Happy National Yo-Yo Day! Every year on June 6, we recognize the fun holiday. The day celebrates the iconic stringed toy that generations have enjoyed.
June 6 is the perfect day to get out your yo-yo’s and try your hand at The Sleeper, Walk the Dog, Shooting the Moon, Around the World or Hop the Fence.
The yo-yo is an object consisting of an axle connected to two disks and a length of string looped around the axle.
It is played by holding the free end of the string, allowing gravity or the force of a throw to spin the yo-yo and unwind the string, then allowing the yo-yo to wind itself back again. The activity is called “yo-yoing.”
It is believed the yo-yo was first invented in ancient Greece. A Greek vase painting from 500 B.C. displays a boy playing with a yo-yo.
The Yo-Yo in the United States
The yo-yo came to the United States through a young Filipino boy by the name of Pedro Flores.
When he immigrated to the United States from The Philippines as a young boy, he recalled playing with a toy called a "bandalore". This was a disc of box-wood, with a deep groove in its outer edge and round which a string was coiled.
It was this toy that inspired Flores to create a business and he call the toy the Flores Yo-yo.
Between 1928 and 1932 the Yo-yo Manufacturing Company operated in Santa Barbara, California. Flores later sold his companies to American entrepreneur and inventor Donald F. Duncan, Sr.
In the early 1900s, it was Duncan, Sr. made the yo-yo popular in America when he manufactured the Duncan Yo-Yo. In 1932, he first trademarked the name “Yo-Yo”.
- In 1999, the Duncan® Yo-Yo was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York.
- The term "yo-yoing" is also often used to describe a person fluctuating between two difficult decisions.
FUN FACTS:
On February 20, 2005, Hans "Yohans" Van Dan Elzen broke his own Guinness World Record of fifty-one yo-yo tricks in one minute when he performed fifty-four tricks in a minute!
On January 26, 2010, Ben McPhee (USA) was able to keep a total of sixteen yo-yos spinning simultaneously at the Toy Fair, Olympia, London, England, United Kingdom on 26 January 2010!
As of February 22, 2010, John 'Lucky' Meisenheimer (USA) has a collection of 4,586 different yo-yo's that he has amassed since 1971!
HOW TO OBSERVE
Test your yo-yoing skills by trying as many yo-yo tricks as possible. Do you know how to do the pinwheel or walk the dog? Other ways to celebrate the day include:
• Learning a new yo-yo trick.
• Starting a yo-yo collection or adding to one you already have.
• Posting photos of your yo-yo collection.
• Teach someone how to do a complex yo-yo trick such as the Double or Nothing.
• Host a yo-yo competition.
Feel free to show National Day Calendar® your best yo-yo tricks using #NationalYoYoDay by posting on social media.
HISTORY
Founded in 1990 in Arcade, New York by Daniel Volk, National Yo-Yo Day celebrates the yo-yo on June 6. This was the date of the birth of Duncan, Sr. in 1892.
Volk once worked for Duncan® Toy Company as a talented yo-yo demonstrator from 1976-1978, touring the western part of the United States.
As a result, Volk had the opportunity to impart some of his yo-yoing wisdom to two talented comedians.
The Smothers Brothers later produced The Yo-Yo Man Instructional Video by visiting the website below. Mr. Volk demonstrates right along with the comedians in the video as well.
In conjunction with National Yo-Yo Day, the Hummingbird Toy Co. Ltd. produced the first of several Smothers Brothers brand yo-yos. They were quite popular for about four years during the 1980s.
How do you yo-yo?
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