While very few true writing planchette patents exist, dozens of patents for variations of dial plates, talking boards, and other alphabetic spirit communication devices do. In many cases, inventors patented their pet devices but never found the funds to manufacture them, and the examples of what might have been exist only in two dimensions. But we hold out hope that prototypes, short-production runs, or other samples still exist out in the world, and it is the purpose of this page to train the watchful eyes of our visitors so they will know the wide range of possibilities that exist in talking tables. Some, like the 1891 Bond patent, went on to revolutionize the world of talking boards and decorate the walls of collectors the world over. Others, like the 1854 Wagner patent, serve as important milestones for researchers. Still others are just intriguing clues to the personalities behind the Spiritualist movement and those attempting to break through the veil of the afterlife. The following gallery of patents is by no means exhaustive, but was selected from those patents that our curator believes have the best chance of having once been, however briefly, a physical reality.
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