Yo-Yo

In 1950, my neighbor boy, Jim Olsen, was in the sixth grade at Stella Magladry School, and I was a 2nd grader, when he showed me his new Duncan yo-yo.  He could do some fancy tricks, and he was eager to impress me with his skill.  He was also kind and generous, and he wanted to teach me how to yo-yo, too.  He would even loan me his yo-yo for a day or two at a time, and soon I started to get the hang of it.  I was finally able to 'sleep' the yo-yo by keeping it spinning while remaining at the end of its uncoiled string, just above the ground.  A tug on the string, which was fastened on my right hand middle finger, would bring the yo-yo quickly back into my hand!

Fortunately, I was able to get my own Duncan yo-yo within a few months.  It was a lathe-turned, wooden yo-yo, and had a beautiful navy blue, enamel finish.  I could take it anywhere in the front pocket of my jeans, and whenever I had some spare time, I would get it out and practice.  Several kids at school would do the same during our playground recess, and we could compare tricks.  I'm not sure where I got it, but I had a small book called 'The Art of Yo-Yo Playing'  that described over a hundred different tricks.  Slowly, but surely, I would work my way through the book and try to learn new tricks.  They were hard, and my progress was slow.

Even though the yo-yo was invented around 500 B.C. in Greece, this toy remained in relative obscurity until 1928 when a Filipino American named Pedro Flores opened the Yo-yo Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, California.  Yo-yo means 'come-come', or 'return' in an ancient Filipino language.  Within a few years, an entrepreneur named Donald F. Duncan recognized the potential of this new fad and he bought Flores's company, and obtained the 'Yo-yo' registered trademark.  In 1946, Duncan Toys Company opened a yo-yo factory in Luck, Wisconsin, prompting the town to dub itself the 'Yo-yo Capital of the World'.

By the late 40's, Duncan was conducting yo-yo contests at many of the grade schools in Eugene.  In the spring of my 3rd grade, Jim encouraged me to enter the after school contest at Magladry.  I was really nervous.  I had never competed in any athletic contest, let alone a yo-yo competition!  The 'Duncan Judge' had a clip board, and he lined us up in alphabetical order.  He would call out our name as we took turns working our way through the required 10 trick list.  We each got points based on how we did on each trick, and the boy or girl with the most points would get 'First Prize, followed by a Second, or Third Prize'  Each prize was an embroidered patch, in the shape of a shield (about 5 inches x 5 inches) which could be sewn onto a jacket or coat.

As the competition moved along, I had a feeling that I was doing a little better than the other kids.  And to my surprise, when the judge announced the winners, he called out my name for 3rd prize.  I was so proud of my patch!  During the year, I was eager to improve my skills on following tricks:  sleeper, walk the dog, forward pass, rock the baby, around the world, three leaf clover, loop the loops (looping both inside the hand, and outside the hand),  and the flying saucer.  If you go to YouTube.com, you can see yo-yo experts doing all of these tricks, and illustrating proper techniques.

My practice paid off, and I won 1st prize in both the 4th and 5th grades!  Not only did I received a 'Golden Award' patch both years, the judge also gave me a light blue Duncan Jeweled Tournament Yo-Yo, which had 4 rhinestones on each side of the yo-yo, after the competition in one of those years.  I later learned that Duncan used an Austrian crystal factory for their rhinestones, and the wood was 'genuine' Hard Rock Maple.  Not only did this yo-yo look very cool, it actually made it easier to do the tricks!  I was able to do 'around the world' 3 times in one trick, and I could sometimes do around a 100 loop the loops.

Not sure why, but in the 6th grade there was no contest.  Too bad, because I'm pretty sure that I would have also won that year.  That would have made me eligible for a city-wide contest, where the winner got a Duncan denim jacket.  Every once in a while, I would see a kid around town that would be proudly wearing one of those jackets, with their 'patch prizes' sewn on the back.  Fortunately, my mother tucked my prizes away in my scrap book, so I still have them today!