The Magic 8 Ball has been nominated to the hall of fame at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y. "This toy is simple and focuses on something we're all intrigued by — the future," museum curator Michelle Parnett-Dwyer said a few days ago. The concept for what became the Magic 8 Ball began with a Cincinnati woman who used a chalk board as a "spirit writer" that would scratch out individual fortunes. The final product, with its patented floating die, was developed by Albert Carter and Abe Bookman and was introduced in 1946 by Alabe Crafts Co. of Cincinnati.