The History of the Yo-Yo

Did you know that the yoyo or yo-yo is considered the second oldest toy in history, the oldest being the doll? Neither did I! Apparently, the yo-yo has been around for over 2500 years.


In ancient Greece, the toy was made of wood, metal and terra cotta and decorated with pictures of Greek gods. Over the years, the yo-yo has been known by many names. The British called the yoyo the bandalore, quiz or the Prince of Wales toy. The French used the name incroyable or l'emigrette. However, yo-yo is a Tagalog word, the native language of the Philippines, and means "come back".

People in the United States started playing with the British bandalore in the 1860s. It was not until the 1920s that Americans first heard the word yoyo when Pedro Flores, a Philippine immigrant, began manufacturing a toy labeled with that name. Flores became the first person to mass-produce toy yoyos, at his small toy factory located in California.

When D.F. Duncan saw the Flores toy, he liked it and bought the rights from Flores in 1929. Duncan then trademarked the name Yo-Yo. Duncan's first contribution to yoyo technology was the slip string, consisting of a sliding loop around the axle instead of a knot. With this revolutionary improvement, the yoyo could do a trick called "sleep" for the first time. The original shape, first introduced to the United States was the imperial or standard shape. Duncan introduced the butterfly shape, a design that reverses the halves of a traditional imperial yoyo. The butterfly allowed the player to catch the yoyo on the string easily, good for certain tricks.


The first Duncan Yo-Yo was the O-Boy Yo-Yo Top, the toy with a big kick for all ages. Duncan's massive factory produced 3,600 of the toys every hour making the factory's hometown of Luck, Wisconsin the YoYo Capital of the World. Yoyo sales reached its highest peak in 1962, when Duncan Yo-Yo sold 45 million units. Unfortunately, this 1962 hike in sales led to the end of Donald Duncan's Company. Advertising and production costs far outstripped even the sudden increase in sales revenues. This bankruptcy allowed Duncan to finally cut the strings and sell his interest in the yoyo. The Flambeau Plastic Company bought the name Duncan and all the company's trademarks, they began producing their line of all plastic yoyos soon after. The yoyo continues today, its latest honor is being the first toy in outer space!