The smell of childhood

All I have to do is see the picture of @LadyEmeraude profile pic and I can smell the Emeraude in my mind and it takes me immediately to childhood and the smell of my mother.

Stove Top stuffing takes me back to being a little girl at family reunions. Silly putty and Play doh all smells of childhood. That and freshly cut grass.
 

I'll always remember the smell of the perfume Blue Grass. My mother would let me have a tiny dab of it behind my ears when she was putting it on.

Roses are the smell I associate with my grandma. She had a yard full of wild roses and always made sachet out of them when the petals were falling. Containers of sachet were all over the house and she always wore rose perfume. I don't wear it myself, but it's a very "comforting" aroma. I can remember sitting in church, sniffling, and she'd pull a tissue or a handkerchief out of her bra (we always called it "The Bank of Grandma" because she kept all sorts of things...money, tissues, bus passes..etc...in her bra) and wipe my nose with it. It always smelled like roses.

My beloved grandpa often had the faint smell of paint thinner on him. He was a painter and a wallpaper hanger by profession in his later days, so he was always dealing with paint thinner. I LOVE the smell of paint thinner.

My favorite uncle always was chewing gum or mints. When I get a whiff of peppermint or spearmint, I can remember him.

The fishy smell of tidal flats brings me back to childhood, visiting my grandparents in Virginia and driving to the beach. When you started to smell that odor, it meant the beach was only about 10 minutes further. Much excitement and arguing about who smelled it first.
 
Mercurochrome - banned in the US, 1998. My grandfather swore by that stuff. Used it all the time. He would not be happy.

Although it didn’t have a smell, I remember Bromo-Seltzer. Banned in 1975 (too much Bromide can make you psychotic) I had a relative who would chug it like soda pop. Said it calmed his nerves.
 
I grew up on a small farm owned by my grandparents. The smell of manure and my grandma baking her pies, especially peach, cherry and black raspberry. We had a Rod of black raspberry bushes behind the barn and along a small stream. Grandma and I would take a pot each day and go pick the fresh ones each day for about 2 or so weeks starting like around July 1.
 
A place that made linseed oil was a favorite. The worst was my folks pickling things that were better left unpickled. Outhouses were certainly on my list to avoid. A neutral smell, was sulfur in unmentionable areas, applied to ease chigger bites.

Dead fish and /or guts, left at favorite fishing spots was also not my favorite smell. :confused:
 
Been There said:
I grew up on a small farm owned by my grandparents. The smell of manure and my grandma baking her pies, especially peach, cherry and black raspberry. We had a Rod of black raspberry bushes behind the barn and along a small stream. Grandma and I would take a pot each day and go pick the fresh ones each day for about 2 or so weeks starting like around July 1.
Click to expand...
One day my sister and I went with Grandma to pick berries. When I was bent over picking some berries I glanced up & saw bees rising from the ground a ways ahead and yelled, "Bees!" Well my sister nearby took off on a mad run with my grandma chasing after her telling her not to run, while she brushed bees away from her. I don't remember if my sister was stung, but for me it was like watching a scary comedy.
 
There are certain aromas that cant be replicated except in a car at night with windows down. I remember the ocean, honeysuckle in the spring, pine trees, bakeries, fields and approaching storms. Maybe this was brought out by the moisture in the air or just the peace and quiet.
 
As kids our senses must have been heightened. I remember smelling everything, even early in morning. The dew on the grass, worms after a storm. The smell of fruit and nature. The smell of food while walking around, the bakery, butcher and seafood market. The world was colorful and full of aromas. Now...... mostly dull or corporate fakery.
 
We were much more in tune with the smells of outdoors. The smell of approaching rain and the difference after the rain. Pine on a hot day. Distant forest fire. The ocean from a mile away. A campfire. Honeysuckle. Freshly mowed grass. A bakery. A steakhouse. A stable. Newly turned soil. A barn. A silo. dinner preparation. A baseball glove. Clean sheets on the line and so on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top