View source for Magic 8 Ball

{{Short description|Toy fortune telling device}}
{{Infobox Toy
| name=Magic 8 Ball
| image=File:Magic8ball.jpg
| caption=The Magic 8 Ball
| type=[[Novelty item|Novelty toy]]
| inventor=Albert C. Carter<br>Abe Bookman
| company=[[Mattel]]
| from=1950
| to=present
| materials=[[Plastic]]<br>[[Alcohol (chemistry)|Alcohol]]<br>Blue coloring
| website=https://shop.mattel.com/products/magic-8-ball-dhw39
}}
The '''Magic 8 Ball''' is a plastic sphere, made to look like an oversized {{cuegloss|8 ball|eight ball}}, that is used for [[fortune-telling]] or seeking advice. It was invented in 1946 by Albert C. Carter and Abe Bookman and is manufactured by [[Mattel]].<ref name="britannica">{{Cite web |last=Grannan |first=Cydney |title=Where Did the Idea for the Magic 8 Ball Come From? |url=https://www.britannica.com/story/where-did-the-idea-for-the-magic-8-ball-come-from |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=www.britannica.com}}</ref> The user asks a [[yes–no question]] to the ball, then turns it over to reveal an answer that floats up into a window.

==Origin==
The functional component of the Magic 8 Ball was invented by Albert C. Carter,<ref name="britannica"/> who was inspired by a [[spirit writing]] device used by his mother, a Cincinnati [[clairvoyant]].<ref name="britannica"/> When Carter approached store owner Max Levinson about stocking the device, Levinson called in Abe Bookman, Levinson's brother-in-law, and graduate of [[University of Cincinnati College of Applied Science|Ohio Mechanics Institute]]. In 1944, Carter filed for a patent<ref>{{cite web|last1=Coopee|first1=Todd|title=Magic 8 Ball from Alabe Crafts (1946)|url=https://toytales.ca/magic-8-ball-alabe-crafts/|website=ToyTales.ca|date=12 December 2016 }}</ref> 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. Carter died sometime before the patent was granted in 1948.

Bookman made improvements to The Syco-Slate, and in 1948 it was encased in an iridescent [[crystal ball]]. Though not successful, the revamped product caught the attention of Chicago's [[Brunswick Bowling & Billiards|Brunswick Billiards]], which in 1950 commissioned Alabe Crafts to make a version in the form of a traditional black-and-white 8 ball,<ref name="Walsh-2005">{{Cite book |last=Walsh |first=Tim |title=Timeless Toys: Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them |publisher=[[Andrews McMeel Publishing]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7407-5571-2 |location=Kansas City, Missouri |pages=93–97}}</ref> which was possibly inspired by a gag{{Clarify|date=February 2025|reason=What is the gag?}} in the 1940 [[The Three Stooges|Three Stooges]] [[short film]], ''[[You Nazty Spy!]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Salem Press Encyclopedia|last=Minichiello|first=Mia|publisher=Salem Press|year=2015|chapter=The Great Dictator (film)}}</ref>

==Cultural impact==

Although originally sold as a [[paperweight]], the Magic 8 Ball remained popular for several decades as both an [[office toy]] and a children's toy.<ref name="Walsh-2005" />

In 1971, Bookman sold Alabe Crafts, Inc., to [[Ideal Toy Company|Ideal Toys]],<ref name="Walsh-2005" /> which marketed the ball firmly at children. In 1987, the rights were again sold to [[Tyco Toys]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rieselman |first=Deborah |title=Abe Bookman, UC alum, created everlasting Magic 8 Ball |url=https://magazine.uc.edu/famousalumni/designers/magic8.html |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=University of Cincinnati |language=en-US}}</ref> spurring on another marketing campaign and resurgence in interest. Tyco Toys was acquired by Mattel, the current manufacturer, in 1997. Despite its numerous owners, the Magic 8 Ball has changed little in design and implementation.

==Design and usage==
[[File:Magic 8 Ball - Instrument Of Evil? (2426454804).jpg|thumb|One of the 20 possible responses of the Magic 8 Ball.]]
The Magic 8 Ball is a hollow plastic sphere resembling a black-and-white 8 ball. Its standard size is larger than an ordinary pool ball, but it has been made in different sizes. Inside the ball, a cylindrical reservoir contains a white plastic 20-sided [[regular icosahedron]] [[dice|die]] floating in approximately {{convert|100|ml|usfloz|abbr=on|frac=2}} of alcohol dyed dark blue. Each of the die's 20 faces has an affirmative, negative, or non-committal statement printed in raised letters. These messages are read through a window on the ball's bottom.

To use the ball, it must be held with the window initially facing down to allow the die to float within the cylinder. After asking the ball a [[yes–no question]], the user then turns the ball so that the window faces up. The die floats to the top, and one face presses against the window; the raised letters displace the blue liquid to reveal the message as white letters on a blue background. Although most users shake the ball before turning it upright, the instructions warn against doing so to avoid white bubbles.

While the Magic 8 Ball has undergone very few changes, an addition in 1975 by new owners, [[Ideal Toy Company]], fixed the bubble problem.<ref>{{cite web |title=Today I Found Out |url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2016/05/inventing-the-magic-8-ball/ |website=Today I Found Out|date=2 May 2016 }}</ref> Its patented "Bubble Free Die Agitator", an inverted funnel, reroutes the air trapped inside.<ref>{{US patent|4049277}}</ref> The solution has been used ever since.

===Possible answers===
The 20 possible Magic 8 Ball answers were designed by Dr. Lucien Cohen, a [[psychology]] professor at the [[University of Cincinnati]]. The possible answers consist of 10 affirmative answers, five neutral, and five negative.<ref name="Walsh-2005" />
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan=2 | Affirmative
! Neutral
! Negative
|-
|
* It is certain
* It is decidedly so
* Without a doubt
* Yes definitely
* You may rely on it
|
* As I see it, yes
* Most likely
* Outlook good
* Yes
* Signs point to yes
|
* Reply hazy, try again
* Ask again later
* Better not tell you now
* Cannot predict now
* Concentrate and ask again
|
* Don't count on it
* My reply is no
* My sources say no
* Outlook not so good
* Very doubtful
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Toys}}
<!-- alphabetical order please [[WP:SEEALSO]] -->
<!-- please add a short description [[WP:SEEALSO]], via {{subst:AnnotatedListOfLinks}} or {{Annotated link}} -->
* {{Annotated link |Divination}}
* {{Annotated link |Flipism}}
* {{Annotated link |Fortune teller machine}}
* {{Annotated link |Ka-Bala}}
* {{Annotated link |Ouija}}
<!-- alphabetical order please [[WP:SEEALSO]] -->

== Patents ==

* {{US patent|2452730}}—''Liquid Filled Dice Agitator ca. 1944''
* {{US patent|3119621}}—''Liquid filled die agitator containing a die having raised indicia on the facets thereof, 1962''
* {{US patent|3168315}}—''Amusement Device ca. 1961''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Magic 8 Ball}}
* {{Cite web | url= http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/the-inscrutable-magic-8-ball-revealed/84167812/ | title= The Inscrutable Magic 8 Ball Revealed! | work = [[eBaum's World]] | access-date= September 24, 2017}}

{{Mattel}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1940s toys]]
[[Category:1950s toys]]
[[Category:1960s toys]]
[[Category:1970s toys]]
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[[Category:1990s toys]]
[[Category:2000s toys]]
[[Category:2010s toys]]
[[Category:2020s toys]]
[[Category:Divination software and games]]
[[Category:Mattel]]
[[Category:Novelty items]]
[[Category:Products introduced in 1946]]
[[Category:1940s fads and trends]]
[[Category:1950s fads and trends]]