‘Trompos’ or spinning tops

A common toy right up to our times, the trompo or spinning top is made using a bit of wood lathed into a pear shape, with a metal tip stuck on the bottom so it spins on it after throwing it with a piece of string.

The harder the wood, the better, so it doesn´t break on impact with other tops or the ground. The metal tip was usually rounded but sometimes pointed so as to break other tops.

Playing with a spinning top involves throwing it onto the ground wrapped in a string –with a knot, flattened bottle top or coin at one end, to hold between index and middle finger- so that it spins on the metal tip. Expert players can pick the spinning top up with the string and put it on the palm of their hands or throw it to another player as if it was a juggling show.

The game consists in seeing whose top spins the longest, or spinning it inside a circle without it getting out, or picking it up with your hand and placing it back in the circle still spinning. Another version involved other players trying to knock a top out of the circle.

The game has resisted the passing of time. Nowadays there are hard plastic tops, metal ones and of other materials, and there are even tops with flashing lights. In the past the wood was painted in bright colours and drawing pins were used to decorate it.