Yo Yo's

Now this isn’t really 80s as they have been around for a VERY long time. But I had one in the 80s, so who cares. It’s here! A playground favourite for millions of school children the world over, the yoyo is actually, according to some historians, one of the oldest toys around.

Museums hold ample examples of terra cotta yoyos from ancient Greece, and wall paintings in Egyptian temples are said to depict playthings recognisable to the modern eye. While there is little evidence to support the theory that yoyos were once used as weapons, both combatants at Waterloo, Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington, were said to be aficionados.

The name yoyo was first brought to the attention of western society in a 1916 Scientific American article on toys from the Philippines.

Major advances in yoyo technology followed after 1955 when Duncan introduced the first plastic yoyos and the Butterfly shaped yo-yo, which is easier to land on the string for fancy tricks. These are the ones I remember!

There was a point in school where you would go outside at lunchtime, and as far as the eye could see, there would be Kids madly Yo Yoing everywhere, Occupying every square inch of the playground. It spread like mad, one kid would bring one in... the next day every single kid would have one. haha.

Then you had the people on TV that were really rather good at it, although they weren’t cool, because they were 30 years old, and that was all they did. God, 30 used to seem so old!

Its still big now. As each successive generation of school children adds the yoyo to its bag of playground tricks, this simple plastic-and-string bauble has held its place as one of the most enduring toys of the twentieth century.

The only trick I remember was how to Rock the Cradle

1 Make the yoyo spin rapidly at the bottom of the string without returning (make it sleep, in other words).

2 Extend the thumb and pinkie of your free hand, bending the other fingers down so theyre out of the way. Put this hand against the string so that the string lies across the tips of your thumb and pinkie finger.

3 Lift the string with your thumb and pinkie. Now pinch the string about midway down with your yoyo hand.

4 Maintaining the tension on the string, switch the positions of your hands: Move the hand that's pinching the string so that it's above the pinkie and thumb extended hand.

5 There! Rock the yo-yo through the triangle of string youve created. Now let the yo-yo drop back to Position.

I really want a go on one now.