While it did not originate in the Philippines, the yo-yo as a toy was popularized in the US by a Filipino. Historians actually consider the yo-yo to be one of the world's oldest toys, having been around for 2,500 years, second only to the doll. In the Philippines, however, Filipinos had used a version of the yo-yo as a weapon. The large weapon had sharp edges and studs and was flung at enemies or prey using twenty-foot long ropes. A Filipino immigrant named Pedro Flores began mass-manufacturing the yo-yo as a toy in California in the 1920s. Eventually, D.F. Duncan Sr. bought the rights for the toy from Flores in 1929 and registered the name Yo-Yo as a trademark.
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