What scents are locked away in your mind from your childhood ?

MarkinPhx

MarkinPhx

Well-known Member
Location
Phoenix
First for me is a freshly printed page from a mimeograph machine. I am sure the teachers got a kick whenever they saw students sniff the freshly printed page.

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Second scent that I remember fondly is that of freshly baked persimmon cookies. My mom did not bake much but she did make persimmon cookies at Christmas time. The third scent that comes to mind is that of orange blossoms. Every spring the air was filled with the scent. Sadly there are not many orange groves in the city I live anymore so it is rare that I get to experience that scent either.
 

When I was about 6 or 7, My cousin and I use to walk home from school. On the way home we passed the woodworking shop of my grandfather. We used to stop in to see grandpa and there we would see piles of curly wood shavings laying on the floor from his activities throughout the day and week, it was all hand planed pine and the smell of freshly worked pine is always very fragrant and lasting. Grandpa wouldn't take time to clean out the shop until he couldn't work anymore. To this day I can remember the scent of fresh pine, see the piles of freshly planed pine and my grandfather working away. Today.....I do the same.
 

The scent of my grandmother's lilac bushes when they were fully in bloom, and the scent of the rose cologne she wore.

The scent of the barns on my great uncle's dairy farm...hay, feed, cow poop and who knows what else...but very distinctive.

The scent of my grandfather's pipe tobacco.

...and the heavy, stale smell of cigarette smoke and dirty ashtrays...both of my parents were heavy smokers.
 
win231 said:
When I was 4, I had a piano teacher that smelled like an old ashtray. I didn't know at the time that smoking could make someone smell that bad. And she often sat on the bench right next to me.....while I tried not to breathe.
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My parents smoked and all of their friends smoked so I guess I was rather immune to the smell back then.
 
The aroma of freshly baked bread. My grandparents owned a bakery, (still in the family), and when I was a kid staying at my grandmother's, they lived right next door to the bakery, and you could smell the bread baking.

When the bread was done, they'd put the racks outside so the bread could cool, so the whole neighborhood could enjoy it.

Such a fond childhood memory.......
 
Oh my word, so many! Both good and bad...

The good: 😍

- The aroma of Christmas baking, specifically shortbread cookies. Moms were the best! My job was putting the red and green cherries on top.
- Pickling salt (canning season), how I loved that smell! Used to sniff so hard to suck in ever ounce of it! Pure delight!
- Liver and onions! OMG, so heavenly and so delicious!
- Johnson's Baby Powder... changing my baby siblings.
- Tame (brand) hair conditioner! Moms favourite! It was off bounds to us kids, but I used to sneak a little every now and then!

The bad: :sick:

- The ammonia odour of my baby siblings plastic diaper pail. So strong it burned your nose and eyes!
- Hair perms! Oh... my... goodness!!! Those 1970's perms... talk about stink! So disgusting! The residual smell in the air burned your nose and eyes for days after!
- Crib sheets soiled with baby puke. Stripped and changed baby siblings cribs all the time.
- Changing baby siblings wet ammonia-soaked cloth diapers and rubber pants! Pee-ew! Mornings were the worst! Multiple wettings through the night... smelled like boiled and mashed turnips! Used to make me wince and gag!
- The smell of cigarette smoke in the morning! Used to make me want to heave!
 

What scents are locked away in your mind from your childhood ?​


The smell of Dr Day
He made house calls
Came to our house two or three times
Smelled heavily of disinfectant and tobacco

Comic books
Whatever they made those pages of, they gave off an unmistakable aroma

And, of course, the Christmas tree

However

The best was;

Gramma
Cheap perfume, rouge, and a half stick of double mint gum
That may have put me to sleep at nap time
Nestled in her pillowy arms
Listening to her whine out an ol' song

Grammas
Everbody should have at least one
They come with unforgettable smells
 
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Murrmurr said:
My grandma's water gardens had multiple, distinct smells; the water itself, the flowers and water plants growing in and around them, the frogs and bugs. Even the algae had an aroma.
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Oh, now THAT'S a memory

The creek by our old place, slow moving, muddy, algae, slimy in places, skunk cabbage, frogs, salamanders, bugs galore.
The aroma
Distinctive
Ever once in awhile, when fishing a slow stream, I'll breathe in that scent......and it will haunt me
Send me back
Nothing quite like it
 
The fragrance of orange tree blossoms and foliage from my grandmother's property in Arizona.....long gone now.
Swimming pool chlorine....whenever I smell it I recall the club my family belonged to 50 years ago.
Firecracker smoke.....when I smell it I recall Chinese New Year celebrations from 50 years ago.
The aroma of old books.....our club had a library too....when I wasn't hanging around the pool I was in the library.
 
Gary O' said:
The aroma of newly fired caps from a cap gun

So wish kids of today could experience that
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My son used to love his cap gun but he used it so much he became really ill from the fumes he inhaled
I had to ring our Poisons Information Centre and they explained that he inhaled mostly Sulphur and he was sensitive to it
 
I don't know how true it is but some people I used to know would huff this for the sweet smell I guess.

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Some other people I used to know would go to the dentist quite often and tell the dentist that they were allergic to Novocaine I guess that too.

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Now me I always did and still do like the smell of money. That I willingly admit to.

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I also didn't inhale, scouts honor.
 
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I just remembered - when I was 9 yrs old, my mom took me to Europe with her to meet her weird family.
While we were in Paris to visit her sister, I walked into a cheese store. After a few breaths, I had to run out to avoid upchucking.
 

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