The Sense of Smell and the Link to Memories

[John in Covina]

As a group we tend to wax nostalgic about things and we get to read some wonderful musings on the past and our memories of things gone by. One thing that always strikes me is how the sense of smell can trigger the most vivid memories. The smell of your grandparents house, a special dish being prepared. The lingering oder of a lost loved one in their clothes. Just a little whiff and wham you are there. Smell is almost unconscious most times but the reaction to some smells and memories connected to a smell are nearly concrete in their physical awareness.

For me the smell of Ronson Lighter fluid makes me think of my dad. Gas from the stove will remind me of my Mom's mom cooking. The smell of roasting turkey will put me in our cousin's home on Staten Island, Thanksgiving Day! Getting ready to watch "The March of the Wooden Soldiers", King Kong and Mighty Joe Young, the B&W classics. The smell of car grease makes me think of my dad's uncle Al's Junk yard on Marconi Blvd in Copiague.

Anyone care to share an aroma memory?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The smell of the tar that was smeared on old wooden sailing ships, and on wooden piers. Reminds me of my childhood in Newark, California -- we'd go to San Francisco and visit the 19th century sailing ship at Fisherman's Wharf.


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[scotrace]

A whiff of the perfume worn by a previous lover will instantly call up her face. *











*Though I am very very perfume fussy. I shouldn't know a woman is wearing perfume unless it is very close quarters. Too much is... well. Too much.

 

[John in Covina]

TAR

Wow! Tar makes me think of when i was about 6. It was pretty hot summer day and they were paving Beachview Street. I was visiting across Beachview and walked (in barefeet) across the liquid tar to home. The tar by the way was not really hot, kinda squishy and fairly comforable to walk on / in. My mom & dad blew a gasket when i got home! My dad had to wash my feet with kerosene to get it off!

 

[LizzieMaine]

The smell of kerosene triggers very strong sense-memories for me of my grandparents' home. They had no central heating, so the whole house was heated by two kerosene stoves, one in the living room and one in the kitchen -- and the house constantly smelled of the fuel. Some might find it an acrid, unpleasant odor, but for me it's the most comforting smell there is.

 

[Haversack]

The smell of diesel exhaust in cold air immediatly takes me back to the Herzo motor pool at 4:30 am in February as the battalion rolled out on an alert.

Haversack.

 

[Benny Holiday]

I notice the link between smell and memory very much. There's a certain kind of perfumed soap that has a scent that immediately transports me back to when I was 15 and doing student theatre and had a huge crush on a girl from another high school who was involved with the production.

When I went to see the stage production of The Lion King (what a great show!), one of the ladies in the foyer at intermission was wearing a perfume I'd never smelled before. Now, on the the odd occasion a woman passes by who's wearing that same fragrance, I think of The Lion King and the great night I had.

 

[Elaina]

The smell of mothballs, bacon grease and sawdust reminds me of my Aunt and Uncle Case, never ceases to make me cry.

The clean crisp scent after a rain in the spring reminds me of my youth when I spent all day outside, away from my family and was happiest in my childhood.

And walking into a Waffle House (even tho I've worked for them off and on for10 years) STILL reminds me of my dad.

 

[Barry]

scents...

The smell of rubbing alcohol, medical tape and band-aids, latex gloves and other hospital types of smells remind of a difficult time in my life. Anytime I encounter those smells it's almost a humbling experience.

A family friend who was about as close to an aunt as I'll ever have wore a gardenia scented perfume. She died a few years ago. Whenever I smell gardenias it reminds me of her.

Barry

 

[Paisley]

I was in front of a seafood restaurant a few months ago and the smell reminded me of Mexico. I haven't been to Mexico in about 25 years.

 

[BonnieJean]

Certain cigar odors remind me of my grandfather. He would smoke a cigar in the evening and give me the band that was around the cigar. I would wear the cigar band on my finger like a ring. I don't recall what kind of cigar it was (probably a cheap one), but some cigar smells take me back to the wonderful days I spent on my grandparents' farm.

 

[Quigley Brown]

I grew up on an Iowa farm, but now live in an urban area. At the local county fair I go down to the 4H cow barn just to inhale that pleasant bovine aroma.

 

[Spitfire]

My memory is about smell but also taste.
Back in 56 my father travelled USA. When he came back he told us about all the new things he had seen and experienced over there. Coca Cola among other things!
Some months after he had returned the family was on a weekendtrip to Sweden. It was summer and we stopped at a cafe on the shore of a lake.
My father got very exited when he realised that you could get Coca Cola on that cafe (You could not buy it in Denmark untill years later) - and he ordered it for my mother, me and himself. Now we should try this new thing for the first time.
As I said it was summer and the Coke was lukewarm.
Even today - 50 years later, I can still remember that place, the lake, the cafe, what my parents were wearing - everything comes back. Even that brand new tasteexperience when I get a Coca Cola - but only when it is lukewarm.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I grew up on an Iowa farm, ...

Funny: My dad's ancestors lived and died in Waterloo, Iowa. All were farmers, pharmacists or locomotive conductors. Waterloo has a certain smell to it that's a far cry from Los Angeles.

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[HoosierDaddy]

Entering my Grandmother's enclosed pack porch(mid '50s) to the pleasant yeasty aroma of a bakery. Always homemade pies and cookies cooling. When a newly opened loaf of bread smelled bakeryfresh rather than weirdly clinical chemically preserved. Tantalizing scent of corn popping in a wire basket then drenched with real salty melted butter instead of an artificial mediciney smell of microwave exploded buttery "flavored" desertdry radiated popcorn. My Father's longlasting Mennen's aftershave(what I wear),and cherryblend in his pipe. The heavenly smell of Grandma's sheets and blankets fresh from the closeline. Of course..I could go on and on...
Then there are "tastes of the past!" When it was so easy to get a good tender greasy hamburger...and salty fries!!! ...and a good ole "Milk"Shake...not a concoction of artificially flavored sugargoop.
HD

 

[Michaelson]

The smell of creosote...the tar like sealant on railroad ties. Reminds me of my days 'lurking' around railroad yards and train stations when I was growing up in the railroad town of Portsmouth, Ohio.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[lavendar lady]

The smell

I have to say for me its when i was young i lived and worked on a farm.So i have lots of fond memories of all types of smeells.Some people may not like them, but i do.Then i have some wonderful memory smells from europe. For example the local bread shops bring back memories from our many trips over seas.

 

[koopkooper]

Yeah it is funny, I remember my late Grandfather from two things, the old car smell of my 57 Chrysler Royal and Brylcream reminds me of it. I keep some in the bathroom cabinet, not to use but just as a reminder (I use Royal Crown,but it could be used in an emergancy)

And I'm always reminded of my Grandmother when I smell Cedal Hairspray, I'll often pick up a can when I am in the store and give it a quick smell and some fond memories come flooding back.

 

[Rosie]

Sometimes an older gentleman will walk past me and I get the smell of Vitalis, I automatically think of my daddy.

Every so often a man will walk past wearing the same cologne my ex boyfriend wore and that will remind me of him.

Whenever I cut a butter cake I've made, I think of my great anutie because she somehow smelled like butter cake. (a good thing)

There is a bakery that I go into every so often and instantly I remember being in Rome (there was a small sandwich shop I stopped in every morning for a bottle of water and the smell was heavenly)

 

[shindeco]

Walking in a department store one day a lady walked past who smelled just like my grandmother--don't know what the scent was/is but it sure took me back.

Wood smoke in the rain sends me back to Japan.