Helicopters – grew up in Virginia.
From rural Minnesota: helicopters, or whirlybirds, interchangeably.
I’ve never seen those in my entire life. If I were pressed to describe it, I’d say, “Those weird feathery looking seed thinggamajiggers.” Lived in California my whole life, btw.
Helicopters, or just maple seeds. Grew up in Wisconsin, live in Illinois now.
We have two fairly large silver maple trees in our yard. The helicopter blizzard is just starting; in a week or two, they will be EVERYWHERE. Hates them!
Helicopters! Grew up in Michigan
Never had a name for them, but we did stick them on our noses.
Grew up in eastern Pennsylvania and the middle of New Jersey.
The ones that you can split open and stick to your nose are Pinocchio noses.
Something I’ve never seen or heard of before.
Innerestin. I’m in the middle of New York and I share with Wisconsin and IL. Probably whirlagigs predates helicopters but has been mostly replaced.
Whirly birds and sometimes helicopters. Tennessee.
Helicopters. The trees are revving up to dump bushel baskets full, 2-3" deep, all over our lawn. Our neighbors just love us, as you might guess.
Mostly Helicopters, but sometimes Whirlybirds. SE Michigan, born & raised… BITCH!
Whirlybirds. Northeastern Kansas. I never could do the whistle thing with them but I always thought they were cool.
Whirlygigs or helicopters - grew up in Indiana.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/focus/s_568866.html
Pittsburgh cite for both whirligigs and helicopters.
Really? When I was growing up around the Bay of Quinte (20~ years ago), we kids called them helicopters too. And opened them up and took the seeds out, and used the sticky pod sides to attach them to the bridge of our nose.
I grew up in MA & NH. We stuck them to our noses too, but I don’t recall anyone calling them anything but seeds.
I never heard the term “helicopters” used for them in Sarnia.
When I grew up in Pennsylvania, we didn’t really have a name for them, just called them maple seeds. We did stick them on our noses, though, and I do recall us calling each other “Pinnochi-Nose.”
Reading all of these similar posts, it strikes me that we all must have grown up in the same Stephen King novel.
I grew up in Ct. and also never heard of calling them anything but seeds.