Ah yes, the good old days, back before they invented this "safety" thing, when playgrounds were actually FUN. *pounds walker on recycled rubber chips*
I know exactly what you're talking about, the big spinny wheels that would occasionally send smaller children flying off to god knows where. Those were awesome! We called them merry-go-rounds; I just checked with my husband to confirm, because merry-go-round (in the US, at least) is also another word for a carousel -- the carnival ride with the horses and lights. He remembers calling them that, too.
I'm not sure when they started to disappear, though. I definitely remember them from my childhood, along with the child-crushing (i.e. fun) variety of see-saw (which we called a teeter-totter more often than a see-saw). That would have been the early-to-mid 80s. By the time my brother got to be playground-age (late 80s/early 90s) I don't have any specific recollection of them, but it's possible that they could have been around -- I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention specifically.
I would imagine that if you set your story in a less urban area -- rural school districts would have less money to replace outdated playground equipment and/or less scrutiny from citizen watchdog groups -- it would be very plausible that the Winchesters could have played on such things.
Re: OT: questions about Americanisms of a different sort - okay, not so much about YOUR fic ;-P
I know exactly what you're talking about, the big spinny wheels that would occasionally send smaller children flying off to god knows where. Those were awesome! We called them merry-go-rounds; I just checked with my husband to confirm, because merry-go-round (in the US, at least) is also another word for a carousel -- the carnival ride with the horses and lights. He remembers calling them that, too.
I'm not sure when they started to disappear, though. I definitely remember them from my childhood, along with the child-crushing (i.e. fun) variety of see-saw (which we called a teeter-totter more often than a see-saw). That would have been the early-to-mid 80s. By the time my brother got to be playground-age (late 80s/early 90s) I don't have any specific recollection of them, but it's possible that they could have been around -- I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention specifically.
I would imagine that if you set your story in a less urban area -- rural school districts would have less money to replace outdated playground equipment and/or less scrutiny from citizen watchdog groups -- it would be very plausible that the Winchesters could have played on such things.