to sell over 200,000 planchettes in their first season alone.

Over time, companies like Selchow & Righter, George G. Bussey, Jaques & Son, Chad Valley, and Alexander, a famous magician and seer, produced planchettes.

Decline and evolution

After the Ouija board was introduced for sale by Charles Kennard's Kennard Novelty Company and Elijah Bond, Kennard's partner, purchased the patent for the talking board on July 1, 1890, automatic-writing planchettes became less popular compared to the suddenly successful Ouija board and its many copycat versions. Although early newspaper articles called the Ouija the "new planchette," the inventors quickly made clear that their device was different from traditional automatic writers. They used paddle-shaped, pencil-free pointers instead of the planchette designs common at the time. The new design, which included smoothly polished boards with clearly printed letters, seemed to work well. The public welcomed these boards enthusiastically, much like they had once embraced planchettes during a similar trend 23 years earlier. From this point, the older planchettes, which had been used for spirit writing for nearly 40 years, were quickly replaced by the Ouija boards. These new boards offered clearer and faster communication. Although planchettes experienced short periods of popularity again as the Ouija's popularity changed over time, by the 1930s, only British toy companies like Glevum Games still produced real writing planchettes in significant numbers. After World War II, when the Ouija board became popular again, true writing planchettes were no longer made in large amounts. They had been completely replaced by the Ouija board and faded into history.

In popular culture

In the late 1860s, planchettes were featured in popular songs sold as sheet music. In 1868, the C.Y. Fonda sheet music company in Cincinnati published a song called "Planchette Polka." The song was composed by August La Motte and dedicated to Kirby & Co, which was the leading planchette manufacturer at that time. Also in 1868, the Lee & Walker sheet music company in Philadelphia released a song titled "Planchette." The song included the chorus: "Planchette, planchette, oh! Let me see / What luck you have in store for me!" In 1870, the Oliver & Ditson sheet music company in Boston published "Planchette: The Celebrated Comic Song." The lyrics were written by G.A. Meazie Jr and popularized by singer Henry Clay Barnabee. Barnabee described the song as being named after a small fake psychic device, a popular trend at the time.

On July 9, 1892, the magazine Punch published a cartoon showing a mischievous devil pushing a planchette toward a prediction about the next Derby winner. The cartoon claimed the device would "put an end to all speculation."

On March 25, 1907, the Washington Post included a satirical cartoon titled "Political Planchette Board." The illustration showed President Teddy Roosevelt using a planchette to write the word "Victory" over two political groups: Independent Democracy and Progressive Republicans.

The use of a planchette appears in the 1948 novel No Highway by Nevil Shute. In the story, a message written through automatic writing helps locate the tail plane of a crashed aircraft.

In the 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Mrs. Montague uses a planchette to try to contact spirits in Hill House. Mr. Montague and others in the group disagree with her methods, calling them fake.

In the 1960s, artist Frederick Sands painted a watercolor called "La Planchette," showing a planchette in use.

In 2012, drag queen Sharon Needles wore a "Mystic Hand" planchette on her forehead during her win on RuPaul's Drag Race. She confirmed on her Facebook page that the planchette was made in the 1940s by the Haskell Manufacturing Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. It came with a version of a Ouija board called the "Hasko Mystic Board."

In August 2012, the Baltimore Museum of Industry held an exhibit showing the history of ouija boards. The exhibit included two rare planchette examples: a Selchow & Righter "Scientific Planchette" and a G.W. Cottrell "Boston Planchette."