"Unhappy Hipsters" Blog

[ButteMT61]

Same here. One of my favorite odors is the smell of kerosene, for all the associations of childhood security that it evokes.

The sense of smell has been found to be the strongest evoker of memories. I too love kerosene and other industrial smells that remind me of my Maternal Grandfather. He owned a big machine shop in Seattle that was one of the hubs of ocean liner repairs - started by my great-Grandfather. We used to go there and play on cranes, etc. as kids while he ran the joint. Rode the whole way in the back of his pickup - standing up braced on the roof of the cab while he sped across the Narrow's Bridge! And one little whiff of kerosene or other smoke from a factory/train takes me right there. AMAZING!Best that Hipsters! lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

For me it was the kerosene stove in the kitchen -- to this day, that's what "winter" is supposed to smell like, and I've been known to stand behind fuel delivery trucks on the street and breathe in the fumes. Idyllic.

Closely akin to that for me is the smell of a real gas station -- not one of these Quicky-Mart slush-puppy-and-lottery-ticket joints, but a real gas station with an oily cement floor and a grease rack and local characters hanging around outside. When I was very small -- two years old or so -- my grandfather would sit me on the rack and raise it as high as it would go. And he'd leave me up there until I hollered, and then he'd let me down. Child Protective would throw him in the jug for that today, but at the time it was the most exciting experience a little kid could have, and whenever I stop at a real gas station the smell of the place immediately takes me back to it.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I love the smell of the seaside and the smell of marshes. NOTHING smells better to me. Smelling that while driving to Ocean City with 80s club music on the radio -- yea....I'm 13 again.

 

[ButteMT61]

Oddly, "real" gas or service stations are one thing I miss the most. As kids, we spent a ton of time in them. Many were owned by friend's families too. We worked on our bikes there. Helped wash windows and put air in tires for people on the side. Then, we got go-karts and mini bikes that needed work, and we were always welcome there to do our tinkering. The bells ringing when cars drove over the rubber hose and the old analog air-pumps were classic pieces I can still see vividly in my mind. A real service station has been one of my fantasy ways to end my years...but I've heard it's very difficult to get it done as gas companies don't like selling gas to them. Sad sad sad.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's what finally put us out of business -- Texaco didn't want to bother with a measiy little hundred-gallon-a-day outlet anymore, and they pulled our plug after 37 years. On my eighteenth birthday, no less. Welcome to adulthood.

I have our driveway bell wired up as my front doorbell. Never fails to scare the mailman.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

For me it's the popcorn and floorwax smell of Woolworth's and Newberry's.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

The smell of Comet makes me think of Saturday morning cartoons.

 

[ButteMT61]

That's what finally put us out of business -- Texaco didn't want to bother with a measiy little hundred-gallon-a-day outlet anymore, and they pulled our plug after 37 years. On my eighteenth birthday, no less. Welcome to adulthood.

I have our driveway bell wired up as my front doorbell. Never fails to scare the mailman.

Damn, that sucks. For us, it was ESSO and Sunoco. I wish I had kept the signs they tossed out from the ESSO. I could buy a few jackets with those, but more likely, I'd have them nailed to the sides of my new chicken coop!I look at that pic and it reminds me of how the Blockbuster chain came in and destroyed the Mom & Pop video stores. I have to admit that I love to drive around now and see them boarded up. Sorry for the jobs lost, but **** that company...and those like 'em

 

[Feraud]

Blockbuster did the same thing in our area. I wasn't sorry to see them go.

 

[MissMittens]

The smell of Comet makes me think of Saturday morning cartoons.

Do they still do Saturday morning cartoons?

 

[Aerojoe]

I too love kerosene and other industrial smells that remind me of my Maternal Grandfather.l

Oh, I love the smell of napalm in the morning, while having breakfast. Sorry, I had to say it

 

[ButteMT61]

Oh, I love the smell of napalm in the morning, while having breakfast. Sorry, I had to say it

Duvall - he is an awesome actor!

 

[Feraud]

And Duvall gets better with age!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Comet, it makes your mouth turn green.
Comet, it tastes like gasoline.
Comet -- it makes you vomit.
So get some Comet and vomit today.

Combining smell and music to evoke the summer of 1969.

 

[Miss Sis]

YES!!
People say the same about me. "Oh, I thought you only liked Bing Crosby!" NOPE. Secret: I'm not even a big Bing fan. More into Al Bowlly (whom they've never heard of <-----keeping on the hipster topic lol)

I DON'T like Bing (never have, just find him a bit irritating) but I do love Mr Al Bowlly. Such a wonderful, soothing voice. So he is 'period' to my dress and style aesthetic but I still love cheesy 80s stuff too. So I'm def. not a hipster, but then I don't aspire to be!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I DON'T like Bing (never have, just find him a bit irritating) but I do love Mr Al Bowlly. Such a wonderful, soothing voice. So he is 'period' to my dress and style aesthetic but I still love cheesy 80s stuff too. So I'm def. not a hipster, but then I don't aspire to be!

I *loathed* Bing for years (he creeped me out), now I can tolerate him in very small doses. Still, not a favourite. Al Bowlly, Dick Powell, Boswell Sisters , Lucille Bogan (she has *other* songs..lol), Glen Gray Orchestra, Russ Carlson, Chick Bullock, anything by Ambrose, Billy Murray, all the Helens, Lee Wiley, Sam Browne...these are my most favourites. I'm also not a fan of Rudy Vallee (I find him dull) and I go back and forth with Lee Morse (because her voice goes back and forth between irritating and beautiful lol).

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Do they still do Saturday morning cartoons?

No idea lol I watch VH1 Classic Totally 80s on Saturday mornings.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I *loathed* Bing for years (he creeped me out), now I can tolerate him in very small doses. Still, not a favourite. Al Bowlly, Dick Powell, Boswell Sisters , Lucille Bogan (she has *other* songs..lol), Glen Gray Orchestra, Russ Carlson, Chick Bullock, anything by Ambrose, Billy Murray, all the Helens, Lee Wiley, Sam Browne...these are my most favourites. I'm also not a fan of Rudy Vallee (I find him dull) and I go back and forth with Lee Morse (because her voice goes back and forth between irritating and beautiful lol).

I tend to like British and European dance bands because I find American swing to be a bit vapid in comparison. As for Bing Crosby, the one recording that really drives me round the bend is Swinging On A Star.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Crosby's thirties stuff is, for me, sublime -- and his early thirties work is remarkably good. He got bogged down in the forties with being a "personality" and aside from some of his comedy-oriented material the quality of his records suffered. The voice was fine, but the songs he recorded and the arrangements with which they were presented tended to be more and more pedestrian as the forties wore on. For that matter, there weren't very many *good songs* being written after the war, let alone being recorded.

Of course, the hipster in me says "Crosby? Bowlly? Pfft, try Joey Nash if you want a really good singer you've probably never heard of."

 

[Amy Jeanne]

So, when I go off and investigate Joey Nash later tonight will he then be too mainstream for you to like him? lol