How I Started Spinning

for Dad and Mom. My life is good just tagging along. There is no reason for a real commitment. Besides, I look just like a Christian.) Sure, I learned the simple stuff: spinning on the floor, my hand and the string. I left the really cool tricks for Dad and the "experts."

When I got to Oak Hills Christian College, I hoped to find an advocate who could understand and participate in spinning tops. I failed.

Heidi Winters (now Vogel) who had the same opportunity I did as a child was also at Oak Hills. Don Winters, Heidi's Father was a Duncan spinning top trainer. Along with Fred Mills, Dwight Paulson and a few others, Don learned to spin tops from Jim Schreiber and went to work for Duncan Toy Company. Don designed the original Duncan spinning top competitions and created the Duncan top spinning instruction book.

I make a point of spinning tops with Don a couple times each year. The insight and instruction provided by these sessions is invaluable.

Currently I am working to develop my skills so I can effectively share spinning tops with others like Jim Schreiber did. I have not put together a big program yet, but I have performed in a few parades and small birthday parties.  v

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to the Yo-Yo when he first saw one of Pedro Flores Yo-Yo's in 1927. Later he bought the Flores Yo-Yo company and the Yo-Yo trademark.

Jim Schreiber was a chemical engineer who knew spinning tops. A Wisconsin minister enthusiastic about Jim's top spinning skills introduced him to several Duncan executives. Jim made their eyes pop with a top spinning demonstration. Later Duncan decided to manufacture and promote spinning tops along with their Yo-Yo line. They visited Jim for help in lining up and training demonstrators. Jim tested the Duncan spinning top prototypes and made suggestions for improvements to Duncan.

As a boy, Jim learned to spin tops. Once he skipped school and lunch to continue top spinning; throwing and catching the top over 800 times without stopping. A graduate of Wheaton College and student at Moody Bible Institute, Jim met a group of children on the streets of Chicago trying to spin tops on the sidewalk. Offering to help one boy, Jim used his boyhood skills to show how tops can be spun. Jim learned that using spinning top object lessons help people pay attention to the truths of God's word.

In 1928 Jim met W. S. Cummins, superintendent of Oak Hills Fellowship in Bemidji, Minnesota. Cummins asked Jim to come to the North Woods and minister for one year. Jim accepted Cummins request and became assistant superintendent after that year.

For forty-four years Jim and Jemima Schreiber worked in Bemidji. Jim used spinning tops to tell burly lumberjacks and their families stories of God and His love. Students who came to Oak Hills Bible Camps and Oak Hills Christian College, also learned to love and appreciate Jim's stories. The spinning top is a wonderful object to capture and hold people's attention.

I bought my first spinning top from Jim in 1969 or 1970 at Oak Hills Bible Camp. I was privileged to learn top spinning from my Dad who learned to spin from Jim while a student at Oak Hills. Spinning tops are still fascinating. There are many tricks that can be done with the spinning top requiring various levels of expertise.

As I said, I was fortunate to have my Dad for a top spinning instructor. Unfortunately I was not a very good student. As a child, I considered the spinning top "Dad's toy." It never occurred to me that I could spin tops for myself. (I sometimes wonder if this is the same kind of reaction that kids in Christian families have toward the claims of Jesus Christ. It's good

Top Collecting

Where did all the spinning tops go?

Each of our experiences in top collecting varies.  It has been difficult for me to find spinning tops where I live in the Midwest, USA.
I've dug through antique stores for an occasional glimpse of marginal quality spinning tops.  One I bought was stashed away with some fishing bobbers.  Others are very similar to the ones I already have.  Some simply aren't that interesting to me.
Since 1996, I've scanned eBay (www.ebay.com) for spinning tops.  I have purchased several spinning tops from antique dealers there.  But Internet Auctions aren't for the naive, or the squeamish.

Do you have some neat spinning tops in your collection?  How about letting others know about them.  Perhaps you'd consider writing a brief article to be included in a future ITSA Newsletter. v