Novelty:Syco Slate The Fortune Teller

In the late 1940s, the Alabe Crafts Company introduced the Magic 8 Ball, a popular variation of the gypsy's crystal ball. The size of a grapefruit, the fortune-telling device has been a popular novelty or toy ever since. The Magic 8 Ball has become an icon of popular culture, beginning perhaps with its appearance on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" in the 1960s. The toy's popularity has continued into the late 20th century on such television shows such as "Friends," "Seinfeld," "Murphy Brown," and the "Simpsons." The popular Magic 8 Ball evolved from Alabe Crafts's Syco Slate, a fortune-telling device introduced in 1948.