A genuine 1935 "Duncan Yo-Yo Winner" felt patch. This patch design was the very first issue of the "Duncan Yo-Yo Winner" design. There was also a "Duncan 'Gold Seal' Yo-Yo Winner" patch design issued the same year. The 1935 Winner patch is unusual because it marks the first and last time Duncan made this particular design entirely out of felt. Even the surrounding white border, star, numbers, and lettering are cut from felt and individually sewn onto the blue and red felt backing. A much more labor intensive process compared to how Winner patches were made the following year in 1936 and subsequent years until 1959. While it's not clearly evident in the pictures, the sides of this patch angle inward very slightly. It is much more apparent when you hold the patch.
Note the very unique shape of the letter "O" in "YOYO." This distinguishing feature, along with the inner perimeter stitching of the star, can help you identify reproduced 1935 patches that have circulated, such as the following:
Beware of fakes! A highly questionable 1935 version exists that is noticably newer and poorer in stitching and overall vintage quality when compared to the version in this exhibit. The dubious 1935 version shows absolutely no aging whatsoever -- very suspect for an 85+ year old patch. Now compare the reverse side of the patch that you see in this exhibit with the reverse side of another questionable 1935 version. Clearly the two 1935 patches in the other exhibits are fake, so beware if you're a yo-yo patch collector.
