National Yo-Yo Day!

by poolparty | June 6, 2008 at 10:38 am

3071 views | 15 Recommendations | 33 comments

Besides being National Donut Day, today is also National Yo-Yo Day!
It is celebrated today in honor of the birthday of Donald F. Duncan Sr., an American businessman who manufactured the “Duncan Yo-Yo” in the early 1900’s.

Yo-Yo Day

When : Always June 6th

Yo-Yo day is here...hooray! Not that you need an excuse to play with your Yo-Yo. Wherever you are today, get out your Yo-Yo and impress your friends, family, and co-workers with your Yo-Yo skills. And, do it at work today! If you don't think it's appropriate at work, consider the fact that three U.S. presidents (Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon) showed off their Yo-Yo expertise while in office!

Yo-Yo Trivia
The worlds largest Yo-Yo weighs 256 pounds, and is on display at the National Yo-Yo museum.

In 1992, Jeffrey Hoffman took a Yo-Yo into space aboard the shuttle Atlantis.

National Yo-Yo Day falls on what is believed to have been Donald Duncan Sr.'s birthday (even the Duncan Company isn't quite sure if June 6 is the right date). Donald Duncan Sr. was an entrepreneur who in 1930 got into the yo-yo business, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Yo-yos have been popular toys for over 2,000 years. Early forms of the toy were called different names, such as quizzes, bandalores or Jou-Jous. The earliest recorded account of the word yo-yo is from an 1860 Filipino dictionary. While yo-yos (and yo-yo-like toys) have been found across the globe, the yo-yo as we know it seems to have originated in the Philippines.

In 1923, Pedro Flores, a man of Filipino descent, began building yo-yos in America. He built the yo-yos by hand, and discovered that America's youth were fascinated with them. In 1928, Flores built the first yo-yo factory, mass producing the toys in California. He also began to hold yo-yo competitions to promote the toys, which started the first round of yo-yo mania in the United States.

Donald F. Duncan Sr. first saw yo-yos in action around the time Flores began to hold competitions. He noticed how quickly the toys captured the interest of kids and decided to get into the business of making yo-yos. In 1930, Duncan bought out Flores, who was then hired to run Duncan's promotional campaigns. More competitions and exhibitions followed, and the company did well in its first few years.

For the next 25 years, all of Duncan's yo-yos were made of wood. In 1955, Duncan partnered with a company called Flambeau to produce plastic yo-yos. Two years later, Duncan retired and gave control of his company to his sons, Jack and Don Jr. Donald Duncan Sr. had seen the potential of a curious toy and turned it into a successful business. Because of his contributions to the popularity of the yo-yo, National Yo-Yo Day was later established on what is believed to be his birthday.

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Amy Judd

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:37 on June 6th, 2008

Steph02, I like this story. It's good stuff. I am able to walk the dog with a yo-yo, which I thought was really cool, but no one seems to appreciate it as much as myself, so I suppose that makes me not cool.

Heiky

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:36 on June 6th, 2008

I got my very first yoyo last year in Hong Kong. Sadly, I broke it during a very very pathetic attempt while ``walking the dog``.

drewtetz

at 20:29 on June 6th, 2008

hey all, i'm drew. i've been playing with yo-yos for about four years now, and i've had a lot of fun with it; met some great friends, traveled to some places i would never have seen otherwise, and learned a lot. funny how something like a toy can bring people together, isn't it? it's impossible to capture the fun of a community on video, but i'd recommend this ( http://youtube.com/watch?v=4JnLonv3JLE ) to anybody who wants to kill five minutes watching people play with yo-yos.

drewtetz has contributed a photo to this story.

Jesús Guzmán-Moya

at 20:33 on June 6th, 2008

Photo taken at Tenjin, Fukuoka. (Japan)

Jesús Guzmán-Moya has contributed a photo to this story.

JohnWilkie

at 20:48 on June 6th, 2008

Yo-Yo's remind me of a very happy childhood. I once entered a Yo-Yo competition. Was very excited before the time and practised "loop-the-loop" all afternoon. In the competition, the moment was just too big, as I couldn't get my Yo-Yo to spin when asked to do this 1st basic move. It was wound up too tight and it kept on coming up! Blew the three chances and lost out big time! Never had another chance to show off my real skills!

Anyway, still love it and every now and then, I take out my favourite Coke Yo-Yo and show my kids what I can do with it. It's not as big as it used to be...very sad.

JohnWilkie has contributed a photo to this story.

JohnWilkie

at 20:51 on June 6th, 2008

Anyway, still lovin it and every now and then, I take out my favourite Coke Yo-Yo and show my kids what I can do with it. It's not as big as it used to be...quite sad.

JohnWilkie has contributed a photo to this story.

Ghostshad0w

at 22:21 on June 6th, 2008

Hi everyone!

My name is Kelly Phillips, I go by cowmamba on the yo-yo websites. I have been yo-yoing for roughly 11 years. I started playing with them when I was real little, I delved into them more seriously in 1996 and it has stuck with me ever since. I'm still doing it everyday, I plan to yo-yo for the rest of my life. The yo-yo has become a part of me, it's been my friend when I've had none, it's always been my pal. I don't think I could ever let yo-yoing go. Hopefully I'll have one with me when I'm shipped off in a pine box.

I've met many great people through yoyoing, I've brought different things to the scene and I've been to many contests too. I don't usually compete though, it's just not for me. I think it's great that yo-yoing is gaining popularity again. I am totally going along with what Drew said. It's very neat how something as small as a yo-yo can keep people together and connet.

Keep Throwing!

- cowmamba

Boxthor

at 22:24 on June 6th, 2008

Duncan die, pre-drilled for use as a counterweight

Boxthor has contributed a photo to this story.

juliov23

at 22:39 on June 6th, 2008

Showing off his new yo-yo

juliov23 has contributed a photo to this story.

yoyonation

at 22:48 on June 6th, 2008

www.yoyonation.com reporting from the American International Toy Fair in New York City

Check out www.yoyonation.com for more yo-yo information!

MagL33To

at 00:57 on June 7th, 2008

This picture is of me performing in the 1A division at the UK National yoyo competition 2007. I came 3rd

MagL33To has contributed a photo to this story.

maslaq

at 01:02 on June 7th, 2008

play that funky music :)

maslaq has contributed a photo to this story.

slayer23

at 01:48 on June 7th, 2008

this yo-yo is rather old, it is labeled with coca-cola.

slayer23 has contributed a photo to this story.

jerrylimlee

at 02:21 on June 7th, 2008

The boy didn't know that I'am taking his picture, he's just very busy playing his yoyo.

jerrylimlee has contributed a photo to this story.

trevlor

at 03:27 on June 7th, 2008

An even better excuse to play with my yoyos!

Everyone should yo-yo! It is very easy to pick up and enjoy, but it can take a lifetime to master! So go out and buy a yo-yo, you will not regret it!

National Yo-Yo Day 08!

trevlor has contributed a photo to this story.

sabitus5

at 04:15 on June 7th, 2008

Thanks for asking for the photo!

sabitus5 has contributed a photo to this story.

thenoodleator

at 06:32 on June 7th, 2008

The yo-yo craze blew up in the 80s, and the Coke yo-yo team toured all the schools to show off tricks. My bother got the Coke yo-yo, while I (having no brand affinity because we weren't allowed to drink soda, and being only interested in colors) got the orange Fanta yo-yo. The one pictured was far superior in spinning than mine, so I was always jealous of the tricks my brother mastered.

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Quinton Caster

at 06:34 on June 7th, 2008

very nice,

Yoyo's are one of the few pure toys out there, not just for children, but for anyone.

nakpunar

at 07:14 on June 7th, 2008

This Miniature Yoyo Doll Quilt 1/12 scale. Each yoyo's size is 3/4". If you need to get more information please check my blog:
http://nakpunar.blogspot.com

nakpunar has contributed a photo to this story.

Pavlajs

at 07:28 on June 7th, 2008

just fun with yoyo and camera! :)

www.yoyo.cz

Pavlajs has contributed a photo to this story.

JD_WMWM

at 08:16 on June 7th, 2008

This is a picture of Yuki Spencer, a World Champion yoyoer. This particular photo was taken at the National YoYo contest, in Chico California which evidently is the Yoyo capital of the world.

JD_WMWM has contributed a photo to this story.

snappy one

at 09:27 on June 7th, 2008

The May 10, 2008 Bay Area Classic (BAC) had an impressive showing of yoyoers with some of the best in the world being in attendance. Kentaro Kimura was amazing to watch on every event placing 2nd in 2A and 1st in 3A. Grant Johnson placed 3rd in 2A with his captivating showmanship. Augie Fash placed 5th in a fight for the 1A title.

snappy one has contributed a photo to this story.

incig

at 09:56 on June 7th, 2008

Thanks very much for asking for my yo-yo photo. This is a detail of my yo-yo curtain which consists of 300+fabric yo-yos. You can see the whole curtain's picture in my flickr photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/incig/

INCI=Pearl

incig has contributed a photo to this story.

heybelinda

at 11:59 on June 7th, 2008

Jake Germany at the Plano Centre in Plano, Texas.

heybelinda has contributed a photo to this story.

Geekanerd

at 16:09 on June 7th, 2008

The "Doin It" photo was taken at the First Annual New York State Yo-Yo Contest and International Yo-Yo Open, held at South Street Sea Port in Manhattan. More photos, video, and a full write-up can be found here.

Geekanerd has contributed a photo to this story.

jayson lim

at 22:41 on June 7th, 2008

this is one of the best selling yoyo from Duncan, the Duncan Freehand Zero, in a YoYoNation edition.

jayson lim has contributed a photo to this story.

dxl_or_death

at 04:00 on June 8th, 2008

Taken 5/31/08 in downtown Indianapolis, IN A statue of Pan. "My friends were in town for the Mid East Clasic Yo Yo contest. While admist some down time after the first day of the contest we stumbled upon this statue by military park.

dxl_or_death has contributed a photo to this story.