Smells that remind you of days past.

Archeron

I was in the attic the other day and found a huge box of Christmas decorations, the old glittery things people used to hang from the ceiling, and loads of tinsel. Its very hard to describe, but old Christmas decorations have a very peculiar musty smell and when I got it, I felt like I was about 7 years old again. Funny how a smell can transport you back years.
Other smells that always transport me back is the smell of Chesters being baked (a fruitcake with chocolate on it), but thats rare enough as few people seem to still make them. Always reminds me of the Mannings on North Earl street on a Saturday morning in the 80's.
Likewise a face full of black diesel exhaust also reminds me of Dublin years ago

So anyone else have smells that bring back memories from days past?

trout

Oh yeah ... smells trigger all kinds of memories for me ... some good, some not-so-good.

The whiff of Jif (or Cif) reminds me of Christmas ... ma trout insisted on some serious cleaning & polishing before Santa arrived, and I seemed to be on Jif duty mostly.

The smell of a coal fire reminds me of the late 70s, before smokeless fuel and central heating, where Dublin air seemed to be a dense cloud of smog from November to April each year.

The smell of motor oil never fails to reminds me of my dad, the merest hint of Lavender floor polish brings me back to my Granny's house in Inchicore, and the smell of leather transports me 20 years back to my Uncle's shoe-repair shop.

And finally, that White Musk perfume you get in The Body Shop makes me think about of a young lady I was very fond of (hi Karen!)

Lizzykins

Ambre Solaire and Eau de Cologne remind me of my granny!

Dun laoire

I loved the smell in pubs. The old musty smokey smell. Honestly

GAAman

Archeron wrote: »

I was in the attic the other day and found a huge box of Christmas decorations, the old glittery things people used to hang from the ceiling, and loads of tinsel. Its very hard to describe, but old Christmas decorations have a very peculiar musty smell

I know the very smell you are talkin about its one of my faves as well.

Likewise the smell of a real fire reminds me of the days before central heating in our house, but also reminds me of halloween like obviously the bonfires and used fireworks smoke.

The smell of strawberries for me reminds me of my nan,she used to grow them in her back garden and make the best jam ye would ever have! (I blame at least one bad tooth on her!)

spurious

Every so often I smell something that reminds me of the smell of those cheap 'Flying Dragon' crayons that they used to sell in Hector Grey's - without fail someone in our house would get them as a birthday present - they were really sticky crayons.

bullets

Years ago the Traveler Women used to come knocking on all the doors of
the neighbour hood with about 10 kids in toe and one on da way. They used to
be begging for milk/bread/clothes money. My Mother would sometime give then a
cup of tea and foolishly change and clothes (That I saw countless times being dumped round
the corner)

Anyway they always had a distintive smell that was exactly the same as Rahcheroes Tatyo's
thingy's that were smokey bacon flavoured. Lads I know say it was the smell of campfire!

---

Smelling Orange Juice and Cornflakes at the same time at breakfast triggers
an ill gonna hurl feeling in my stomach. As I kid I went for a weekend away in a mobile
home near a beach in Kerry with my friends family. There was no milk at breakfast
so I used orange juice on my flakes. It tasted great at the time but I was violently sick
afterwards and the smell triggers the feeling every time. Also that same weekend I was
visiting a farm and was dressed in my Sunday Best clothes and foolishly was running
across a silage heap and fell face first into it and ruined my clothes and had a 2 hour
Journey in a car stinking the place out ot it. The same weekend in the car on the way home I was eating one of those hard toffee bars and managed to rip a molar out while
chewing. Not a good weekend!!!!!!!!

---

Engine Oil - Reminds me of my father arriving home with black oil covered hands
and him washing them with that Orange Scrub hand cleaner. The Smell of Solder or
any metal smells reminds my of him as he was always making stuff for pet projects
in his room.

---

Baked Beans - as a child I got nightmares and often crawled into bet in the middle
of both my parents. The smell of Beans reminds me of the smell in the Bed.

---

Certain old dry blanket smell - reminds me of the good ol days of the FCA
when you had to make a bed-block while away for the weekends.



~B

D-A-V-E

firstly what a cool heading!! i recently found out that our sence of smell is far stronger than our other sences, which i suppose is true, theres a certain smell i only get in summer when im in my back garden sitting on the path..no wind and just blue sky, a certain smell hits me, if i was to hazard a guess i would say a mixture of oil,mud and smells of newly blossemd trees?! i remember when i was crawling around in my old house in the back yard,i would have been about 2 and a half, maybe 3 and i got that exact smell, probably one of my first, just brings me straight back to that moment....im 20 now.
also the smell of a chinese in the evening on a warm afternoon walking down the street reminds me of gran canaria, headin out for dinner with the lads then hittin the foam parties! i know the exact place in gran canaria i think of too, mad!!

Wishbone Ash

We always had an electric kettle at home so the smell of a kettle being boiled on a gas hob always reminds me of seaside holidays in a mobile home. The only time I would get the same smell at home was during the occasional EBS strikes of the early 1980s when my mother would have to resort to the gas.

The smell of a turf fire always reminds me of my (long dead) granny's house.

The smell of dark rum (e.g. Old Sea Dog) always makes me feel ill. I drank a heap of it one night in 1988 and was very sick afterwards and had a hangover for three days!

The smell of Jeyes Fluid always reminds me of school toilets.

Back in the 1970s all hospitals had a particular smell which you don't really get anymore. I presume it was some type of cleaner or disinfectant that they used.

Goat Mouth

This is weird, readin all these posts is so alien to me!
I'm Anosmic (dont have a sense of smell... basically im blind in the nose)
Never new smells could trigger powerful memories.

weird... interesting thread none the less.
(sorry for going a bit OT here but the only thing i have in relation is certain songs or tones remind me of my youth... anyway)

Ruu_Old

Smell of petrol reminds me of when I was a wee lad, my brother and I were outside up to no good. A neighbour of hours had an old Honda scooter and we stuck a conker in the exhaust. We hid in anticipation of what would happen. When she started, it just fell out. No bangs, smoke..nothing

Cocoon

Carbolic Soap how about that for a memory. Does anybody remember having a Granny that used that stuff Hmmmmmmmmm :eek:

trout

Cocoon wrote: »

Carbolic Soap how about that for a memory. Does anybody remember having a Granny that used that stuff Hmmmmmmmmm :eek:

Oh yeah, can you still get Lifebuoy soap ? That was the preferred brand for both my Grannies.
I think they were a popular wedding present, as the brs of soap seemed to last for decades.

Beerlao

any time i make a tuna sandwich and it gets on my fingers, reminds me of my ex

telecinesk

Yes old smells. Had 2 tape data recorders for service here and once i lifted the cover you could smell the 1970s off the wiring and pcb. Must be all those toxic components lol... Live wiring exposed too, retro electrocution

ikb

Have a 65 Ford with Leatherette seats.
Just open the door, get transported back to the 70s.
My Dad had a big triumph, Then a hillman Minx, ..remember sittin in on a hot summer day..(Remember Hot Summers?) in short pants..Scalding the legs of ya... OUCH.

Overheal

The smells at the Deli in Superquinn bring me right back to the supermarkets in america. Its a little displacing but nice.

Crumble Froo

fresh dirt. spent most of my childhood on GAA pitches, and the smell of wet dirt always brings me right back to then. was out walking two nights ago actually, and it happened, love it.

raspberries, the smell of raspberries, my nana has two long lines of raspberry bushes out her backgarden the grandkids used to pick when we were small. mmm, raspberries...

nettles. there's a certain fragrance about them. used to spend our summers in the family's old house up in donegal, about 5 acres of unfarmed-for-years land around the house to play in... awesome fun, but nettles were a constant issue... always loved the smell of them though, takes me right back there when i smell them.

pow wow

Aveda do a hand lotion that smells like the cake mixture my mum used to make when I was a tiddler...still get goosebumps. (yeah, I love cake alright :rolleyes:)

And a cheapo perfume reminds me of a certain someone...can't bear to wear it though, just sniff it occasionally.

/loser

oblivious

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Back in the 1970s all hospitals had a particular smell which you don't really get anymore. I presume it was some type of cleaner or disinfectant that they used.

Phenol i believe and it worked

deemy

When it has been a really warm day and then there is a rain shower and that smell that comes from the roads/tarmac brings me right back to my childhood and summer days as does the smell of burning grass. It reminds me of summer evenings long evenings and cycling my bike half way round the county to go here there and everywhere. Jesus if I sat up on a bike now it would probably colapse as would I if I had to go any distance on it.

admiralofthefleet

Ruu wrote: »

A neighbour of hours had an old Honda scooter and we stuck a conker in the exhaust. We hid in anticipation of what would happen. When she started, it just fell out. No bangs, smoke..nothing

i did that with a french letter, on a car. it just inflated like a baloon and popped, i thought we were going to get fireworks:(

on topic, the smell of cut grass reminds me of coming home from school and the smell of cocnut reminds me of a greece. the sun lotion smelled of it

_feedback_

deemy wrote: »

When it has been a really warm day and then there is a rain shower and that smell that comes from the roads/tarmac brings me right back to my childhood and summer days

Really good thread ... The smell deemy mentions is exactly what i was thinking of too ! Good memories!

WindSock

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

ion topic, the smell of cut grass reminds me of coming home from school and the smell of cocnut reminds me of a greece. the sun lotion smelled of it

Cut grass smell=me too! Reminsd me of walking home from school on a sunny day.

Suncream smell holds many fond memories for me.

Musty oil and petrol type smells remind me of being in a cool garage on a hot day, fixing my bike.

aoife2k

Freshly rained and walked on grass reminds me of running out to 'pick' worms out from it when we were younger....great fun..I loved worms

Also, a certain brand of suncream, (that shall remain nameless as I can't remember) brings back fond memories of being at the beach and gettin burried up to my neck in sand but mother insisted on lathering my face with cream only for me to end up like a dipped cone in 100's and 1000's:pac::D

UrbanFox

Heinz baby food smashed into mashed potatoes. I remember gobbling up the ones I liked and spitting out the ones I didn't and I remember the unlucky person who was in range. Oh happy days..

The first time I smelled incense in a church and had a desire to puke in the collection plate.

Mr Magnolia

Good tip we got; Buy a new perfume & after-shave/cologne for your wedding. Spend a bit of time picking one and make sure you like it. Wear it on the run-up to the big day and the big-day itself then leave it aside for a few months. Anytime you wear it after that it will bring back the memories. It works really well.

jos28

The smell of jelly reminds me of Saturday night when I was a kid. My mam busy in the kitchen getting things ready for Sunday dinner. And shoe polish cos my Dad would be busy polishing all our shoes for mass on Sunday.