Scents that take you back...

[GoingNorth]

I guess it was something he liked growing up so she fixed it for him once when we visited. The whole house had a distinct aroma of urine.

I refuse to eat kidneys, but we used to use beef kidneys as part of the raw mix we fed our cats. Ugh, they stink. According to my ancient copy of Joy of Cooking, soaking them in vinegar water takes away the smell.

I had the original version that included instructions for preparing chickens starting with the live bird, how long to hang game, etc.

 

[GoingNorth]

Hmmm...

Coal smoke. Not a smell most (if any) of you have smelled, but the apartment buildings of my childhood were heated with coal-fired boilers.

Smelling coal smoke wafting over the border with East Germany took me right back to my childhood.

The garlicky, fishy, oniony, meaty smell of a traditional Jewish deli. Hard to describe, impossible to replicate. Again takes me right back to my childhood. (and still makes me salivate)

Lavender. Several of my old aunties wore lavender and used lavender soap, etc. I still love lavender and wear it on occasion.

The musty, "papery", leathery smell of an old, hand-bound book.

The smell of tempera paints: the sort we used to use in elementary school. They came in little glass bottles of primary colors. Heck the smell of my elementary school, which was built in the 1800s: Floor wax, both for wood in the classrooms, and marble in the hallways and stairs. The smell of chalk. Disinfectant in the bathrooms. Sweat because there was no A/C, (and quite often no heat).

The smell of mimeograph printouts (dittos) when fresh off the machine and handed out for homework.

 

[AppleCori]

The smell of burning wood and leaves.

I loved burning trash or leaves, sticks and yard waste when we were kids.

I loved high school bonfires where everyone was dancing and drinking and having parties.

I love any kind of campfire and camping.

I have a fire pit in the back yard, which I love. Anyone else have one?

 

[Triedntrue]

Pipe tobacco my grandfather smoked

Honeysuckle we had a hillside full

Pies baking and cookies my mom was a great baker

Burning wood in fireplace

 

[BusynMember]

Our new house has a fire pit!

 

[Lil]

Well I've stayed off this one because my scents that take me back to my childhood aren't that nice! Specifically, cow and pig !

I grew up on a small family farm, we had probably 40-50 head of cattle and always a dozen or so sows. Sometimes I helped my dad move the cows or feed the cows or pigs. I remember bottle-feeding the bobby calves - the male calves of dairy cows that are sold off at just a few days old. I also remember the smell of the formula we fed them...but you don't smell that unless you are actually feeding. I'd also go with Daddy to the auction barn. I remember all the old men there thought I was just IT, since most didn't have daughters or granddaughters that would go. We also had chickens and rabbits (which are just nasty). I don't remember the smell of the hens much, but cow and pig poo - I can drive down a country road with the windows open and I can tell which is which to this day without seeing the animals!

It's not like our HOUSE smelled bad...Mom was a fantastic cook, and she baked pies and bread and just all kinds of good country cooking...but it's the barn smells that, after all these years, I remember best. Most people think it stinks, and I guess it does, but it makes me think of home.

 

[Pink Elephant]

Hmmm...

Coal smoke. Not a smell most (if any) of you have smelled, but the apartment buildings of my childhood were heated with coal-fired boilers.

Smelling coal smoke wafting over the border with East Germany took me right back to my childhood.

The garlicky, fishy, oniony, meaty smell of a traditional Jewish deli. Hard to describe, impossible to replicate. Again takes me right back to my childhood. (and still makes me salivate)

Lavender. Several of my old aunties wore lavender and used lavender soap, etc. I still love lavender and wear it on occasion.

The musty, "papery", leathery smell of an old, hand-bound book.

The smell of tempera paints: the sort we used to use in elementary school. They came in little glass bottles of primary colors. Heck the smell of my elementary school, which was built in the 1800s: Floor wax, both for wood in the classrooms, and marble in the hallways and stairs. The smell of chalk. Disinfectant in the bathrooms. Sweat because there was no A/C, (and quite often no heat).

The smell of mimeograph printouts (dittos) when fresh off the machine and handed out for homework.

Gosh, yes, I remember the smell of those old elementary school paints! We always mixed ours by-hand, and they'd apply thinly, almost see-through.

 

[AnnieO]

Those little white flowers that smell like honey, that grow as weeds in the Southwest... Remind me of my grandparents' duplex. Lavender reminds me of Grandma, fresh sawdust and Lava soap of Grandpa.Motor oil, and Old Lyme, of my Dad. Sharpie Markers of the hospital lab where my Mom worked. The smell of the creosote bush when it rained - if I could bottle that. It's intoxicating. Jovan Jasmine perfume, tiny yellow bottle, of high school and Prom.

 

[Pink Elephant]

Here's one for everybody... how about the old 1970's hair perms you did at home?

The house literally stunk for days after, and I remember the eye-burning that went on while the perm was being done! And that goes to say as a spectator, never mind the person getting the perm! LOL!

 

[KTMom91]

I do remember those! I had the late 70's big bleached hair, layered with plenty of Aqua Net.

 

[Pink Elephant]

I do remember those! I had the late 70's big bleached hair, layered with plenty of Aqua Net.

There's just no forgetting them is there? Yes, LOL, and Aqua Net, too!

 

[Sam3]

I went to a 70s party a few years ago and wanted to take myself back with scents. I found Jean Nate, and Love’s Baby Soft on eBay.

(tell, me you didn’t just imagine it)

If I could only find “Tickle” . . . I would roll that giant slimy orb in my armpit just for old times sake

 

[Lil]

I just remembered, Old Spice reminds me of my dad. Jabber doesn't really wear cologne, but he does use Old Spice products and when he does I love how he smells - not in a creepy way. LOL!

 

[Littleboylost]

Pie always makes me think of my mom. She used to bake like a mad woman and we would come home to the smell of sweet pie mmmmm. She will be gone a year at the end of this month.

 

[Pink Elephant]

To this day, smelling homemade shortbread cookies at Christmastime, never fails to take me back to my childhood. You just can't beat memories such as that.