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Yo-yo History - Game Web |
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 The yo-yo is a toy consisting of two equally sized and weighted disks of plastic, wood, or metal, connected with an axle, with a string tied around it. First becoming popular in the 1920s, "yo-yoing" is still enjoyed by children and adults alike.
Basic design
A yo-yo has three basic parts: a round body, which holds the axle that is connected to a string, which is held by the player.
Body
A yo-yo is made from two equally-sized disks, connected by the axle. The axle is firmly connected to each disk and does not rotate relative to either half.
The two halves are separated by a thin gap, determined by the length of the axle. On some yo-yos the gap size can be adjusted. A string is wrapped around the axle, and the gap is generally narrow enough to only accommodate a few turns of the string before the string lies on top of itself.
When thrown, the body of the yo-yo spins as the string unwinds.
Basic play
To use, the player puts his/her finger through the loop at the end of the string and grasps the yo-yo. Then the player throws it downwards with a smooth light motion. When reaching the end of the string, the yo-yo can be made to "sleep," the axle of the yo-yo spinning within a loop of string. As the body of the yo-yo spins, a gyroscopic effect occurs, stabilizing the yo-yo on its axis and permitting time to perform a number of movements. By flicking the wrist, the yo-yo can be made to return to the player's hand, with the cord again completely twisted into the groove.
Generally, any movement or combination of movements which result in the return of the yo-yo to the player's hand in this fashion is considered a trick, although this is not an absolute standard.
Yo-yoing is a popular pastime around the world. Although generally associated with children, it is common for people who gain a level of proficiency at the sport in youth to continue playing into adulthood. A yo-yo player is referred to as a yo-yoer (most common), yoer, yoist, thrower," a flinger" or simply as a player.
History
The earliest surviving yo-yo dates to 500 BC, made using Terra cotta disks. A Greek vase from this period shows a boy playing yo-yo.
Origin of name and the Filipino yo-yo
The yo-yo is often credited as having been a weapon invented in the Philippines a few centuries ago. Despite the popularity of the claim, the idea of Yo-yo as weapon has been denounced by the Filipino American National Historical Society. The idea is also debunked as an urban legend by the chairman of the American Yo-Yo Association’s History and Collecting Committee.
The principal distinction between the Filipino design and previous, more primitive "back-and-forth" models is in the way the yo-yo is strung. One continuous piece of string, double the desired length, is twisted around itself to produce a loop at one end which is fitted around the axle. Also termed a looped slip-string, this seemingly minor modification allows for a far greater variety and sophistication of motion, thanks to increased stability and suspension of movement during free spin.
Birth of the modern yo-yo
The first United States patent on the toy was issued to James L. Haven and Charles Hettrich in 1866 under the name bandalore, however, the yo-yo would remain in relative anonymity until 1928 when a Filipino American named Pedro Flores opened the Yo-Yo Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, California. The business started with a dozen handmade toys; by November of 1928, Flores was operating two additional factories in Los Angeles and Hollywood, which altogether employed 600 workers and produced 300,000 units daily.
The Duncan era
Shortly thereafter (ca. 1930), an entrepreneur named Donald Duncan recognized the potential of this new fad and purchased the Flores Yo-yo Corporation and all its assets, including the Flores name, which was transferred to the new company in 1932. Duncan's first yo-yo thereafter was the Duncan O-BOY. Donald Duncan is reputed to have paid more than $250,000, a fortune by depression era standards. It turned out to be a sound investment, making many times this amount in the years to follow.
In 1946, the Duncan Toys Company opened a Yo-yo factory in Luck, Wisconsin, prompting the town to dub itself 'Yo-yo Capital of the World'. Ironically, the very sign erected by the town advertising that fact contributed to Duncan losing its trademark.
1960s resurgence
Declining sales after the Second World War prompted Duncan to launch a comeback campaign for his trademarked "Yo-Yo" in 1962 with a series of television advertisements. The media blitz was met with unprecedented success, and thanks in great part to the introduction of the Duncan Butterfly, the yo-yo was more accessible to the beginner than ever.
This success would be short-lived, however, and in a landmark trademark case in 1965, a federal court's appeals ruled in favor of the Royal Tops Company, determining that yo-yo had become a part of common speech and that Duncan no longer had exclusive rights to the term. As a result of the expenses incurred by this legal battle as well as other financial pressures, the Duncan family sold the company name and associated trademarks in 1968 to Flambeau Plastics, who had manufactured Duncan's plastic models since 1955. Flambeau Plastics continues to run the company today.
In 1962 a Duncan sued a rival yo-yo manufacturer, the Royal Manufacturing Company, claiming trademark infringement. In 1965, New York Supreme Court ruled in Royal's favor, finding that the term Yo-Yo had become a Genericized trademark. In the decision, the court cited the sign as referring to Luck as the 'Yo-yo capital of the world'. If Yo-yo was a trademark Duncan should have insisted the sign read 'Home of the Yo-yo brand return top' or similar words that reinforced Duncan's claim that Yo-yo was a brand name and not a generic term. Interestingly, Duncan had purchased the Canadian Yo-yo company Cheerio in 1954. Al Gallo, Cheerio's principal demonstrator, had already bought Cheerio's right to the Yo-yo trademark in Canada. Gallo formed National Yo-yo and Bo-lo Company after leaving Cheerio. In a similar suit, the Canadian Supreme Court decided in National's favor. The term Yo-yo is still a trademark in Canada. Al Gallo sold his company to Parker Brothers in 1978. Hired as a consultant by Parker Brothers, Gallo continued as a demonstrator into early 1981. Lee Thurber, Craig Hamilton (also known as writer Stash Cairo) and Harry Lee were some of the final demonstrators for Parker before Parker sold their rights to the trademark in Canada in 1982.
The 1970s and the rise of the ball bearing
The 1970s saw a number of innovations in yo-yo technology, primarily dealing with the connection between the string and the axle. In 1978, dentist and yo-yo celebrity Tom Kuhn patented the “No Jive 3-in-1” yo-yo, creating the world's first "take-apart" yo-yo, which enabled yo-yo players to change the axle.
Soon afterwards in 1980, Michael Caffrey patented what would later become the Yomega Brain, a yo-yo with a centrifugal clutch transaxle. Designed with a free-spinning ball bearing linkage, "The Brain" could spin much longer than previous fixed-axle designs. In addition, the axle was "clutched" with spring-loaded weights which would pull away from the axle at higher speeds and grab again at lower speeds. The result is an automatic return of the yo-yo when speed drops below a given threshold.
Swedish bearing company SKF briefly manufactured novelty yo-yos with ball bearings in the 1970s.
In all transaxle yo-yos, ball bearings significantly reduce friction when the yo-yo is spinning, enabling longer and more complex tricks. Subsequent yo-yoers used this ability to their advantage, creating new tricks that had not been possible with fixed-axle designs.
1990s technological renaissance
The 1990s saw a resurgence of the popularity of the yo-yo and yo-yo culture.
Continued development of yo-yo technology is evident in the widespread sale of the Yomega Brain, based on Michael Caffrey's design, and the Playmaxx Pro-yo, a take-apart fixed axle yo-yo.
In 1990, Tom Kuhn released the SB-2 yo-yo (short for Silver Bullet 2), a high-performance ball bearing transaxle made with aluminum. This marked a major breakthrough for the modern yo-yo, as it was the first ball bearing yo-yo that actually worked. This ensured extremely long spin times and the ability to return as well. This yo-yo, (along with his many other accomplishments in the yo-yo world), eventually brought him the title "Father of the modern yo-yo", receiving the "Donald F. Duncan Family Award for Industry Excellence" in 1998. He was the first to receive this award.
In the late 1990's, Yomega partnered with HPK Marketing and helped fuel the yo-yo boom that spread across the globe. From this partnership, Team High Performance was born, a group of skilled demonstrators that toured the world. In this period, Yomegas were heavily marketed in Japan, where Bandai produced several yo-yos under the Yomega name which were sometimes different from those sold in the US.
At the turn of the century, 1999-2000, Yomega partnered with McDonald's and distributed a large number of Yomega X-Brain and Firestorm yo-yos at outlets throughout the US.
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