For over 70 years the Magic 8 Ball has been a staple in most toy boxes and college dorm rooms, used to answer yes or no questions about the future. By shaking and flipping the ball over, it reveals its answers.

The mechanics are pretty simple. It’s a hollow plastic sphere with a 20-sided die floating inside dark blue alcohol. The die is imprinted with ten affirmative answers like “Yes – definitely,” five non-committal ones such as “Ask again later,” and five negatives, including “Don’t count on it.” From there, users ask questions and roll the die for answers.

The Magic 8 Ball is a toy that went through multiple significant early drafts on its way to becoming the plastic fortune telling toy we know and love. Albert C. Carter invented the toy, originally a cylindrical device, based on a spirit writing device that his mother used. He pitched the product to store owner Max Levinson to stock the toy, who in turn contacted Abe Bookman to help fine tune the toy. Together, Carter and Bookman established Alabe Crafts Inc. and marketed the toy to the Syco-Slate in the late 1940s.

Carter died before the patent was granted, so Bookman worked with Syco-Slate to redesign it as a crystal ball. It was originally slow to gain attention, though it did catch the eye of Chicago’s Brunswick Billiards. In 1950 they commissioned Alabe Crafts to make a version that looked like an eight ball. Since then, that has been the primary design recognized by advice and future seekers everywhere.