Top 25 "It" products of all time: #15 -- The yo-yo

When I was a lad, Duncan Yo-yo would from time to time send out yo-yo virtuosos to give demonstrations on our playground. We'd watch mesmerized as these wizards would loop their toys, set them to sleep, throw forward passes, toss them under a lifted leg, and create rocking cradles. We would, of course, immediately hound our parents until we, too, owned a yo-yo, which, on the finger of one such as me, never became anything more than a hunk of wood on a stick.

Nonetheless, the yo-yo continues to sell, on what the industry discovered is a dependable five-year cycle that has held up since its introduction in the 1920s. The toy continues to show up in books, television and the movies, and has enjoyed a rebirth as a competition sport.

The oldest know yo-yo was made around 500 B.C., as pictured on a Greek vase. This terra-cotta version was used as part of religious ceremony. Records indicate (I'm skeptical about this one) that Philippines once used it to hunt from trees, striking down at animals as they passed below.