In 1928 Pedro Flores, a Filipino immigrant opened the first ever yo-yo (also known as yoyo) manufacturing company in Santa Barbara, USA. By the end of the following year an additional two factories had been built to maintain the popularity of this toy, turning out 300,000 yo-yos daily!
Although Flores was the first man in history to build a yo-yo factory, popularise and distribute Yo-yos across the globe he was not however the first man to design the yo-yo.
The first mention of the yo-yo goes way back to ancient Greece in the year 500 BC; these ancient toys were made out of various different materials such as terracotta clay, metal or wooden discs and were simply just called ‘a disc’. There was an ancient Greek custom that when a child turned a certain age they would offer toys of their youth to the Gods as a gift. Discs made from terracotta where often used as gifts for the Gods rather than play, due to the fragile nature of terracotta.
There have been many historical artworks found depicting people of all ages playing with Yo-yos, from Australia, Egypt and India, travelling through the ages to the upper classes of France and Scotland, before making its way to England.
In 1815 Napoleon and his army are known to have been seen playing and relaxing with yo-yos before the famous battle of Waterloo.
Here at The Vintage Toy Box we stock several different traditional styles of yo-yos, all made from solid wood and beautifully painted. There are so many tricks you can learn and master with yo-yos including walk the dog, around the world, the sleeper and many more. This simple toy, inspired by ancient civilisation will keep the young and old entertained for hours.