History of YoYos, Hula Hoops and Juggling

Page history last edited by Robert W. Maloy 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Yo-Yos

First U.S. Yo-Yo Patent, 1866

June 6 is National YoYo Day

7 Cool Things You Didn't Know about YoYos

History of the YoYo from Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Greatest Toys

About Chinese Yo-Yo from Harvard University YoYo Club

Yo-Yo History on YouTube

Pedro Flores Markets the Yoyo

Biography of Pedro Flores, Father of the YoYo

Link to Preview of the Pedro's Yo-Yos book

Pedro Flores Yo-yo Circ. 1928-1929

The first U.S. patent for a yo-yo like toy was issued in 1866, but it was not until 1928, that a Filipino immigrant named Pedro Flores popularized the toy.

While working as a porter in a Santa Monica, California hotel, he demonstrated various yo-yo tricks to the guests.

Flores made a key innovation in the yo-yo. Instead of tying a knot around the axel, he used a loop, which allowed the yo-yo to sleep or spin and to perform other tricks.

Flores’s demonstrations proved so popular that he opened the Yo-yo Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara.

Flores is also credited with promoting the yo-yo contests that helped fuel the craze.

Hula Hoops

Hula hoopers at Easter Egg Roll, South Lawn of the White House, 2013

Hula hoopers at Easter Egg Roll, South Lawn of the White House, 2013
History of the Hula Hoop from Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Greatest Toys

Cool History Facts about Hula Hoops

See also Hula Hoop from the National Toy Hall of Fame

1000 BCE: Egyptian children played with large hoops of willow, rattan stiff grasses and dried grapevines.

1958. Wham-O Toy Company sold 25,000,000 hula hoops in the first two months after it was introduced.

Physics of Hula Hooping, Scientific American

Physics Secrets for Hula Hooping, Science Friday NPR

What makes a hula hoop spin around a person’s waist? It comes down to a combination of several forces at work.

When the person inside the hoop moves their body to propel the hoop around them, they are exerting an upward force (from their hips) and a turning force known as torque.

Torque is a twisting, outward force that is basically needed to cause the hoop to spin. (More technically, torque is needed to keep the hoop spinning because it is needed to keep the centripetal force going.)

Another force involved in the hula hooping process is friction.

For example, if a ball is rolling along a flat surface, it eventually stops due to friction. Friction between the hoop and the hula hooper’s clothes and the air will slow the hoop’s spinning. However, friction also helps to keep the hula hoop up on the hula hooper’s body while the force of the hula hoop’s mass pulls it down (this downward force is due to gravity).