The Yo-Yoone of the best known juggling tools, consists of a spool consisting of two lobes connected around the axis of which a thread or a thin rope is enveloped that allows you to maneuver it, has a fascinating and very ancient history. His name comes from the Philippines, where in Tagalog language it means “return”. Every year the June 6th The World Yo-Yo Day In honor of the birth of Donald Duncanthe US entrepreneur who in the 1920s founded Duncan Yo-Yo Company and contributed to spreading the modern Yo-Yo all over the world.
The origins of Yo-Yo
The first rehearsals of the existence of those that we could call Yo-Yo today date back to ancient Greecearound the 500 BC: These were terracotta, wood or metal records, with a cord in the center, similar to modern ones. Some ceramics show children intent on playing, but according to historians they could also have a symbolic role: Once they became adults, the young people offered them to the gods as a sign of maturity.
A fascinating legend-but never confirmed-wants the hunters to the Philippines used ropes with stones to hit animals from the top of the trees: a return weapon that recalls, at least in the beginning, the functioning of the Yo-Yo. Other hypotheses place its origins in India or in Chinabut with scarce tests.
The diffusion of the modern yo-yo: who invented it
In the eighteenth century the toy arrived in Europe with different names, such as bandalore in England or hemigret in France, but the big leap took place in the early twentieth century, thanks to Pedro Floresa Filipino immigrant in the United States. He worked as a dais in California, but in his spare time he had fun with a still rudimentary yo-yo. It was he who introduced a decisive modification: instead of tieing the rope to the axis, he brought it around it. This solution, called briefsallowed Yo-Yo to rotate longer and with more stability, making new tricks possible.
In 1928, Flores founded Santa Barbara la Yo-Yo Manufacturing Companythe first to produce Yo-Yo in series, with the slogan “The Wonder Toy”. His success attracted the attention of the entrepreneur Donald Duncanwhich in 1929 purchased the rights of the toy and recorded its name as a brand, thus was born the Duncan Yo-Yo Companywhich will launch legendary models such as the Duncan O-Boy. Duncan transformed the Yo-Yo into a mass phenomenon. He launched promotional tours, organized public tenders in schools, formed teams of professional demonstrators traveling across the country to show the most incredible tricks such as “Sleeper”where the yo-yo turns to the bottom of the rope, al “Walk the dog”that simulates a walking dog.
In the following years, Duncan began to produce plastic yo-yo, lighter and cheaper material than the wood. The effect was explosive: in 1962Duncan Company sells Over 45 million Yo-Yo In just one year, becoming one of the greatest commercial successes of the post -war period.
In the 1960s, however, sales drop and duncan invests in television advertising to relaunch the brand, also launching the famous Duncan butterflywith a more accessible design for beginners. But in 1965, after a legal case, the Court establishes that the word “yo-yo” has become commonly used. Duncan loses the brand and, due to the legal fees, is sold to Flambeau Plastics in 1968.
Yo-Yo becomes the first toy in space and a sporting discipline
Yo-Yo was even the protagonist of experiments in the space. In 1985, during the STS-51-D mission of Space Shuttle DiscoveryNASA brought a special yo-yo on board-the “Yo-Yo Toy Experiment” – To study the behavior of the angular moment in the absence of gravity. The goal was to understand how a rotating object in microgravity would behave, and the results were fascinating: in space, Yo-Yo does not “descend” as on earth, but but rotates freely as floatingoffering a practical example of applied physics that is still used today in classical mechanics lessons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxzr7qw7bfm
But it doesn’t end there. In the following decades, Yo-Yo has experienced a real rebirth, also becoming a competitive sport at international level. Today there are official events such as the World Yo-Yo ContestThe Japan National Yo-Yo ContesttheEuropean Yo-Yo Championship and numerous regional tournaments. The participants, called “yo-yo player”, perform in breathtaking acrobatic routines that combine speed, precision and creativity. The competitions are divided into different categories (from 1st to 5a) based on the style of play: some tricks provide for the use of one hand, others involve counterweights or more Yo-Yo at the same time.
How the Yo-Yo and its technical evolution works
Yo-Yo is an apparently simple object: two discs connected by a central axis, with a flowing string wrapped around. However, behind this simplicity there is a surprising technological evolution.
The basic operation of Yo-Yo is based on kinetic energy. When launched down, the rope unrolls, allowing the yo-yo to go down. If the rope is firmly tied to the axis, the Yo-Yo immediately returns to the hand. However, with the introduction of Pedro Flores’ “brief-sting” in the 1920s, the rope is wrapped in order to allow the Yo-Yo to “sleep”, that is to stay in rotation for a long time before going up.
In the 70s and 80s, Yo-Yo underwent significant innovations. Yo-Yo’s dentist and enthusiast Tom Kuhn patented in 1979 the “No Jive 3-in-1”the first yo-yo removable In the world, allowing players to change the axis. Subsequently, in 1990, he introduced the Yo-Yo SB-2 with an aluminum axis and ball bearings, reducing friction and allowing longer and more stable rotations.
The Swedish SKF company, in 1984, produced for a short Yo-Yo period with ball bearingsfurther contributing to the evolution of design. Today, Yo-Yo has become a high precision object. Modern models use materials such as aluminum and the Delinand incorporate advanced sphere bearings, such as the “konkave”, designed to keep the caught rope and reduce friction. These innovations have transformed the Yo-Yo into a tool to perform complex and prolonged tricks, bringing the game to competitive levels worldwide.
