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The yo-yo has enjoyed many periods of popularity throughout world history and may the second oldest toy in the world (after dolls). There are ancient Greek yo-yos made of terra cotta in museums in Athens and yo-yos are pictured on the walls of Egyptian temples. The Yo Yo is known to have been popular with such important warriors as Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington. First patented in 1866 by James L. Haven and Charles Hettrich, the Yo-Yo has enjoyed periods of popularity for generations with kids from 1 - 100.
The modern story of the yo-yo starts with a young gentleman from the Philippines, named Pedro Flores. In the 1920s, he moved to the USA, and worked as a bellhop at a Santa Monica hotel. Carving and playing with wooden yo-yos was a traditional pastime in the Philippines, but Pedro found that his lunch break yo-yo playing drew a crowd was the first appearance of the name "yo-yo," which means "come-come" in the at the hotel. He started a company to make the toys, calling it the Flores Yo-Yo Company.
Donald F. Duncan, an entrepreneur first encountered the yo-yo during a business trip to California. A year later, in 1929, he returned and bought the company from Flores, acquiring not only a unique toy, but also the magic name "yo-yo." About this time, Duncan introduced the looped slip-string, which allows the yo-yo to sleep - a necessity for advanced tricks.
During the 1950s, Duncan introduced the first plastic yo-yos and the Butterfly® shaped yo-yo, which is much easier to land on the string for complex tricks. The biggest yo-yo boom in history (until 1995) hit in 1962, following the innovative use of TV advertising. Financial losses at the end of the boom, and a costly lawsuit to protect the yo-yo trademark from competitors forced the Duncan family out of business in the late 60s. Flambeau Products, who made Duncan's plastic models, bought the company and still owns it today.
DID YOU KNOW:
- the word "yo-yo" itself was a registered trademark of Duncan until 1965.
- The World's Most Valuable Yo-Yo belonged to country star Roy Acuff. The yo-yo was a present from Acuff to President Richard Nixon. Nixon tried a few yo-yo tricks with it (he didn't fare very well), then autographed the yo-yo and gave it back to Acuff. When Acuff died, the yo-yo was sold at auction. It fetched $16,000.
- According to the Duncan Yo-Yo Company, yo-yos are the world's second-oldest known toy. The oldest? The doll.
- Since the 1930s, over half a billion yo-yos have been made and sold.
- Donald F. Duncan Jr., son of Duncan Yo-Yo founder Donald F. Duncan, is trying to get yo-yoing entered as an Olympic sport.
- The first World Yo-Yo contest was held in 1932.
- Donald Duncan paid Pedro Flores $25,000 to by Flores's yo-yo company. It was the best $25,000 he ever spent.
- The fad that began in the late 1920s, and was predicted to last "shorter than a case of measles" now has produced its fourth generation of players.
- There was no legal patent held for the standard yo-yo by Pedro Flores. He did apply for and receive a trademark for the Flores Yo-yo and this was registered on July 22, 1930. It was shortly after this that Flores sold his interest in the yo-yo factories which were later acquired by the Donald Duncan Yo-Yo Company.
- Donald F. Duncan is also credited with popularizing the parking meter and introducing Good Humor "ice cream on a stick."
- "yo-yo" (meaning "come-come", "come back" or "return" in the native language of the Philippines, Tagalog.)
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