Insomniac minds want to know: Whatever happened to the playground merry-go-round?
I have NO idea where this question came from... those dark, still-dizzy recesses (pun intended) of my mind, no doubt. But I realized at some point today that it'd been years and years since I'd seen a merry-go-round in any parks or playgrounds.
Almost every playground I played in as a child (and I played in many; all over Ontario and many more in Europe) had a merry-go-round. It was my all-time favourite thing to do at the playground. But I haven't seen a merry-go-round in a playground since (and I've been to just about every one within a 30 mile radius of our house, I'm pretty sure). I wonder why? It's not like they're any more dangerous than a swing or climbing structure.
Teeter-totters are becoming a rarity too but I know of a few playgrounds close by that have them so they're not extinct yet. Merry-go-rounds, however, I have yet to find.
I thought I caught a glimpse of one once, in the park near where our friends Rich and Jenn live, but I couldn't get close enough to find out because of all the druggies hanging out on the steps.
What's to become of this newest generation if they are deprived of the ability to spin for free, in a publically and socially sanctioned manner, until they make themselves vomit and their eyes roll back in their heads?
I did some internet searching thinking that perhaps I'd find some all-but-forgotten news headline about some senator or city council member's child suffering irreparable brain damage as a result of a merry-go-round related mishap, but I turned up nothing. It seems they've just simply gone out of style. (Yet they are still apparently sold wholesale online. Gotta love the internet.)
So sad.
Oh, hey, Dave - that reminds me: Where did you find your film-noir merry-go-round? Is it in a playground somewhere local? I may have to make a trip with Bobbin (in the daylight, of course, and in full living colour ;-) provided it isn't in the playground frequented by the heroine addicts near J&B's place. I never did find out whether or not what I saw was an actual merry-go-round.
Comments
Come visit us soon - we have one at (an older park) near us - 65th and 40th!
Posted by Debra on August 12, 2007 7:00 AM.They had a merry-go-round like that in one of the school playgrounds in Pembroke. Dexter and I used to walk past it. There is nothing eerier than an empty children's play park at night, especially when it has one of those merry-go-rounds. You keep expecting it to start turning on its own... Or maybe that's just me.
Posted by Sarah on August 12, 2007 7:47 AM.There's some by my apartment. Come visit!
Posted by eJuana on August 12, 2007 12:01 PM.