The smell of certain places

[Rose65]

I was reading a book where the author says he reckons a very particular polish is used in schools. He's thinking back to his youth.
I remember my secondary school smelled strongly of polish especially at start of term. A seaside boarding house my family used to stay in always had a marvellous smell of polish and pot pourrie. But our doctors surgery has the most horrid smell of disinfectant - I hate it, just like the way hospitals smell.
When we have been away from home our house smells funny to me when I first come in.

Funny how smells can instantly bring good and bad memories or feelings, which we perhaps do not realise.

 

[CallMeKate]

Funny how smells can instantly bring good and bad memories or feelings, which we perhaps do not realise.

Yes indeed. The first thing that came to mind for me is the smell of a library...
especially one with a lot of older books.

 

[hollydolly]

I love the smell of Play-doh...haven't smelled it for years..I don't know what the active ingredient is..

I like the smell of school polish but I don't know what it is.. and having known a couple of people who were school cleaners who I helped out on a couple of occasions, I never saw any polish out of the ordinary

 

[Timewise 60+]

Ah yes, my first thought was the smell of a bakery! As a child living in a small town, I walked by our bakery on main street on my way to school every morning. It made me hungry every morning! Even though I had just eaten breakfast...

 

[dilettante]

When I was small we got milk deliveries. Milk was left in an aluminum box lined with asbestos panels. For whatever reason it had a distinct smell, no not sour milk or anything like that.

I can still remember that smell and thinking of it takes me right back there.

 

[gruntlabor]

I love the smell of line-dried laundry and the smell of fresh-cut grass. Right now I'm loving the smell of peanut-butter cookies in the oven.
Have you ever smelled something a skunk sprayed? I have, and won't forget it, very unpleasant..

 

[TC Steve]

Two smells that came immediately to mind.
Our family camp in the Adirondacks, great memories and
the smell of those purpleish mimeograph copies from grade school. As soon as they were passed out, everyone sniffed them. A unique smell.

 

[Jules]

For years all the dental offices had the same disinfectant smell. For five years I had to experience that smell at the orthodontist, so a yearly trip to the dentist brought back the bad memories.

 

[Nathan]

I love the smell of Play-doh...haven't smelled it for years..I don't know what the active ingredient is..

I think the active ingredient is...doh.

Kids love to eat Play-doh

 

[Supernatural]

I was reading a book where the author says he reckons a very particular polish is used in schools. He's thinking back to his youth.
I remember my secondary school smelled strongly of polish especially at start of term. A seaside boarding house my family used to stay in always had a marvellous smell of polish and pot pourrie. But our doctors surgery has the most horrid smell of disinfectant - I hate it, just like the way hospitals smell.
When we have been away from home our house smells funny to me when I first come in.

Funny how smells can instantly bring good and bad memories or feelings, which we perhaps do not realise.

Lysol is the one I remember the most. Every school's janitors used it to keep everything disinfected. Especially, them Terrazzo floors, gleaming and smelling pine-fresh.

Smells from our upcoming lunches. Pea soup cooking in the cafeterias at school every Wednesday plus Baked Beans the traditional way on Thursdays.

Tar from the road crews, laying on fresh asphalt. Finally, the best smell of it all. On any given day, within the slightest of breeze, the saltiness in the air from the Clyde...

 

[Gardenlover]

As my dad headed to the basement to work in his shop, he'd say, "I'm going down to the dungeon."
My dad was a pipe smoker.

Sometimes, as I head down into my basement I smell his pipe. Strange as it's a different house.

 

[Gary O']

The smell of certain places​

The ocean
Old motels (black mold, go figure)
Yeah, sun dried laundry
Fresh cut grass
The smell of a slow running creek

the smell of those purpleish mimeograph copies from grade school.

Yeah, copy toner has a pseudo smell of something fresh to me

The ancient smell of Grampa O' (I think I'm getting there)

 

[debodun]

My mom's homemade bread baking in the oven.

 

[helenbacque]

the city of Hershey, Pa

 

[Happy Heart]

Sunday morning pews still smelling of Murphy's Oil Soap left by the ladies who did the cleaning the day before.
My Aunt Sophia grinding her fresh coffee beans in the morning.
The powerful smell and feel of the ocean on a windy day.
A New England Autumn enhanced by spectacular color.
The San Francisco Bay early in the morning with sun highlighting the Golden Gate.
The sweet smell of lilacs on a chilly morning.
I could go on and on, but I'll stop for now with smell of horse manure and leather saddles ready to start the day.

 

[Michael Z]

The smell of the downtown Milwaukee chocolate factories brings me back to my brief time as a downtown city dweller. Don’t know if they are still running.

 

[hollydolly]

I tell you what I don't miss and that's the smell of the Pig Farm down the lane.''.*ugh* on a hot breezy day''

 

[Flarbalard]

Hardware stores. Gas station/ mechanic's garage. Indoor swimming pool. Hospital/ doctor's office and dive bars.

 

[Grampa Don]

We live about 4 miles downwind from where a Hunt's cannery used to be. On some days the air smelled like tomato soup.
The phenolic smell of old electronic parts. Weird, but I like it.

Oatmeal cooking on the stove.
A lumber yard, fresh cut pine.
My uncle's barn full of hay.
An orange grove in blossom on a cool morning. I used to ride my bike past one on the way to work. I also passed a small cafe and could smell breakfast cooking inside: bacon, sausage, maple syrup.

 

[hollydolly]

My favourite smell of all time... is the Night blooming Jasmine on my terrace in Spain...sadly it can't be grown here...

 

[jujube]

Mothballs are my "happy memory smell". They remind me of both my grandmas' houses, especially the closets which were full of wonderful things.

When I see mothballs or crystals at the store, I have to squeeze the packet to get a little whiff of remembrance and I'm six years old again.

Another happy smell are the salt flats when you're approaching the coast. When we would visit the Virginia grandparents and go to Virginia Beach for the day, we'd start smelling that somewhat-malodorous aroma and we'd know we were almost there! Woo-hoo!!!

 

[jet]

hot tar,when new roads being layed

 

[Blaze Duskdreamer]

One I miss big time is dowtown Albany used to have a Planter's Nuts that filled the main intersection (State and Pearl) with the heavenly aroma of roasted peanuts. It's long gone now and I also can't eat peanuts anymore but I miss that big time along with the huge cheerful Mr. Peanut sticking out over the sidewalk to advertise it.

 

[Jules]

As a kid I stood outside, when my mother went in the butcher shop or the cheese store beside it. I tolerate it now; must have lost my sense of smell.

 

[Lewkat]

Sea Air and Clover. Two aromas that I absolutely adore.