The Yo-Yo - What Happened? For decades, the yo-yo was a perennial favorite among kids. They always seemed to appear in the spring. I loved playing with my yo-yos, and I could do almost...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

For decades, the yo-yo was a perennial favorite among kids. They always seemed to appear in the spring. I loved playing with my yo-yos, and I could do almost anything with them. I hate to think that staring at an LCD has replaced the fun of the yoyo. I wonder how many kids will get the idea of this comic strip.

Beowulf Loc: Aquidneck Island, RI

Yep, in grammar school in the late 40s and early 50s, March brought with it schoolyard marble games and yo yo tricksters. When mid April came all thoughts turned to baseball.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

I can remember my dad telling me not to do yo-yo tricks in the house. Guess what. Ten minutes later my string broke and I sent my yo-yo through my bedroom window. My dad was so mad he wanted to send me flying through the window after it. I didn't blame him. I really felt stupid. I think that's the day I learned why adults say not to do things they say not to do.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

kpmac wrote:

I can remember my dad telling me not to do yo-yo tricks in the house. Guess what. Ten minutes later my string broke and I sent my yo-yo through my bedroom window. My dad was so mad he wanted to send me flying through the window after it. I didn't blame him. I really felt stupid. I think that's the day I learned why adults say not to do things they say not to do.

My yo-yo days were trouble-free. I thought I'd buy a new yo-yo, but looking on Amazon, they all seem to be plastic. I liked the weight of wood.

EDIT: Here we go -

https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=wooden+yo-yo&crid=4213ONAJ7Z5F&sprefix=wooden+yo-yo%2Caps%2C59&ref=bnav_search_go

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Ask Tommy Smothers.

EJMcD

kpmac wrote:

I can remember my dad telling me not to do yo-yo tricks in the house. Guess what. Ten minutes later my string broke and I sent my yo-yo through my bedroom window. My dad was so mad he wanted to send me flying through the window after it. I didn't blame him. I really felt stupid. I think that's the day I learned why adults say not to do things they say not to do.

There's an old expression that I like..."The older I get, the smarter my parents were".

Najataagihe

jerryc41 wrote:

I thought I'd buy a new yo-yo, but looking on Amazon, they all seem to be plastic. I liked the weight of wood.

Wooden ones were hard to find by the late '60s (in favor of plastic) and cost a fortune, when you could find one.

Beowulf Loc: Aquidneck Island, RI

Back around 1950, a wooden Duncan with the four "diamonds" imbedded on one side was the class act of schoolyard yo you.

tcthome Loc: NJ

jerryc41 wrote:

For decades, the yo-yo was a perennial favorite among kids. They always seemed to appear in the spring. I loved playing with my yo-yos, and I could do almost anything with them. I hate to think that staring at an LCD has replaced the fun of the yoyo. I wonder how many kids will get the idea of this comic strip.

HOHIMER

Back in the day (1940), we kids used marbles like the adults used money. A means of exchange, game play and kid gambling. Agates and Steelies had the highest value.

Ollieboy

Duncan Butterfly.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

HOHIMER wrote:

Back in the day (1940), we kids used marbles like the adults used money. A means of exchange, game play and kid gambling. Agates and Steelies had the highest value.

I won fishing tackle box full of marbles. Not the old fashioned way. I got a cigar box and cut a rectangle in it. It was just wider than a marble. The game was if you could drop a marble into the slot while standing up you would get two marbles back (yours and one more). If you missed, you lost yours. Nice little game.

Rich2236 Loc: E. Hampstead, New Hampshire

jerryc41 wrote:

For decades, the yo-yo was a perennial favorite among kids. They always seemed to appear in the spring. I loved playing with my yo-yos, and I could do almost anything with them. I hate to think that staring at an LCD has replaced the fun of the yoyo. I wonder how many kids will get the idea of this comic strip.

I remember when the "Duncan Man" would come around and demonstrate how to use a yo-yo. He would sell us Duncan yo-yo's but they would NEVER work the way his did. What a gimmic he was. He would demonstrate "around the world, walk the dog, baby in a cradle, etc." And more, which I can't remember...LOL.

Rich2236 Loc: E. Hampstead, New Hampshire

SteveR wrote:

I won fishing tackle box full of marbles. Not the old fashioned way. I got a cigar box and cut a rectangle in it. It was just wider than a marble. The game was if you could drop a marble into the slot while standing up you would get two marbles back (yours and one more). If you missed, you lost yours. Nice little game.

Ha!!! I also had a cigar box. I cut 3 holes. The outer two were legit., but the center one was just smaller than a regular "immee." And I would call out, "50 from across the street in the middle hole only!" I always had a marble in my hand to "show" that it would fit through the hole.....lol, that marble was just slightly smaller than a regular marble, so it fit beautifully in the hole. I made out like a bandit!!!

melismus Loc: Chesapeake Bay Country

The Duncan Man took the string off my yo-yo and spent a solid ten minutes working it over with a small file. It then worked better than new.