Short Stuff: Magic 8 Ball | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey and welcome to the short stuff. I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's here. sitting in for Dave. This is short stuff. and we're talking about the magic. eightball. Probably know what that is. Uh we have one in our house. You know, it's kind of one of those toys that I. think most Gen Xers and actually knowing. how old it is, probably uh boomers. bought for Gen Xers and now Gen Xers are. buying for their alphas and. >> zoomers and I don't know where.

>> millennials got left out, >> but this is the the classic toy. Uh I. assume most people have seen this, but. in other countries you may not know what. we're talking about, but it is. essentially a looks like a billiard's. ball. It's about the size of a maybe a. grapefruit. And it's got a little flat. uh side um on let's say the bottom. And. in that side, it's got a little clear. window with some some dark liquid. And. floating in that liquid is a 20-sided.

die with a bunch of answers to yes or no. questions with the idea being that you. ask it a question. You shake this thing. up and then you see what the answer. tells you. Very simple. >> That's it. And it is very simple, but. it's like I think that's the case with a. lot of stuff that just becomes a part of. pop culture. >> Yeah, totally. >> There's not much to it, but just. something about it comes together and. makes everybody love it. And the Magic. Eightball is no different. It's. definitely one of the um more successful. toys to come out of the 20th century.

And it dates back as far um back as the. 40s as a matter of fact or actually the. early 50s. But the story begins further. back than that because there was a. prototype that was created by a man. named Albert Carter and he was. brothersin-law with a guy named Abe. Bookman and both of them together helped. found the company that would eventually. go on to um create Magic Eightballs. basically based on Carter's idea that he. got from his mom. >> Yeah, it's a pretty cool story. So, his.

mom was a self-proclaimed clairvoyant. and very popular at the time in. Cincinnati uh during the age of. spiritualism and used a spiritual. writing or psychic writing device to. communicate with the beyond supposedly. And Carter was like, "Mom, you're the. best. You're so cool." uh during World. War II, he built a prototype of a toy, sort of in honor of what she was doing. that he called at first the psychosoce. uh s-. which was essentially what's inside of.

the magic eightball. Now, it was a tube. divided in half and each side has that. dark liquid and each side had a die and. you would turn it one side up or the. other side up to see what it said. >> Yeah. So there's the basis of the magic. aball right there because that's. essentially what a magic apball is. today. >> Yeah. >> So um Carter went around and he's like. he's showing it to local um stores in in. Cincinnati and he hits upon one that's. like I love these. I want a bunch of. them. Not only do I want to sell them in. my store, I want to start distributing.

these. Let's do it. And Carter uh had. big-time struggles with alcoholism from. what I've read. Um, so he's like, "I. have no idea how to make anything. mass-produced. I just have good ideas.". So he turned to his brother, a Bookman, who was the kind of person who could get. things done. And they formed a. partnership. Um, a Bookman apparently. had um he they were they were close as. um brothersin-law could be. Um I think. Bookman kind of had almost like a.

caretaker. >> heart for um for Carter. He said, "When. he was sober, he was a genius. Yeah, >> he was always broke, but I bought every. idea he ever had, and that gave him. enough money to keep going. >> So, when Carter turns the bookman and. says, "I've got this really good idea, but I have no idea how to fulfill any. orders. Can you help me?" Like I said, they formed a partnership. >> That's right. Uh Carter got the patent. and they named it Psychosoce Colon, uh. the Miracle Home Fortune Teller. Uh a.

few years later, they modified it a bit. to to say basically made it smaller, it. sounds like. >> Yeah. and then called it the psychoslate. colon the pocket fortune teller colon we. can't get it any smaller everybody. >> so don't ask. >> and then uh in 1946 they formed a. novelty company uh named uh Alab Crafts. from Albert and Abe their names and uh. very sadly I imagine probably um. somewhat due to the life he was living. um living Carter died and Abe was the.

sole owner of the company and maybe. that's a. cliffhanger to see what happens next. >> I think it's perfect. >> All right, we're going to take a break. and we'll be right back.

So, uh, where we left off, um, uh, Albert Carter died sadly and a Bookman. was running the company and he continued. making novelties. And somewhere along. the line, the Psycho Seer caught the. attention of the Brunswick Billiard. Company out of Chicago. They make pool. tables. They make uh bumper bowling. balls. And in 1950 they went to um. Bookman and said, "Hey, this psychosoce. thing's awesome, but can you like make. it into an eightball?".

And uh Bookman was like, "You're talking. about the billiard version of the. eightball, right?" And they were like, "Yes, yes, we don't even know what. you're talking about at this point." Um. and so he said, "I think I can do that.". and he got busy making uh taking. essentially the psycho seere and. building a plastic a-ball around it. >> That's right. Uh pretty good idea. This. time it just has the one die. You know, you didn't need to have two sides. because you just had the one window. >> Um I never knew it was 20-sided. When I. read that I was like, that's got to be a. misprint. There's no more than 10. answers on that thing.

>> Wrong. >> But I'm wrong. Uh there are 10. affirmative answers. And of course, if. you've played it, you'll recognize. these. If not, it says things like uh it. is certain or outlook good. >> Uh there are five negative answers. ranging from outlook not so good. >> to my sources say no and don't count on. it. >> Yeah. >> And five non-committal answers like uh. hazy try again uh ask again later. And. the idea everybody is that you're having. a slumber party and you're asking if.

this boy or this girl thinks you're cute. or something. >> I mean that's generally what it's used. for. Like I don't people don't really. consult it for like big life decisions, but if you're a kid, that's kind of what. we were like, you know, we were doing. with it. >> If you're on TV in a sitcom or a movie, then you might consult it for a big life. decision. But yes, you. >> Yeah, sure. >> I would guess the average person. wouldn't do that, right? >> No, you just want to find out if. somebody's crushing on you. >> So, um, and then after that, it's light.

as feather, stiff as a board. >> That's right. Because your sources said. no. So, what else is there to do? Um, so, uh, Brunswick customers love. this stuff. I'm guessing these are like. wholesalers, retailers of billiard. tables, that kind of thing. And they're. like, I love this. Thank you so much, Brunswick. I'll be a customer forever. And so, Egg A Bookman was like, I'm just. going to start making these for the. general public and sell them. And. initially, he said, you know what this. is? It's a great paper weight. >> Yeah. and he sold them as a novel.

novelty paper weight for adults which is. a really niche item and it was not. necessarily the best the best business. move. >> Yeah, it's funny. I feel like there are. a lot of stories like that where the. thing that ended up being a huge hit, they initially were just so way off in. what they thought people were going to. like about it, >> right? >> You know, >> Yeah. And that's a great example of it. >> Yeah. New Coke, >> right? Yeah. New Coke for sure. uh and. they they quickly became uh part of pop. culture once he realized that that teens.

love these things. Uh they started to. buy them and he said, "Oh, I missed I. missed on what everyone like this is. clearly a toy and and teens have slumber. parties and want to know if if people. are crushing on them, so I'm going to. make a million bucks selling these. things." And he did. He made many. millions of bucks, I imagine. >> Yeah. Apparently, they sell a million a. year reliably. If you own the Magic. Eightball rights, you can expect to sell. a million of them a year every year. >> That's awesome. Let's get those rights.

>> Yeah. So, you said they're part of pop. culture, and I mentioned that sometimes. on on movies and TV, people will consult. them for um big life decisions. That's. called a mcguffin. That means that Magic. Gateball is a mcguffin. Chuck, I think. you should explain it because um you're. the movie guy. Uh, I don't even know how. how to best describe a mcguffin. I mean, I think it's something that uh of low. import in reality, but is um has high.

import as far as what it means in the in. the film. Is that about right? >> Yeah, it moves it moves the plot along. >> Yeah. It's not a fake thing, but it's. not like it's not like you actually. found the plans or or the or the. treasure map. You know, a treasure map. wouldn't be a mcguffin unless the. treasure didn't end up being a treasure. and it's just what brought you to the. place to meet the girl. >> Does that make sense? >> No, you just you just channeled me. >> No, no. I I think I got it. If you if.

there's a treasure map, >> right, >> and it leads to the treasure. >> Okay. >> Then that thing isn't a mcguffin. That's. a it's a real deal like plot piece or. whatever. >> Okay. But if that treasure map leads you. to Brazil and there is no treasure at. all, but what really happens in Brazil. is X, Y, and Z. >> Okay. >> Then the treasure map would have been a. mcguffin. >> But then does the stuff that happens in. Brazil, the X, Y, and Z you referred to, is that what the movie is actually. about?

>> Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. So that's not like a boondoggle or. anything like that? >> See, now I don't even know what's a. boondoggle. A a boondoggle would be if the treasure. map led to Brazil and X, Y, and Z. happening. But that was a detour where. really the movie is about getting to the. treasure. >> Oh, okay. Are we talking about Romancing. the Stone? >> I I think inevitably we just kind of. fell into that. >> That was Cartahia, though. >> It It was It was in Brazil. Cardahia. Colombia.

>> Yeah, that movie really holds up, by the. way. >> I know. I saw it um not too long ago. You told me you showed it to Ruby and. she liked it too. >> Yeah. Yeah, that's right. I talked about. this. So fun. >> So yeah, that's a mcguffin. And back to. the magic. >> There's a really great use of it. Um I. guess it would be a mcguffin in the. Simpsons from 1992. I think it's Bart's. friend falls in love where Bart and. Milhouse are on the bus at the beginning. and they're asking the Magic Aball how. long they'll be friends. And after a. series of questions, they find out that.

the Magic Aball tells them their. friendship will be over by the end of. that day. And it turns out some new girl. comes to school, captures Milhouse's. heart, and Bart starts to get like. jealous that Milhouse is distracted from. him and their friendship because of some. girl. And they end up getting in a fight. and Bart strikes Milhouse with the magic. aball later on in the treehouse. >> I think I remember that one. Uh. >> it's a great one. >> Also, by the way, I know we could have. looked up the definition of McGuffin, but uh I think that was a little more.

fun. We've been getting some flak lately. on not looking up pronunciations. Um. >> Oh, yeah. >> Yeah. A little bit here and there. I. think some some snarky guy on Instagram. was bagging on you because of uh Nvidia. >> Uh apparently it's apparently it's. Nvidia. >> Yeah. Oh, and also we got taken to test. for Tagalog. >> Yeah. You know, sorry. >> Yeah. >> And also like when you when you spell. something NV dot dot dot, it's a little.

confusing. Sure. Sure, we could have. looked it up, but I don't know. That's. just not our style. >> Yeah. Plus, I was confused. I thought we. were talking about Nivea, the skincare. brand. >> Oh, see, >> that sponsors the the ball drop in Times. Square. They're also a chipmaker, I. imagine. >> That's actually. the short stuff out. >> Oh, yeah. I guess so. >> All right. >> Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart.

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