The smell of childhood

I'm with Holly and Kate.....hot tar because they used to pour fresh tar on our street every summer and we'd get it all over us. My mom had a rag and a bottle of gasoline sitting on the back stoop and we had to get every bit of tar off our feet before we were allowed to come in the house. So gasoline is a much-remembered smell, too.

Play-Doh's smell made me nauseated. I couldn't stand when it was around. They must have changed the formula because my littles play with it all the time and it doesn't bother me.

Moth balls. Both my grandmas' house smelled of moth balls, especially the closets. And Grandma's house was a delight to go to, so that is still a smell I enjoy.

School smells: The paste that came in gallon-sized jars and was doled out by a ruler onto little pieces of paper towels. It had a distinctive smell. Whatever it was that the janitor mopped the floors with. The school always smelled strongly of that first thing in the mornings. That faint smell of vomit that always hung over everything because somebody was always upchucking at school. Always.

The soapy smells of laundry day. The shoewax my dad used. His pipe tobacco, usually Cherry Blend.
 
A big Yes! to all @jujube's post and @MACKTEXAS for the honeysuckle memories. We had big stone gateposts at the end of our drive that were covered in honeysuckle and lilac bushes outside the back door.

All of you mentioning tar reminded me that I get a headache from it. Some of the roads we had to ride our bikes over were covered in cinders and we had those little black bits buried in our knees for years.

My very favorite smell > wet dog that had just been bathed with that green Flea & Tick shampoo. What was that called?
 
The smell of a new pot of:

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The smell of a softball mitt, a new (though pretty cheap) basketball, fresh-cut cedar lumber, barbecued hamburger, latex interior paint, a small fir tree (indoors, Christmas).

I also believe these couid do the trick, except they’re no longer occasions in my environment. Mum’s fresh-cut roses (in a vase) or peanut butter cookies she made, and fresh newspaper "funny pages".
 
The thing is about the hot tar for us was that as small children Scotland was being rebuilt after the destruction of the war years.. so everywhere we went there was houses beinng built and new roads being laid, and inevitably we got tar on our clothes
 
hollydolly said:
The thing is about the hot tar for us was that as small children Scotland was being rebuilt after the destruction of the war years.. so everywhere we went there was houses beinng built and new roads being laid, and inevitably we got tar on our clothes
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We were just discussing this (hot tar) today. While out driving, we came upon a road that was newly tarred, and recollected how we would chew the warm asphalt. It's a wonder we didn't get sick from it.
 
Pinky said:
We were just discussing this (hot tar) today. While out driving, we came upon a road that was newly tarred, and recollected how we would chew the warm asphalt. It's a wonder we didn't get sick from it.
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Never heard anyone admit that. You could have died. Glad you didn't Pinky.
 
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