Harvey Lowe — World Yo-Yo Champion & Vancouver Legend

I. World Championship

At 13 years old, he conquered the world.

In September 1932, Harvey Lowe stepped onto the stage of the Empire Theatre in London and won the first-ever World Yo-Yo Championship, defeating all competitors including the legendary Canadian player Joe Young. He took home $4,600 in prize money, an extraordinary sum during the depths of the Great Depression.

Promoter Irving Cook had spotted Harvey's talent and taken the boy from Victoria to London, travelling by train across Canada, winning regional contests along the way, before sailing to England. His mother received $25 per month; Harvey received a tutor, a white tie and tails, and the world.

"I won that one because it just happened that I looped and my string didn't break. That's all." — Harvey Lowe, on winning the 1932 World Championship

13 Age at championship

2,000+ Tricks mastered in Europe

1932 Year of first world title

Harvey Lowe — Vancouver, BC

He remained in Europe until 1934, performing across the continent as the yo-yo craze swept through the Depression-era West. He visited the Eiffel Tower so often that guards began letting "the little China boy" in for free. His hands were insured with Lloyd's of London. He stayed a month at London's Savoy Hotel, befriending neighbours Laurel and Hardy and jazz legend Fats Waller. He taught the Prince of Wales to yo-yo, a fact Cheerio was forbidden to publicise by the Royal Appointment Authority.

In 2000, he was honoured as Grand Marshal of the World Yo-Yo Championships. In 2005, he was inducted into the National Yo-Yo Hall of Fame. His yo-yo is housed permanently in the National Yo-Yo Museum in Chico, California.

II. Early Life

From Victoria to London, Shanghai to Vancouver

1918

Born in Victoria, BC

Harvey was born October 30, 1918, the youngest of ten children of Lowe Gee Quai and Ming Yook. His father — one of three brothers who set up tailor shops on Government Street in the 1890s — died when Harvey was three. His family maintained traditional Chinese values in a new country.

1931

First Yo-Yo

In sixth grade, Harvey bought his first yo-yo for 35 cents. He began entering and winning local contests in Victoria and Vancouver, catching the eye of promoter Irving Cook.

1932

World Champion at 13

Travelling across Canada by train and then to England, Harvey won the World Yo-Yo Championship at the Empire Theatre, London, on September 12, 1932. He had competed representing China, as no two players from a single country were allowed.

1934–49

Shanghai Years

After returning from Europe, Harvey's mother sent him to Shanghai to learn Mandarin. He studied at a Chinese university, earning a business degree, living through the Japanese occupation and the Communist takeover. He left just before all mainland ports were closed.

1949

Return to Vancouver

Harvey returned to Vancouver, resuming his yo-yo career while building a new life in the city's Chinatown community. He became a fixture at clubs like the Marco Polo and the Smilin' Buddha, performing a regular 20-minute yo-yo extravaganza at the Orpheum Theatre.

III. Radio & Community

Chinese-Canadian Pioneer

Canada's First Chinese Radio Host

In 1953, Harvey began hosting Call of China on CJOR Vancouver — the country's first Chinese-Canadian radio program. He hosted the show until 1965, using it to help new immigrants integrate into Canadian life and to bridge the gap between the Chinese community and broader Vancouver society.

His role went beyond broadcasting. Harvey worked as a cultural ambassador for the Chinese-Canadian community, helping families who had just arrived through immigration navigate their new home. Decades later, people would still stop him in the street: "I remember you when I came through immigration in Vancouver and you helped my family out."

He was a Chinatown legend: involved with hotspots like the Bamboo Terrace, the Kingsland, and the Asia Gardens, and a well-known connector between communities at a time when that work was not taken for granted.

"Even to this day people will say … 'I remember you when I came through immigration in Vancouver and you helped my family out.'"

— Harvey Lowe, from the documentary State of Yo (2008)

Program Details

Program Call of China

Station CJOR Vancouver

Years 1953 – 1965

Significance Canada's first Chinese-Canadian radio program

IV. Legacy & Honours

A life that spanned three continents and nine decades

Harvey Lowe's story resists easy categorisation. He was a Depression-era boy who became a world champion, a wartime survivor, a radio pioneer, a cultural ambassador, and a Chinatown fixture who kept two yo-yos in his pocket until the end of his life.

2000

Grand Marshal

Honoured as Grand Marshal of the World Yo-Yo Championship, more than six decades after winning the first one.

2005

Hall of Fame

Inducted into the National Yo-Yo Hall of Fame. His original championship yo-yo is housed in the National Yo-Yo Museum, Chico, California.

2008

Documentary: State of Yo

Director Jason Karman documented Harvey's life and how the yo-yo helped him regain his memory after a brain tumour operation in 1995.

BC Entertainment

Hall of Fame

Recognised by the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame for his contributions to entertainment and cultural life in British Columbia.

Television

The Smothers Brothers

A regular on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour when Tom Smothers created his Yo-Yo Man character, appearing as the character's guru.

Community

Cultural Bridge

As host of Call of China and a Chinatown figure for decades, Harvey helped shape Chinese-Canadian identity in Vancouver at a formative time for the community.