This Duncan yo-yo is branded with a Cola-Cola bottle. Donald F. Duncan is generally credited with being the first to use “premium incentive” advertising.
QUESTION: What do Good Humor ice cream bars, parking meters and yo-yos have in common?
ANSWER: Donald F. Duncan (1892-1971), American entrepreneur. It was Duncan’s ideas that sent children scurrying for nickels and dimes at the sound of a Good Humor ice cream truck, set thousands of adults to swearing at the parking tickets they received from expired meters, and made yo-yos one of America’s favorite 20th century toys.
Of course, Duncan is most famous for his yo-yos. He didn’t invent the toy; in 1929 he bought a small San Francisco yo-yo manufacturing concern owned by Filipino immigrant Pedro Flores, who used the Filipino name “yo-yo” for his product.
Duncan’s contribution to yo-yo lore is that he marketed the toy better than anyone before or after him. Duncan is generally credited with being the first to use “premium incentive” advertising. In such promotions, an inexpensive yo-yo would be offered as a premium to purchasers of another product, such as breakfast cereals, candy or newspaper subscriptions. The hope was that the incentive would encourage users to buy a better yo-yo once they got the “hang” of using one.
Duncan also executed extensive cross-branding endeavors, taking orders from soft drink companies, oil companies, schools, businesses, hospitals and other organizations. These yo-yos would be printed with a company’s logo and given to their clientele as advertising premiums (a yo-yo is sure a lot more fun than a ballpoint pen, isn’t it?).
In addition to premium and cross-branding promotions, Duncan sent 27 yo-yo experts around the country to conduct workshops, teaching yo-yo tricks to kids. The workshops sometimes featured sports icons and movie stars in order to draw big crowds. Supporting all of these efforts was a steady stream of print and television advertising and celebrity endorsements.
Production of Duncan Yo-Yos reached an all-time-high in 1962 when the company manufactured an average of 60,000 units per day. The same year, 45 million yo-yos were sold in the U.S.; a remarkable accomplishment in a country that had only 40 million children.
Such success generates competition, though, and one of Duncan’s workshop demonstrators—Joe Radovan—left the company to start making yo-yos on his own, naming his company Royal Tops Manufacturing. Radovan used the word “yo-yo” to describe his product. Duncan strongly objected to this usage, believing that he had a trademark on the name. Duncan and Royal aggressively pursued lawsuits against each other throughout the early sixties. Royal won the court battles, but lost the war. The court determined that the term “yo-yo” was generic; it was in use long before Duncan started his company.
Ultimately, the attorney fees generated by the protracted legal battle sent both companies into bankruptcy in 1965. In 1967, Duncan’s yo-yo turning lathes were sold to the manufacturer of the “Medalist” brand wooden yo-yo. In 1968 the Duncan name and plastic yo-yo molds were sold to Flambeau Products Corporation, which continues to manufacture Duncan plastic yo-yos.
This 1791 caricature of the Prince of Wales shows His Majesty playing his bandelure while his friend Richard Sheridan entertains Mrs. Fitzherbert, the Prince’s mistress.
The Yo-Yo Collecting World
Collectors of yo-yos are pleased that they have such a wide range of products to choose from. Yo-yos have been made for thousands of years, and can claim the designations of artifact, antique and vintage as well as modern collectible. The ancient Sumerians and Egyptians played with yo-yos, and Napoleon Bonaparte was said to have played with the toy before the battle of Waterloo. In the 18th century, yo-yos (then called “bandelures”) were popular in the Royal Courts of Spain, England and France. They were considered to be an adult amusement, and were sometimes worn as a clothing accessory. A 1791 caricature of the Prince of Wales shows His Majesty playing his bandelure while his friend Richard Sheridan entertains Mrs. Fitzherbert, the Prince’s mistress; and a portrait of Louis XVII of France as a child shows him posing with his bandelure.
Yo-yos are available in three basic shapes: classic, butterfly (classic turned inside-out) and modified; several types of plastic (ABS, polycarbonate, Delrin, Corian); traditional wood; and metal (aluminum, titanium, magnesium and steel). Basic yo-yos have fixed axles which spin in the string loop, or transaxles, which are fixed axles covered by a moveable sleeve. Modified yo-yos are designed to perform specialized tricks and may be fitted with ball bearings, counterweights, spacers or other add-ons.
This may be one of the rarest Duncan production run yo-yos of all time. Made for the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle, Washington, it was sold for only one year at the Space Needle.
Currently available on eBay are more than 5,000 collectible yo-yos and parts featuring comic and cartoon characters, advertising premiums, sports, television shows, antique, Olympic, vintage and foreign-made models. Because there are so many yo-yos available, collectors have a unique opportunity to build a collection within a particular theme or area of interest. Prices range from penny auctions to about $500 for Buy-It-Now offerings.
And, of course, yo-yos offer a benefit not found in many other collectibles: you can play with them!
Wayne Jordan is a Virginia-licensed auctioneer, Certified Personal Property Appraiser and Accredited Business Broker. He has held the professional designations of Certified Estate Specialist; Accredited Auctioneer of Real Estate; Certified Auction Specialist, Residential Real Estate and Accredited Business Broker. He also has held state licenses in Real Estate and Insurance. Wayne is a regular columnist for Antique Trader Magazine, a WorthPoint Worthologist (appraiser) and the author of two books. For more info, visit Wayne Jordan Auctions or Resale Retailing with Wayne Jordan.
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