As of this year, the Duncan Yo-Yo has been a favorite children's toy for 75 years¹, but where did it come from? Who invented it? It is said that the ancient Greeks were playing with them over 2,500 years ago and that the Chinese had something similar to a yo-yo even before that. The main variation to the original design is that today, the string is only looped around the axle, as opposed to being tied tightly to it.²

The word "yo-yo" came from the Philippines meaning "come come" or "come back" according to the native Tagalog language. The yo-yo was brought to the United States by Pedro Flores in the 1920's. He achieved moderate success. In 1929, he sold his company to a man named Donald Duncan, the man responsible for bringing us the "original" Duncan Yo-Yo. In 1965, the Duncan company went bankrupt shortly after the Federal Court of Appeals deemed the copyrighted term "yo-yo" generic, thus opening the door for other companies to produce their own yo-yos. The "Duncan yo-yos" that most of us know today were actually manufactured by the Flambeau Plastics Company.

 

 

1. PhysicsCentral
2. HowStuffWorks