Sunday, September 04, 2005

Scribbles: Now THAT’s a Yo-Yo

This Just In from The 65th Crayon:

See Big YO at the National Yo-Yo Museum.

Did you think your yo-yo was 20th Century? . . . 19 Century? The 65th Crayon reports from the National Yo-Yo Museum.

“The yo-yo may first have been used in China,” the 65th Crayon reported via satellite to a closed-door executive blog meeting this afternoon. “However, the first written record places them in Greece circa 500 BC. These early yo-yos were made of wood or terra cotta and referred to as discs.” He then added, “Even hieroglyphs in ancient Egyptian temples appear to show yo-yo-like objects.”

It wasn’t long before word got out to the street.

“You’re kidding,” said a gum-chewing kid, on a playground somewhere in northern Illinois. “My brother said he got this at the dollar store.”

“Your brother said the same thing about me,” said the kid’s brother’s girlfriend.

“There’s plenty to learn at the National Yo-Yo Museum,” said our out-of-the-box Crayon. “For the yo-yo whiz, there’s also the National Yo-Yo Contest.”

The museum includes in-depth history, information and memorabilia related to yo-yos. Certainly the greatest attraction is Big YO, a scaled up working version of the original 3-in-1 No Jive Yo-Yo. Big YO is the world’s largest working yo-yo, at 256 pounds and 50 inches in diameter. It really works—when attached to a crane. Big Yo was designed by dentist Tom Kuhn. The Museum is located at 320 Broadway in Chico, California. (Photo courtesy of the National Yo-Yo Museum)

“Now that’s a yo-yo even a crayon can look up to,” said our colorful reporter.
—me strauss Letting me be
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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Imagine, Yo-yo's have been around for thousands of years and I still can't make them work.

Anonymous said...

That wasn't supposed to be anonymous, that was me, Ned.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hey Ned,
I got the knack of getting them to go up and down in grade school, bu that was about it--and I can't even do that any more.

So you and I can talk while the kids play. :)

Anonymous said...

I never really gave much thought to yo yo's or their origin before, but now that I'm thinking about it, the fact that they've been around awhile makes sense to me. I mean it seems like a simple enough toy to figure out, no matter what age you lived in.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Janet,
Yeah, when you think about how long they have been around, it seems amazing that when I was little I was playing with an ancient toy. Had I known I know I would have been more curious about them.

smiles,
Liz

Anonymous said...

Very amusing piece. That crayon is a world class reporter.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Thanks Clive,
He's been itching to find out whether there's a crayon category at the WBA. :)

smiles,
Liz

Anonymous said...

Ahh... no wonder every chinese kid had one when I grew up... but I still can't play it.. damn!

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Yuna,
It's a good thing too that you can't get a yo-yo to work.
How would that sound?

Yuna's yo-yo?

tee-hee
Liz