You’re not doing it right.
My dad talks about that, but he does say that Duncan would hire the kids. A teenage boy would show up in the schoolyard, do a bunch of good tricks, and every kids would promptly go buy a yo-yo. It was great advertising.
I know several kids who are into yo-yos and who are greatly admired for their prowess, so it isn’t dead or anything. Just last night at the church talent show, a 7yo with a yo-yo was one of the hits of the evening. However, I do live in yo-yo paradise–the National Yo-yo Museum is downtown and there’s a big championship contest every fall. So that might have something to do with the popularity of yo-yos around here.
I have three yo-yos and they are all “paraphernalia” given to me by people I’ve done temp jobs for.
They are great fun ways to advertise. Better than pen or a clock with the company name on it
In our school, ‘Ned’ comes once a year to do a performance with yo-yos, and they sell the yo-yos, extra string, belt loopy thingies to carry your yo-yo with you, etc. I haven’t ever taken one away from the kids, but since I teach in the secondary, I don’t have to deal with them as much. If I were an elementary teacher, I would hate Ned with a passion.
I was in the early 90s yo-yo fad (could do a few tricks, nothing major) and the Duncan Imperial was the for sure the go-to yo-yo for all the kiddos.
If your yo-yo won’t “sleep” (spin at the end of the string without returning) probably the string is too tight on the axle.
I was also a kid in the 70s and had noticed the coming and going of yo-yo seasons. It seemed to alternate between yo-yos, those Duncan tops, and Hot Wheels. (New Orleans)
A yo-yo fad definitely made an appearance at my middle-school in the early to mid90’s. I can’t pinpoint the exact year but it seemed to follow a Simpsons episode that featured a fund-raising troupe of yo-yo tricksters which sparked a fad at Springfield Elementary. I figured the real life fad was simply life imitating cartoon.