A Company who produced the board commercially was founded and the first boards rolled off the production line. A new owner soon took over - he was the famous William Fuld, pretty soon he was producing Ouija Boards in record numbers. The Fuld family owned the business until 1966 when Parker Brothers took over. Matters weren't helped when it went round that the Exorcist was supposedly based on a true story. Since then it has suffered much bad publicity and all sorts of religious damings.
People are scared of the board and quite often feel compelled to go and burn it in the backyard.
There should be no need to do this as it's only a cheap piece of wood with some writing on it - there is nothing evil about an Ouija board. Tiredness will stop the board from working properly - make sure all members of the seance are fully awake and not overly tired. Non believers and overly skeptical people will also ruin a seance, it's a good idea to approach a board with an open mind and a willingness to accept whatever comes forth. If you feel that someone is pushing the planchette ask them to remove their hands for a short time. ALSO it is strongly believed that if you do ask a spirit to prove that it is there that you are opening up a doorway to the other side, one that is very hard to close, you are inviting unwanted guests into this world that you may not be able to send home.