My New Collection- Scents of my Childhood

[PNGwynne]

*Certain cooking odors of dishes similar to ones my mother no longer makes--oven-fried chicken, porcupine meatballs, hamburger gravy (over mashed potatoes).

*Steak grilling--I'm right back at my favorite York steak house for my 12-13-14th birthday dinner.

*My dad's Old Spice and grandfather's pipe tobacco

*Model cement (no sniffing!)--building an Aurora or Fundimensions kit.

*Sewing-machine oil--Mom sewing me a costume or toy clothes.

*Freshly-tarred road--we would hit it on a hot summer day and pop the tar bubbles with our toes before the gravel was laid. Then we had to clean our feet with gasoline, and my father would grouse about not having enough gas to mow.


And later--now--my Mego tote has bags of hundreds of sorted vintage parts and a sort of musty/plasticky smell which I associate with classic Mego and all the happiness those toys have brought me over decades.

[msenger76]

I wish we could still get the figural airwick air freshners. my grandma had witch and pumpkin she saved for years as a halloween decoration

[Mikey]

It's not my 70s childhood, but as a teenage Gap employee at the Oxford Valley Mall in Langhorne (you ever make it that far south, Mikey?), I remember the distinct smell of the new clothes. They were delivered in these big classic crates with interlocking lids. As soon as you opened the lids, it released a combination of chemicals and cloth smell that will always be with me. The unwashed jeans did have a particular smell. For some time, the move had been to pre-washed jeans, so most of our inventory included those. In fact, the unwashed cost $5-10 less.

Being a fatboy always had "special" company clothes option.

Levies and Lee never catered to us over-average people (guessing we weren't their thing) …

We were left with Wrangler---- and their fatboy subsidiary also know as Rustler …

Can be easily found in all department store discounts

[YoungOnce]

Growing up, my grandma kept Irish Springs soap in the bathroom. We never had that soap at our house. I was a preteen when she was alive.

Fast-forward to about three years ago, my wife for some reason put a bar of that soap in our shower without me knowing it. As I lathered up, suddenly a flood of recollections flooded my mind that I didn’t even know I had in my brain. Wonderful memories I didn’t even know were there.

I’m not especially enthralled with Irish Spring soap, but I was just amazed that an aroma could bring to the surface memories buried so deep. It was a crazy experience.

[Mongoose1983]

I read somewhere that smells are the ability that is most related to memories, or actually what activates it.

Along that of the flowers in Springtime (that instantly take me back to kindergarten days), the one smell that I could mention is that of the Matchbox soldiers' boxes. The smell of the cardboard combined with the plastics is totally unmistakable. Takes me back to 1979-1980 in a second!

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[RonnyG]

A box of crayons.

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[Mikey]

Metal lunchbox inside

Everybody's smelled the same

Combo of out-dated mayo, PBJ, tuna and throw-up

Good stuff

[Wee67]

Hey Mikey- Here's a smell that you might have experienced that always takes me back to childhood, even when I smell today- the Jersey shore!

I know now it's the smell of salt, mud and decomposing salt-water plants, but as a kid, it's arrival meant we were reaching the beach for a day of sand, sun and cheap, tacky boardwalk fun! I'm off to win the water balloon game to pick me up an oversized Led Zeppelin goblet!

boardwalk glass.jpg

[Earth 2 Chris]

My first job out of college was for a company that designed and printed billboards. Towards the end of my time there, they bought a large plotter that printed vinyl billboards in strips. I was put in charge of running the plotter. Every day I walked in and the smell of thin sheets of vinyl just about knocked me over. It smelled just like a classic Ben Cooper or Collegeville Halloween costume. It probably wasn't good for my lungs, but I loved it.

[Mikey]

the Jersey shore!

Bill, you gave me a super flashback …

Playing arcade games on the boardwalk for tickets to buy stuff

Think that's how I got my first Sony Walkman …… Only cost me $2000.00

[Mejo]

Seventies Scents for me ...

Canada Dry Ginger Ale ...
Kellogg's Variety Pack cereal ...
Those iron-on transfers inside Honeycomb cereal ...
The smell of winter on scarves and toques ...
Charlton Comics (for some reason they smelled different from any other comic to me) ...
Silly Putty ...
Coffee (I remember how it used to smell soooo much better than it tasted but the stuff coming out of today's cafes smells awful, yet people still line up and pay too much to drink it) ...
Those ubiquitous Halloween costumes with the shell masks ...
Old Spice ...
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese cheese ...
Wriggley's Spearmint Gum ...
Butterscotch Lifesavers ...

And one from the '80s I'll never forget: Video rental stores (VHS tapes and electronics in general) ...

[Mejo]

Oh! I forgot the best smell from the '70s ... when you open up a brand new boxed Mego!

[Mr.Marion]

Nostalgia is a funny thing. FB_IMG_1665403512818.jpg

[Hector]

Many have already been mentioned, so it applies to me as well…

Play-Doh and Crayons
Metal lunchbox: the combined marinated smell of sandwich, banana, small bag of Fritos
The after-burn smell of a launched Estes model rocket
The soldering smoke from my R/C cars
Halloween bag, the entire mixture of goodies
Model cement applied on airplane and car kits
Eggnog on Christmas
The smell of gasoline from my dad’s truck
The smell of new Dr Seuss books
The smell of my sisters Easy Bake Oven

And living in Mexico ages 7-14, some other memorable childhood smells…

Freshly baked pan dulce from the local panadería shop
Mom’s homemade flour tortillas
Taquerias
The wet smell of dirt after a rain
The smell of Adobe houses
The stench of pig stalls (many people had those in their houses during that era)
Fireworks