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[the Earl of Whirl]

A couple kids on the track team were passing time at a meet (after they were already done and waiting for others to finish) and I noticed they were whirling string around with a keychain ring on the end.  They were trying a number of different moves with it and I pointed out that there is a fun activity with string and a large button in the middle and you get it spinning back and forth.  They did not seem to know what I was talking about.  I made a couple to show them and also for the kids at church.  Nobody under the age of 35 seems to know anything about these games whirlygigs.  I am going to make some more and keep investigating.  It also seems like this could be a good gateway activity to get them spinning tops.

Has anyone else encountered any of this same spinning ignorance?

[mailman]

Many of the people from the general public who encounter us spinning tops at our juggling club are completely unaware that such things exist.  They routinely ask us what the tops are, and show no signs they've ever seen one before.

As hard as I find that to believe, it continues to happen, time and again....

[Jeremy McCreary]

Many of the people from the general public who encounter us spinning tops at our juggling club are completely unaware that such things exist.  They routinely ask us what the tops are, and show no signs they've ever seen one before.

I see the same phenomenon when I display my tops at LEGO shows. But I find it quite age-dependent.

Visitors in the over-60 set know all about tops, are delighted to come across my finger tops, and have no trouble twirling the ones I put out for the public to try. For them, it's like coming across long-lost friends. But on average, knowledge of and ability to twirl tops seem to decay rapidly as age decreases from there.

Many kids under 10 have no idea what a top is but are delighted to discover them. The parents, meanwhile, often have their noses buried in their cell phones and couldn't care less.

Same goes for the other LEGO spintoys I put on display.

[Jeremy McCreary]

...I pointed out that there is a fun activity with string and a large button in the middle and you get it spinning back and forth.  They did not seem to know what I was talking about.

In his book on tops, I think D.H. Gould calls those gizmos "buzzers" -- or something like that. He cites a long history across many cultures.

[ta0]

We discussed before a modern version with LEDs:  Fyrflyz. It is still available.