NostalgiaFAG Wednesday Vol. 6: Walk the Dog Edition

Let's go back in time again guys. This time I bring you a fad that lasted quite a little while in elementary school. You all remember the yo-yo right?! Well I sure do, because I was one of the many who got all into that shit. But how did I and a bunch of other kids get into yo-yo's? By way of school assembly that is! I wonder if its the same for you guys, but for us, just like the pouched-milk, we had an assembly where an awesome team of yo-yo tricksters took the stage and wowed everyone with their awesome yo-yo tricks (remember that Simpsons episode?). Man I remember that assembly so well, those guys showed some crazy ass tricks, one I remembered most was Around-the-World and the fucking Rollercoaster.

But yeah, anyways, for those lucky enough to get a free yo-yos during the assembly (lucky motherfuckers who got to sit in the very front), the fad started for them during the recess right after the assembly. For the rest, you had to go to the mall or toy store to get your own, and then the fun started the next school day. As soon as I knew it, everyone was spinning them yo-yos. The sound of basketballs bouncing stopped, the sound of kids bodies squeaking down the plastic slides stopped, and instead they were replaced by the soothing sounds of yo-yos spinning on their strings. Watch this clip from that Simpsons episode I mentioned earlier, because it accurately represents how school was during the yo-yo period...



Of course, just owning a yo-yo didn't make you cool enough, in order to achieve maximum cool yo-yo status, you had to know some tricks. The more tricks you had up your arsenal, the cooler you were, the more the girls liked you. The first trick I learned was Rock the Baby/Cradle, then I learned the Flying Saucer, Walk the Dog, Dog Bite, and Around-the-World. That's all I remember, so I had a pretty high status around the playground.

Also, the brand of yo-yo you had totally said something about you. Basically, it was Duncan vs. Yomega. Duncan had their patented "Butterfly" yo-yo, and Yomega had their "brain" yo-yo, which made the yo-yo return to you automatically. Yomega and its brain made its way to the top, Duncan stood no chance. Everyone and their mothers had Yomega's, I had Yomega yo-yo's, I remember going to a toy store and buying an $80 dollar Yomega because it had like a super-ultimate-brain or whatever, it probably did tricks on its own and shit, (Joseph I still remember when you taught me that cool way to loop the string for your finger on the way home from the bus stop haha lol).

Before yo-yo's died out though, I remember how hardcore the scene got. Kids all around were trying to concoct methods to make their yo-yos spin longer and faster, I remember this because I bought some yo-yo speed lube and always carried it around with me. I remember kids having yo-yo gloves, where your designated string finger was fingerless. And then finally, kids also started carrying around packs of extra string, cause you never knew, all that spinning and tricks and shit can cause your string to get damaged and/or OMG get knotted! OH NO!

Will yo-yo's make it back? I don't think so haha. But I'm being serious when I say that era was a fun time. Well, as always guys, HOPE YOU HAD A NOSTALGIC TIME.