Five things you didn’t know about yo-yos

If you've ever Walked the Dog, gone Around the World, or Skinned the Cat, you've clearly spent some time with a yo-yo.

An ancient Greek image of a yo-yo Bibi Saint-Pol Tracing its history back to at least 500 B.C., when the ancient Greeks were making them out of terracotta, they're one of the oldest toys around -- and thanks to a massive renaissance in the twentieth century, they've never been more popular. But did you know that they (probably) weren't ever used as weapons? Or that a yo-yo once presented to Richard Nixon fetched over $16,000 at auction? Read on for a fresh spin on an old favorite.

Why are they called yo-yos?
It's a curious name, isn't it? Something about the symmetry of the word seems appropriate for the up-and-down motion of the yo-yo itself, but the name actually comes from Tagalog, the language native to the Philippines. According to legend, it came to America by way of a Filipino immigrant named Pedro Flores, who made the U.S. his home in 1915. While working as a bellhop in Santa Barbara, Flores hit upon the idea of mass-producing the yo-yo, a popular toy in the Philippines -- and he's credited with giving it its modern name. Before Flores, the toy was known in the West as the "bandalore."

Were they originally designed as weapons?
So goes the popular myth: yo-yos were first used by Filipino warriors as hand-to-hand weapons. But although we indeed owe the word "yo-yo" to the Philippines, and the device itself was popular on the islands long before it made it big in the West, its status as a primitive weapon isn't so solid.
Modern Yo-Yo Duncan Apart from anything else, they'd surely be as dangerous to the thrower as to the target. And they're at their weakest when they're fully extended -- hardly what you want in a fight. Not that a rock on a string can't be a perfectly good weapon. Just ask the Inca, whose "bolas" could be wielded to great effect by a skilled thrower. But a bolas isn't a yo-yo; notably, it isn't designed to return to the hand after use. Unless you're prepared to broaden the definition of "yo-yo" to include just about any rock-on-a-string implement, we ain't buying it.

So what's the truth? We'll defer to the Americans of Filipino Descent FAQ, which documents at some length where the weaponized yo-yo story originated -- and it wasn't in the Philippines. Instead, reliable individuals put the blame for starting the tale at the doors of Donald Duncan, the 1930s inventor and entrepreneur who bought out Flores, making the yo-yo a pre-war smash. Clearly, Duncan knew the marketing power of a good tall story.

What's the world's most valuable yo-yo?

Yo-yos designed for pro tricksters can cost several hundred dollars, but they've got nothing on the one-off presented to President Richard Nixon by country singer (and yo-yo virtuoso) Roy Acuff at the Grand Ole Opry in March of 1974. It would be quite a performance for music-loving Nixon: he accompanied Acuff on the piano in a rendition of "God Bless America," and in return, Acuff taught him a yo-yo trick or two. Nixon seemed impressed with his gift, remarking: "I will stay here and try to learn how to use the yo-yo; you go up and be President, Roy." The yo-yo, which carries Nixon's autograph, was auctioned after Acuff's death in 1992 for over $16,000.

What's the most collectible yo-yo?
Like any popular toy with a few years of history behind it, almost any yo-yo is collectible to some degree. Just ask Lucky Meisenheimer, M.D., who literally wrote the book on yo-yo collecting and owns more than 4,000 himself -- a world record. If you were in school during the 1980s, though, you'll probably think immediately of the range of Coke yo-yos made popular at the time. Available with various soft drink branding and offered in a wide selection of colors, they fetch enough money on eBay that we really wish we hadn't lost, broken, or given ours away back in the days.

What's the hardest yo-yo trick?
Opinions vary. According to some, it's the Double-Suicide, which involves rotating the stalled yo-yo around one hand before catching the looped string with the other. Youtube user limoguy333 will teach you, but it's going to take some practice.
Others say it's the ladder escape, where the yo-yoer knots the string into an impossibly complicated hourglass shape before dropping it free. Arthur C. Clarke wrote that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic; watch those vids and you'll extend that to any sufficiently advanced yo-yo trick, too.

Where to get started
Basic yo-yo tricks aren't difficult. Get yourself a simple, solid model (around $10-20), make sure the string isn't too long (it should stretch from the floor to your navel), wind it up, and go. The first technique you'll want to master is the "sleep" -- making the yo-yo spin at the end of the string without returning to your hand. From there, the sky's the limit: plenty of online tutorials will show you the ropes, and Youtube is full of great videos that'll give you a detailed look at the secrets of the pros. You'll be pulling a Ladder Escape before you know it.