Yoyo Facts: How Has This Versatile Toy Changed Over The Decades?

Yo-yo is an ancient toy with the oldest surviving model in the world that dates way back. 

A yoyo, also spelled as a yo-yo, is a toy made up of an axle connected with the two yo disks. In earlier times, during the 17th-century, the yo-yo was also known as bandalore. 

The term 'yo-yo' is unique and comes from the Ilocano term 'yoyo', a cognate word that comes from the Philippines. According to the Greek vase-painting and other Greek records from 440 BC, a boy was seen playing with a yo-yo.

It cannot be pinned down to who exactly invented the yoyo or how old the ancient toy is.

This entertaining thing was made of wood, metal, and painted terra cotta or fired clay, according to all those proofs. This ancient toy factory also gained various innovations as time moved forward.

New tricks, techniques, and ways emerged, and this led to the birth of the yo-yo in different parts of the world. So, if you thought you were the first person in the world to play with this famous California thing, then you might have clarity now.

It is rumored that this toy was used as a weapon to hunt.

You might have played with a yoyo as a child, but there are so many facts about the yoyo you might not be aware of. This article will take you through different types of fun yoyo facts.

If you enjoyed this article, you must also check out Paleolithic Age inventions and ancient Chinese art facts as well here at Kidadl. 

Ancient Chinese Yoyo

Here are some interesting Chinese yoyo facts for you. As per the historical world records, it's actually the Chinese who created this toy yo-yo, not the ancient Greeks. It was a custom for the Chinese kids to make this with wood, metal and dedicate it to certain Gods. It was recognized as a yo-yo day then.

This uneven spin toy has survived hundreds of years with certain minor changes in its appearance from wood to metal yo-yo and still remains a popular toy amongst kids. Unlike the regular yoyo, you can use different tricks and variations with the string of Chinese yoyo that even allows it to be tossed around.

In fact, this is an excellent toy for children that helps enhance their motor skills in a fun and noncompetitive way.

Etymology And History

Years have passed, but there are still debates going on about the origins of the famous ancient toy yoyo. If we believe the general consensus, there were similar toys called diabolos that first originated in China around 1000 BC.

When researchers further dug into the Greek records, they found out that these yo-yos actually originated in ancient Greece. As the years moved forward, by the 1700s, yo-yo toys actually made their way to France and Japan. In France, it was known by the French term 'jou-jou'.

If we fast forward the historical records of this fun toy to California, a young Filipino man named Pedro Flores started selling hand-carved yo-yos to show how the toys worked.

This business grabbed the attention of an American entrepreneur who purchased both yo-yo companies and successfully marketed the yo-yos in the Philippines and the United States market. You can find them in nearby toy factories or shops.

Side by side, they were also sponsoring different yo-yo competitions, world yo-yo contest, and helping yo-yo players set world records in this fun trick game.

Two-Handed String Tricks

When we think of a yo-yo, we cannot deny the fun tricks and techniques we can try on it. One unique technique every boy out there tries to practice is the two-handed string trick.

In this trick, players learn new ways to wind the yo-yo two handedly while managing the string tension. The first step would begin with the yo-yo just hanging down without sleeping. Now you will lift the string up with the back of your thumb on your opposite hand.

The next step of the two-handed string trick is to grab it with your ring finger on your main yo-yo hand.

After that, use your index finger on the opposite hand to rest the string on the two other fingers. This is the moment when you are in the middle of the trick and it's time to use your yo-yo hand to pull back the string to the back of your thumb.

Now lastly, get the yo-yo out of the way of your start with your little finger of the yo-yo hand.

Wooden Vs Plastic Yoyos

If we ignore the ancient Greek yo-yos and look at the traditional Philippine yo-yos, they were made up of caribou horns, which is the original wood. Yo-yos made of wood are not available at the present time but had great significance in the past.

As yo-yos are subjected to physical wear and tear, wooden yo-yos were made up of hardwoods and were a primary choice then. Since the advent of technology and thermoplastics, wooden yo-yos have suddenly turned into plastic yo-yos.

Thermoplastics can easily be molded by melting them. Thus, they started being widely used to make yo-yos.

These yo-yos are cheaper and can be easily dyed into different colors, shapes. On the other hand, the wooden yo-yo toy, although it looks and feels nice, has an uneven density that makes trying various tricks slightly wobbly.

Modern Yo-Yos

When the popularity of this ancient toy entered the '70s and '80s, new innovations were applied to yo-yo toys, and we found new age modern yo-yos that had a connection between the string and the axle.

In fact, the famous yo-yo celebrity Tom Kuhn was the first person who even patented making the world's first take-apart yo-yo that enabled yo-yo players to change the axle easily.

More innovations were brought through in modern yo-yos, and ball bearings were introduced into them. The reason behind it was that they significantly reduced the friction between the yo- yo and string while spinning. This also helped players avoid uneven spin and allowed them to enjoy new tricks and techniques. 

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for yoyo facts then why not take a look at ancient china facts, or ancient Egyptian tools and weapons.