Spin for a Dime

A dime was a powerful thing in 1962. It could buy a couple of candy bars, two hands full of penny candy, and various small playthings. A dime would buy a pink “Spaulding” ball. It could purchase a wooden yoyo or a wooden top.

There were companies like Duncan who made fancy yoyos and other toys. They might cost 50¢ or more. But every corner candy store had the cheap wooden versions. They were nothing special. Painted a single color, they had simple fittings. The yoyos had a small string. Tops had a pointed metal top and a cord with a small wooden disk on one end.

Using the top was simply. You wound the cord around it. Then, placing the disk behind two fingers, you threw it. The motion was forward and down, point downward. As you threw, you whipped back slightly on the cord to add more spin. The more spin you had, the longer it would spin.

One trick was to spin on a manhole cover. The covers had square depressions. If you landed the point of the top in them, they could spin in place. You could even have a battle of tops. The idea was to stay spinning and if possible, knock the other guy’s top over. He who spun longest won.

Tops were fun. You could develop enough skill to do small tricks with them. Their very simplicity made them ideal.

Yoyos had different tricks. One had to wind the yoyo tightly. On the other end of the cord was a small look that you placed over your finger. (Most of us used the middle finger, some preferred the index finger.) Then you released the yoyo and quickly retracted it before it ran out of cord. After  a while, you could do some tricks with it. You could do more tricks with the expensive Duncan yoyos because they were made for them. Nonetheless, a 10¢ yoyo was a lot of fun.