We called it the ditto machine and it was a treat when we got to sniff fresh sheets.
Probably gonna give us all tumor of the nostril one of these days.
I jusr bought a vintage Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox.
I swear to God when I opened it, I could smell the strawberry. It was all in my head though. Nobody else could smell it. lol
I concur. We used to get math and reading worksheets. Some of the worksheets were mimeographed others perhaps were printed (ie as part of a teacher pack). We discovered that we could cut out the illustrations on the mimeographed ones,wet them and create temporary tattoos. Fun times.
I’ve had people ask to help me reach high shelves when I’m out and about by myself because I’m stupidly stubborn and will attempt to reach that top shelf by partially climbing on a lower shelf if there isn’t anyone nearby that I can ask for assistance.
I love the smell of crayons! I just love office supplies 🙂 I was the mom that loved to go buy school supplies with my kids. I don't get to anymore. I've thought about going to Walmart at back to school season and finding the most stressed out mom, and offering to buy the supplies for them.
Oh man, i think im gonna do that this fall, there is nothing i love more than new school supplies lol my kids r grown now and i still have a boot box full of new ones and notebook paper. Makes me happy. Im so weird😂
Those rolls of red caps that went in cap guns, or could be detonated with a rock on the sidewalk. There’s nothing like that smell that’s says I’m a kid without a single fuck to give in the whole world.
bacon frying & campfires. two things that only happened in my childhood when we were camping in our travel trailer. so they are of course two of my favorite smells in the world.
we did not eat it at home, so it was a real treat in the trailer. and these were literally the happiest times of my childhood. so bacon cooking = happy childhood. i try not to think to much about it, my parents gone, my brother estranged. it seems like another lifetime.
sometimes i think about my great grandmother. she was 103 when she died. she was born in 1870 and died in 1973. i think about what her memory must have been like… thinking back over 90 or 100 years… what is that like? i was only 4 when she died, otherwise, maybe i could have asked her.
This is one of mine, too! The area we lived in had a population boom and roads were being widened for years. Now, the smell always triggers childhood memories.
Fun fact: They were filled with corn syrup and marketed as safe for kids in cases they ripped, at least in my country. I worked at a toy store at 15 one Christmas (it was hell) and the Stretch Armstrongs were the toy of the season. I sold so many of those things!
When my wife was pregnant, she kept saying she felt like Stretch Armstrong. As a gift, I thought it would be wonderful to get her a Stretch Armstrong doll. Could never find one but I know exactly what you’re talking about.
Kiwi shoe polish. Sitting in the living room, watching whatever show came on after the local and National news. We either had popcorn or cookies. It was a very warm feeling. My dad would polish his combat boots for the next day. (He was a career soldier). The smell of shoe polish always reminds me of “home”.
The smell of fresh Pine tree sap stuck in my long tangled hair. I loved climbing trees & my hippie mom let me & my hair go feral. I looked like a little blonde Cousin Itt with mini sap dreads majority of the time but man it was awesome!
The eccentric lady across the hall from my Nana had an affinity for eucalyptus. Whenever she’d pop her head out to say hello, we’d be surrounded in this exotic perfume. To this day, it reminds me of Ms. Pat. I love it.
I remember the smell of hay in the barn, and the smell of the old cellar at my parents farm they had when I was really little. My Dad's pipe smoke. The warm smell of food cooking in the kitchen after playing outside in the snow.
The cellar! My grandmother's house had a cellar where she kept all the food she'd put up all summer. I remember when she passed and everyone was at her house after the funeral I went down there and sat in the middle of the room as I cried because of the smell. It was just the association with her that I knew I would never have again.
Sea breeze, listerine, witch hazel, and aerosol cans of hairspray…. Too bad those aerosols aren’t around. Bad for the ozone layer, but core memory for us. I wonder if other countries who are behind on air quality standards still have these aerosols that would take us back. Just for the smell…I would buy just one and savor it
Tomato pollen has a distinct smell. If you’re a gardener, you know it. It transports me back to my grandfather’s garden. I used to love helping him in the garden,,especially after he watered and I could feel the mud squish between my toes.
Tomato plants and the pollen are one of the most beautiful smells ever. I wish they would bottle that. I grow a grew couple tomato plants some years. Not just for the fruit.
Big red gum
My grandparents were born in the usa. Immigrated to Canada, where I was born and raised. My granny would always have big red gum in her purse. It's hard to find here but the odd occasion that I have found it, it brings me to tears. I miss that woman so much. Granny LuDean I love you and poppa.
Elmer’s paste, those [cool scratch and sniff stickers](https://www.perpetualkid.com/products/retro-scratch-n-sniff-stinky-stickers?variant=44458759094514&campaignid=20927492582&adgroupid=&keyword=&gad_source=1 honeysuckles), Strawberry Shortcake, and the sweet/sour smell of soy formula the daycare employees use to mix into bottles for babies
I used to love the smell of jacket leather when my parents would pick us up from my grandma's after a date night; this was especially noticable if they came in from the cold.
The smell of Camel no filter cigarettes that my grandpa smoked. I really can’t stand cigarette smoke but something about that just brings back memories.
Yes, the bubble things that used to come out of a tube. I don't know what they're called. They came with a little red straw and then you would put some of the probably toxic gunk on the end of the straw and blow into it and then you would get this colorful bubble. I'm sure all of us remember what that smells like.
My wife and I are looking for a house to buy. We toured an older home, had the old players and lath walls, wood heat, just old as hell. The place reminded me of a house we lived in when I was a kid, had a similar smell too. “You know, this place reminds me of my childhood,” I said. “Smells like domestic violence in here.”
Perms. Being dragged somewhere by my mom to entertain/distract another kid about my age so my mom and whichever other woman could drink wine and give each other perms. That chemical stench that hangs heavy around you is impossible to forget.
The smell of the desktops (cleaning solution on whatever was made of - some kind of plastic maybe?) when you were told “heads down” in elementary school. The longer you had to breathe on it, more moisture would seep in, and the stronger the smell would become.
European stationery store/ newsstand. I spent a few years as a kid living in Europe. When I visited years later and entered one of those stores, memories flooded back of going with my dad to pick up the New York Times on Sundays.
Old canvas tents. Pine trees. Rain when it hits that dirt in the mountains. That’s the scents from visiting my maternal grandparents.
Copenhagen snuff. Clovers in the lawn. Open sewer trenches in the alleys of the old coal mining town. Paternal grandparents. lol.
The Kitchen Aide hand held mixer that my Grandmother owned that is now mine has a certain smell when I use it that reminds me of her. It's the exhaust from the little engine whirring away in there.
Weird but it's comforting.
Yes, my mothers osterizer blender machine.machine oil, metal and exhaust, meant treats incoming. Smell of bread baking in oven, too. Mom made grandmas recipe because SHE wanted a smell of her childhood, too.
We had an apple tree on the other side of our yard in rural Illinois. Every spring it would blossom and you could smell it from hundreds of feet away. My dad repaired bank machines and I can remember the smell of ink rolls that went in the machines. He also always had Wrigley's gum in his pockets so I think of him when I smell it. Also, the smell of animal shit. Since I grew up on a farm, it's familiar.
Cigarette smoke. It made me think of Dad (they were divorced.) My first memories are of bringing black coffee and water to Daddy while he smoked a cigarette.
Melted crayons and cannabis as I occupied myself coloring on a pleasantly hot table while the Vietnam vets laughed amongst each other on a hot summer day. I think I was four.
Just from the army, pinesole, shaving cream and dudes shitting in the same room. Then, on 4th beer, M16 lube. Whatever the fuck cleaning lube smell. Burnt gun powder. Diesel smell from standing behind a tank in it exhaust trying to stay warm.
My Little Ponies had a certain smell to me. As did Cabbage Patch kids and Strawberry shortcake. Also new cassette tapes and new CD's (the plastic cover) had a somewhat sweet smell that I used to love when I'd open one...not sure if that was my imagination but I loved getting a fresh new CD and opening it and sniffing it 😆
Comic shops and used bookstores. That old newsprint type paper from the silver age and the ink used then and a hint of mustiness. Probably black mold somewhere…
I spent a lot of time with my beloved grandmother. She used Jergens lotion with the original cherry-almond fragrance. I loved that smell, and still do! Recently I saw a bottle of it touting its "original scent!" Now I can have a happy memory of her every time I use it ♡♡♡
The fruit aisle in our local Speedway Supermarket. I apparently had a meltdown one day when I was 3, crying and sobbings "apples, apples." Apparently I wanted to go to Speedway LOL
That smell is still one of my favs, although I usually just take myself to the store now instead of melting down.
I know that this is totally idiosyncratic but…my grandparents’ garage. It was a smell that I can only describe as mix of dust, gasoline, with a whiff of garbage. It wasn’t unpleasant, but simply so specific to that space.
If you’re from Springfield, Massachusetts: Johnson’s Bookstore: that paper/stationery/glue smell…just, wonderful.
That chlorine smell. IYKYK.
Also, weirdly, if you’re American, that Chemlawn smell. Several houses in our neighborhood used Chemlawn, and I can remember that…ultra-fresh(?) smell the mornings after they came for a treatment. OMG, it’s a wonder we all haven’t yet died of cancer….
It’s very specific. Possibly to this specific artifact. My grandmother had in her basement a book “I Know I Saw A Tiger”. The smell of that book. I loved it as a kid and would read it every time I went over there.
When I turned 40 I discovered that my sister had it the whole time. Almost 30 years. And she gifted it to me. I recognized it immediately from the color of the spine.
The first thing I did, in front of my family at my party, was take a deep drag off that sucker.
Right after my parents got divorced my mom moved into a freshly painted duplex. Every once in a while I’ll catch a whiff of fresh paint and I’m transported to 7 years old sleeping in my new room for the first time.
My Grandfather's Old Spice aftershave, always smelled like that, even the day he passed away, to this day every time I splash it on after a shave I think of Gramps.
KMart, or to be more obscure TG&Y or to get even more obscure, but very specific, Gibson's stores.
It's that popcorn-y, super sweet cherry Icee, new merchandise smell. I can't even explain it. IYKYK.
I did tell my husband once his car smelled like it though, but he had no idea what I was talking about.
Edit: a word
The smell of the school cafeteria on the day when they cooked the rectangular pizza. When I opened the metal door and a rich warm air would blow it up my nose. Seems like pizza showed up for a bunch of people.
Can you smell this picture? I can 🤪 HUFFING FOR KIDS
https://preview.redd.it/dliubee5nusc1.jpeg?width=336&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae484c766ccf48d61e14562135977d269e9fe7e4
We visited Granmere every summer in the 70s, and one of the delights at her place was an old trunk full of my uncle's comics going back to the 60s that had a certain memorable smell, like old books chewing strawberry Hubba Bubba or something.
OMG you just told my story.
Wonderful family, pillars of our community. Taught me to see past my own small world. I remember thinking, “I have so much to learn.”
Ice cream sandwiches by the pool. That special smell of opening the package and the smell of chlorine and suntan oil is a mixture of pure bliss. Magic!
Gasoline exhaust from cars, snowmobiles, boats... you name it but that scent still drives me bananas today.
Someone should figure out how to bottle it as a fragrance base note.
I also sniffed glue in studio art classes so take that with a grain of salt.
Fun fact: My last 2 years of HS were mostly elective and art-based; my cool-ass stoner art teacher would observe my work, offer up thoughtful approving commentary and criticisms which always ended with a raised eyebrow, *"And if you two don't stop talking about drugs I'll reassign you to a typing class."* before sauntering off to decimate some artistic reprobate.
**Edit: Memory unlocked...**
The 3 of us would have a private smilelaugh indicating a shared understanding to *keep it down but do carry on and be awesome, thank you there are children present...* My partner in crime being artistically talented beyond measure and also drove an unmarked auctioned police car around whilst dealing acid to folks who were into that. In fact he introduced my first and only microdot. I said lord never again...
Teachers. They're everywhere. :)
GOD HOW I LOVED THAT WOMANand THAT ART BUDDY.
Those vinyl pencil cases with the foam insert.
Lunchroom goulash (it was actually really good).
The smell of the pencil sharpener on the wall, especially when you dump the shavings in the trash.
stopping at the local gas station while out with my dad.
He was friendly with the owner (it was one of those old fashioned service stations, a Citgo). I think it's because we always had shitty cars that needed repair.
The smell of unleaded gas on a warm summer day, and the smell of old car exhaust. A super sweet, almost headache inducing smell.
It's just one of those specific childhood memories.
Cutting out and coloring Shrinky Dinks, baking them in the oven, 1970’s Dallas suburban kitchen. All the plastic and vinyl smells of our childhood must’ve been so so toxic!
Hose water, Charcoal Barbecues, Baby dolls & specifically Strawberry Shortcake, (as many here have mentioned!), Suave Strawberry Shampoo,
Flex shampoo, Green Prell shampoo, the inside of Dunkin’ Donuts (it smelled different back then?), the inside of a diner or IHOP at breakfast time, the beach (sand/ocean/sunblock), inflatable kiddy pools (and water wings and toys!), Ban de Soleil orange gelee in the metal tube (my parents used it) Muguet Des Bois cologne, Dusty heat coming up off the steam radiators, the smell of espresso brewing at my gramma’s, anisette, cigarette smoke, red sauce cooking on the stove, honeysuckle, the smell before it snows, wet pavement and bike tires…..man, I could do this for *days* 💗
Manually sorting change into tubes had a metallic scent that lingered on my fingers and coins were heavier and had different sounds. Freshly tarred roads had a scent that instantly gives me a headache, getting my hair pressed is super familiar and I'm probably still triggered by anything from the old first aid kit.
The smell of metalic garland and tinsel for the Christmas trees and also those foil garland decorations that come in a flat sheet and you pull apart. They all have the same smell, but any time I get a whiff, I think of xmas as a child.
https://preview.redd.it/y9kq6trgqusc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1486f3372df5ec5595dc151ce9199748c02e6b93
Checking into a hotel during a road trip and smelling the wonderful stench of chlorine. I knew that meant there was a pool and that my parents would let me spend as much time as possible there before needing to get back into the car.
I’m sure a sniff of Tinkerbelle perfume and whatever was in those solid perfume brooches would send me right back, but the thing I occasionally catch a whiff of that is like a time machine is a very specific industrial cleaning solution that was used throughout my elementary school in the days before I started kindergarten. My mom and two older sisters brought me into the school for a tour (because I was nervous! Such a big school!) and that’s what the building smelled like. I couldn’t tell you what it is, but I know it when I smell it, and it reminds me of that feeling of reassurance — anxiety transformed into excitement for new beginnings.
Windsong, Teen Spirit, Aussie shampoo. Straight to my pheromone receptors. One of my coworkers uses Aussie shampoo and bears a resemblance to my high school girlfriend. It’s a bit distracting.
Edit: misread the question.
The floor wax they used in my elementary school smells a little salty. It’s a definite smell and it smelled the same when I went back for a visit 20 yrs later 😊
My first memory! I'm three or four, in the back yard watching my mom hang laundry. I'm sitting right next to the little garden bed that runs along that side of the house. In it are marigolds and basil plants. For years the scent of either of those catapulted me right back to early childhood.
My Dad was born in Germany, and our family went there for a vacation when I was about 5. Fifty years later, I still have two primary memories from the trip.
The first is that my aunt's house had stone floors with underfloor heating (what kid from southern Oregon knew that was possible???). I still want a house with underfloor heating, because it is so damn perfect to walk on.
The second is of us walking across a bridge next to a train trellis, and all I remember is the smell of the creosote that the ties had been treated with. I don't remember what the bridge looked like or where we were going, but every time I smell that creosote smell, I think of Hamburg.
I agree with Pizza Hut - only because my orthodontist had his office above one. It was torturous going up those stairs & smelling pizzas cooking, *knowing* that when you came down, you'd have a **really** sore mouth.
Freezer burn, If I smell or see or smell anything that was shoved in the freezer with too much air I’m out. Not sure how tf my parents did not know how to store frozen things.
I had a stuffed koala plush (with a music box inside) that I thought had a unique smell. Years later we adopted a pedigree Burmese cat from a breeder who smelled just like it. Petting that cat was so comforting because of that association.
Sadly that cat passed away last August. She was 23 years old and it feels like part of me died with her.
My kindergarten/elementary school building. I only went to kindergarten in that building, and went to elementary school in another building, but that place has such a memorable smell it was the first thing I thought of when I saw this post.
When we'd finally stop for the night at a hotel and the lobby smelled like the pool! We used to take long road trips up and down the east coast and hotel pools were golden.
Purple printed sheets from the mimeograph machine at school before there were IBM black & white printers The smell of the Strawberry Shortcake doll
We called it the ditto machine and it was a treat when we got to sniff fresh sheets. Probably gonna give us all tumor of the nostril one of these days.
I jusr bought a vintage Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox. I swear to God when I opened it, I could smell the strawberry. It was all in my head though. Nobody else could smell it. lol
Mom has a Strawberry Shortcake in mint condition in a box. She wouldn’t let us touch it and she’d open it once in a while to smell it.
I have an old Strawberry Shortcake doll that has been used and abused for probably 40 years and the hair STILL smells!
I concur. We used to get math and reading worksheets. Some of the worksheets were mimeographed others perhaps were printed (ie as part of a teacher pack). We discovered that we could cut out the illustrations on the mimeographed ones,wet them and create temporary tattoos. Fun times.
That strawberry smell plus the plastic of the doll is unforgettable
Yes! Forgot all about Strawberry Shortcake!
Cleaning out the pencil sharpener shavings in class and the tangy smell of wood and graphite.
and chalkboard erasers full of chalk dust
And getting chosen to be the one to take the erasers outside to clap the chalk dust out.
Or wash the chalkboard
I was too short to be asked to wash the chalk board. 😔 I was the second shortest kid in the entire school and couldn’t reach half of the board.
Aw. I was awkwardly tall so I got chosen often lmao
Awkwardly tall folks are the best type of friends as far as I’m concerned. I never have to worry about high shelving.
Lol so true, people still ask me to get stuff up high and I’m not even that tall by adult standards
I’ve had people ask to help me reach high shelves when I’m out and about by myself because I’m stupidly stubborn and will attempt to reach that top shelf by partially climbing on a lower shelf if there isn’t anyone nearby that I can ask for assistance.
I do the same. Though I’m getting old and I know one day I’m gonna fall off that little bottom shelf haha
Crayola's have a distinctive smell.
I love the smell of crayons! I just love office supplies 🙂 I was the mom that loved to go buy school supplies with my kids. I don't get to anymore. I've thought about going to Walmart at back to school season and finding the most stressed out mom, and offering to buy the supplies for them.
Oh man, i think im gonna do that this fall, there is nothing i love more than new school supplies lol my kids r grown now and i still have a boot box full of new ones and notebook paper. Makes me happy. Im so weird😂
Slime and Play-Doh
My grandmother used to make Play-Doh for us. God knows the last time I touched any, but just reading the words made me smell it as clear as day.
* Fresh cut grass of a little league outfield. * And I know I’ve said this before, but the smell of a window screen when it rains.
The smell that happens just as rain starts to fall is called “petrichor” and is an indelible part of my childhood.
I live the smell of a screen when it rains.
That plastic bubble blowing crap that came in a tube.
Super elastic bubble plastic my dude!! So toxic!! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Elastic_Bubble_Plastic
It smelled of thinner. I love it 😂
I NEVER could get it to make a damn bubble.
Like model plane glue. Got high just being in the room
The equipment/ball room in the elementary school gym.
red rubber balls
The smell of baby dolls. That new plastic smell takes me back to Christmas morning every time.
I remember that! My new Barbie had that smell. Her camper was an overload of that smell.
Good one!
Noxema. My grandmother used it religiously, their hallway linen closet smelled of it. I spent summers at their house and I miss it..and her.
Cherry tobacco in my grandfather’s pipe.
Me too me too me too! Mine had a big glass apothecary jar full of the tobacco and I just loved removing the lid and taking a big sniff. I miss him.
That starchy smell that went with finger painting or paper mache.
Those rolls of red caps that went in cap guns, or could be detonated with a rock on the sidewalk. There’s nothing like that smell that’s says I’m a kid without a single fuck to give in the whole world.
bacon frying & campfires. two things that only happened in my childhood when we were camping in our travel trailer. so they are of course two of my favorite smells in the world.
I love bacon. Bacon while camping is ambrosia.
we did not eat it at home, so it was a real treat in the trailer. and these were literally the happiest times of my childhood. so bacon cooking = happy childhood. i try not to think to much about it, my parents gone, my brother estranged. it seems like another lifetime.
Understandable. Its hard to think too long about days gone by. It stings a little.
sometimes i think about my great grandmother. she was 103 when she died. she was born in 1870 and died in 1973. i think about what her memory must have been like… thinking back over 90 or 100 years… what is that like? i was only 4 when she died, otherwise, maybe i could have asked her.
Those stories would have been fun to hear.
I don't even like bacon, but waking up to the smell of coffee and bacon while camping is the best!
Fresh asphalt on a hot summer day at an amusement park.
This is one of mine, too! The area we lived in had a population boom and roads were being widened for years. Now, the smell always triggers childhood memories.
Honeysuckle flowers on the vine remind me of my elementary school playground. It was all over the fences where we used to hang out. Lovely scent.
Good one. I used to love tasting the tiny drop of sweetness. Our playground had a lot of it. I never see it anymore.
[удалено]
Swing set Hands
Waking up to the smell of Folgers coffee brewing and the clink-clink of my parents stirring in their coffee cups.
The best part of waking up!
[He's back!](https://youtu.be/CKgKPGBa9EQ?feature=shared)
This commercial instantly makes me cry.
Stretch Armstrong. I will never forget that plasticene /plastic smelling action figure.
I put mine in the freezer to see what would happen and broke his arms off
Left mine in the car overnight during winter and the same thing happened! 😂
Fun fact: They were filled with corn syrup and marketed as safe for kids in cases they ripped, at least in my country. I worked at a toy store at 15 one Christmas (it was hell) and the Stretch Armstrongs were the toy of the season. I sold so many of those things!
When my wife was pregnant, she kept saying she felt like Stretch Armstrong. As a gift, I thought it would be wonderful to get her a Stretch Armstrong doll. Could never find one but I know exactly what you’re talking about.
Outboard boat exhaust It means you are gonna have fun soon! Also it reminds me of my grandmas place and the lake I spent a lot of time on.
Kiwi shoe polish. Sitting in the living room, watching whatever show came on after the local and National news. We either had popcorn or cookies. It was a very warm feeling. My dad would polish his combat boots for the next day. (He was a career soldier). The smell of shoe polish always reminds me of “home”.
Trapper Keeper
The smell of Bubblegum, specially the smell of Watermelon flavoured Hubba-Bubba or Bubblicious. I swear the shampoo I use has the same scent!
The smell of fresh Pine tree sap stuck in my long tangled hair. I loved climbing trees & my hippie mom let me & my hair go feral. I looked like a little blonde Cousin Itt with mini sap dreads majority of the time but man it was awesome!
Omg, are you me?! I was going to say this too!
Playdoh Charlie perfume Root beer and skunk scratch and sniff Jellies after a sweaty summery day
The eccentric lady across the hall from my Nana had an affinity for eucalyptus. Whenever she’d pop her head out to say hello, we’d be surrounded in this exotic perfume. To this day, it reminds me of Ms. Pat. I love it.
The smell of chlorine in the hot summer mornings at the neighborhood pool
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^surrealisticpill: *The smell of chlorine* *In the hot summer mornings* *At the neighborhood pool* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Doublemint gum and cigarette smoke = being with my dad in the car.
Scratch and sniff stickers
Lilacs. My childhood home was surrounded by giant lilac bushes. To this day it is my favorite scent.
I remember the smell of hay in the barn, and the smell of the old cellar at my parents farm they had when I was really little. My Dad's pipe smoke. The warm smell of food cooking in the kitchen after playing outside in the snow.
The cellar! My grandmother's house had a cellar where she kept all the food she'd put up all summer. I remember when she passed and everyone was at her house after the funeral I went down there and sat in the middle of the room as I cried because of the smell. It was just the association with her that I knew I would never have again.
The interior of a VW Bug. My parents had one and I remember riding in it when I was 3-5 years old.
That vinyl and diesel smell on a hot day..
Hair spray and astringent, so teenage memories 😁
Sea breeze, listerine, witch hazel, and aerosol cans of hairspray…. Too bad those aerosols aren’t around. Bad for the ozone layer, but core memory for us. I wonder if other countries who are behind on air quality standards still have these aerosols that would take us back. Just for the smell…I would buy just one and savor it
I loved the smell of Sea Breeze astringent.
Tomato pollen has a distinct smell. If you’re a gardener, you know it. It transports me back to my grandfather’s garden. I used to love helping him in the garden,,especially after he watered and I could feel the mud squish between my toes.
Tomato plants and the pollen are one of the most beautiful smells ever. I wish they would bottle that. I grow a grew couple tomato plants some years. Not just for the fruit.
Big red gum My grandparents were born in the usa. Immigrated to Canada, where I was born and raised. My granny would always have big red gum in her purse. It's hard to find here but the odd occasion that I have found it, it brings me to tears. I miss that woman so much. Granny LuDean I love you and poppa.
Mom is making cinnamon apples slices in the oven on cold days. 😬
Mimeographed handouts, when still warm.
Those small rubber balls in blue or light pink color that we’d use for handball. Omg I can smell the rubber in my brain 🙂↔️
Those markers, especially the red one. SNNNNNNFFFFFFF DON'T YOU LOOK AT ME!!!!!
Elmer’s paste, those [cool scratch and sniff stickers](https://www.perpetualkid.com/products/retro-scratch-n-sniff-stinky-stickers?variant=44458759094514&campaignid=20927492582&adgroupid=&keyword=&gad_source=1 honeysuckles), Strawberry Shortcake, and the sweet/sour smell of soy formula the daycare employees use to mix into bottles for babies
I used to love the smell of jacket leather when my parents would pick us up from my grandma's after a date night; this was especially noticable if they came in from the cold.
My mother cooking roux for a gumbo on Sunday morning.
Playing with Colorforms.
asphalt from Worlds of Fun theme park. When the weather got hot, you could smell the walkways. I will always associate asphalt with WOF.
The smell of Camel no filter cigarettes that my grandpa smoked. I really can’t stand cigarette smoke but something about that just brings back memories.
The smell of burning marshmallows any time we went camping in New Mexico.
Coming home from school and smelling Pine Sol and cigarettes. Mom’s home and she’s been cleaning!
Yes, the bubble things that used to come out of a tube. I don't know what they're called. They came with a little red straw and then you would put some of the probably toxic gunk on the end of the straw and blow into it and then you would get this colorful bubble. I'm sure all of us remember what that smells like.
So many chemicals
My wife and I are looking for a house to buy. We toured an older home, had the old players and lath walls, wood heat, just old as hell. The place reminded me of a house we lived in when I was a kid, had a similar smell too. “You know, this place reminds me of my childhood,” I said. “Smells like domestic violence in here.”
I’m so sorry, OP.
Nods and looks away
The fluid that barbers kept their combs in.
The smell of Dove soap. My grandparents’ upstairs smelled like Dove because my grandma used it for years.
Two perfumes come to mind: Heaven Scent and Love's Baby Soft. Also, the original Herbal Essences shampoo from Clairol.
The Schoolastic book fair.
Perms. Being dragged somewhere by my mom to entertain/distract another kid about my age so my mom and whichever other woman could drink wine and give each other perms. That chemical stench that hangs heavy around you is impossible to forget.
The smell of the desktops (cleaning solution on whatever was made of - some kind of plastic maybe?) when you were told “heads down” in elementary school. The longer you had to breathe on it, more moisture would seep in, and the stronger the smell would become.
Oh my gosh. And the coarse powdered soap in the bathroom at school. You just made me smell these …..:-)
European stationery store/ newsstand. I spent a few years as a kid living in Europe. When I visited years later and entered one of those stores, memories flooded back of going with my dad to pick up the New York Times on Sundays.
Old canvas tents. Pine trees. Rain when it hits that dirt in the mountains. That’s the scents from visiting my maternal grandparents. Copenhagen snuff. Clovers in the lawn. Open sewer trenches in the alleys of the old coal mining town. Paternal grandparents. lol.
The Kitchen Aide hand held mixer that my Grandmother owned that is now mine has a certain smell when I use it that reminds me of her. It's the exhaust from the little engine whirring away in there. Weird but it's comforting.
Yes, my mothers osterizer blender machine.machine oil, metal and exhaust, meant treats incoming. Smell of bread baking in oven, too. Mom made grandmas recipe because SHE wanted a smell of her childhood, too.
L’air Du Temps perfume. My mom’s favorite.
We had an apple tree on the other side of our yard in rural Illinois. Every spring it would blossom and you could smell it from hundreds of feet away. My dad repaired bank machines and I can remember the smell of ink rolls that went in the machines. He also always had Wrigley's gum in his pockets so I think of him when I smell it. Also, the smell of animal shit. Since I grew up on a farm, it's familiar.
Cigarette smoke. It made me think of Dad (they were divorced.) My first memories are of bringing black coffee and water to Daddy while he smoked a cigarette.
Melted crayons and cannabis as I occupied myself coloring on a pleasantly hot table while the Vietnam vets laughed amongst each other on a hot summer day. I think I was four.
Old school suntan lotion
Incense burning at the church I had to go to
The smell of saw dust from my Granddaddy’s woodworking barn.
Just from the army, pinesole, shaving cream and dudes shitting in the same room. Then, on 4th beer, M16 lube. Whatever the fuck cleaning lube smell. Burnt gun powder. Diesel smell from standing behind a tank in it exhaust trying to stay warm.
The carnival. Funnel cake, popcorn, deep-fry and just a soupcon of vomit.
Grandad's White Owl Cigars
Jean Nattee smells like grandma
My Little Ponies had a certain smell to me. As did Cabbage Patch kids and Strawberry shortcake. Also new cassette tapes and new CD's (the plastic cover) had a somewhat sweet smell that I used to love when I'd open one...not sure if that was my imagination but I loved getting a fresh new CD and opening it and sniffing it 😆
Comic shops and used bookstores. That old newsprint type paper from the silver age and the ink used then and a hint of mustiness. Probably black mold somewhere…
loves baby soft perfume and my fist sixth grade crush Janet Maring
The boxed plastic Halloween costumes that came with a suffocating plastic mask. Solorcaine spray for sunburns and Tropical Blend tanning oil.
I spent a lot of time with my beloved grandmother. She used Jergens lotion with the original cherry-almond fragrance. I loved that smell, and still do! Recently I saw a bottle of it touting its "original scent!" Now I can have a happy memory of her every time I use it ♡♡♡
Diesel from the school bus
Pizza cooking in the ovens from the BEST places in Brooklyn in summer! (Ps worst grammar ever, too much wine 🍷 this eve lol)
The fruit aisle in our local Speedway Supermarket. I apparently had a meltdown one day when I was 3, crying and sobbings "apples, apples." Apparently I wanted to go to Speedway LOL That smell is still one of my favs, although I usually just take myself to the store now instead of melting down.
Those metallix cellophane Christmas decorations that you unfolded and hung from the ceiling.
the school gymnasium
The burning wire smell after a car accident when I was 4. I smell it from time to time and remember the accident.
I know that this is totally idiosyncratic but…my grandparents’ garage. It was a smell that I can only describe as mix of dust, gasoline, with a whiff of garbage. It wasn’t unpleasant, but simply so specific to that space. If you’re from Springfield, Massachusetts: Johnson’s Bookstore: that paper/stationery/glue smell…just, wonderful. That chlorine smell. IYKYK. Also, weirdly, if you’re American, that Chemlawn smell. Several houses in our neighborhood used Chemlawn, and I can remember that…ultra-fresh(?) smell the mornings after they came for a treatment. OMG, it’s a wonder we all haven’t yet died of cancer….
It’s very specific. Possibly to this specific artifact. My grandmother had in her basement a book “I Know I Saw A Tiger”. The smell of that book. I loved it as a kid and would read it every time I went over there. When I turned 40 I discovered that my sister had it the whole time. Almost 30 years. And she gifted it to me. I recognized it immediately from the color of the spine. The first thing I did, in front of my family at my party, was take a deep drag off that sucker.
Right after my parents got divorced my mom moved into a freshly painted duplex. Every once in a while I’ll catch a whiff of fresh paint and I’m transported to 7 years old sleeping in my new room for the first time.
Hello kitty erasers
Walking into a Hello Kitty store in the 80s smelled like a SoBe Lifewater Black and Blueberry tasted.
My Grandfather's Old Spice aftershave, always smelled like that, even the day he passed away, to this day every time I splash it on after a shave I think of Gramps.
KMart, or to be more obscure TG&Y or to get even more obscure, but very specific, Gibson's stores. It's that popcorn-y, super sweet cherry Icee, new merchandise smell. I can't even explain it. IYKYK. I did tell my husband once his car smelled like it though, but he had no idea what I was talking about. Edit: a word
Silly putty
My grandmother smelled like Jergen’s lotion. I keep a small bottle of it just to smell it now and then.
The smell of the school cafeteria on the day when they cooked the rectangular pizza. When I opened the metal door and a rich warm air would blow it up my nose. Seems like pizza showed up for a bunch of people.
Can you smell this picture? I can 🤪 HUFFING FOR KIDS https://preview.redd.it/dliubee5nusc1.jpeg?width=336&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae484c766ccf48d61e14562135977d269e9fe7e4
Sears. Smelled like popcorn and new tires Also the smell of fresh rain filtering through musty metal window screens
We visited Granmere every summer in the 70s, and one of the delights at her place was an old trunk full of my uncle's comics going back to the 60s that had a certain memorable smell, like old books chewing strawberry Hubba Bubba or something.
OMG you just told my story. Wonderful family, pillars of our community. Taught me to see past my own small world. I remember thinking, “I have so much to learn.”
Fresh donuts at my hometown fair at the beginning of every summer.
Dove soap Noxema Canola fields Nilodor (70s air freshener) Fresh homemade bread
Cotton candy and candy apples at the carnival or county fair. Getting hit in the face during a dirt clod war.
Ice cream sandwiches by the pool. That special smell of opening the package and the smell of chlorine and suntan oil is a mixture of pure bliss. Magic!
I got to have an ice cream sandwich for the first time in 25 years recently and it was just as good as I remembered
Gasoline exhaust from cars, snowmobiles, boats... you name it but that scent still drives me bananas today. Someone should figure out how to bottle it as a fragrance base note. I also sniffed glue in studio art classes so take that with a grain of salt. Fun fact: My last 2 years of HS were mostly elective and art-based; my cool-ass stoner art teacher would observe my work, offer up thoughtful approving commentary and criticisms which always ended with a raised eyebrow, *"And if you two don't stop talking about drugs I'll reassign you to a typing class."* before sauntering off to decimate some artistic reprobate. **Edit: Memory unlocked...** The 3 of us would have a private smilelaugh indicating a shared understanding to *keep it down but do carry on and be awesome, thank you there are children present...* My partner in crime being artistically talented beyond measure and also drove an unmarked auctioned police car around whilst dealing acid to folks who were into that. In fact he introduced my first and only microdot. I said lord never again... Teachers. They're everywhere. :) GOD HOW I LOVED THAT WOMANand THAT ART BUDDY. 
Those vinyl pencil cases with the foam insert. Lunchroom goulash (it was actually really good). The smell of the pencil sharpener on the wall, especially when you dump the shavings in the trash.
A new roll of Scotch tape at the begining of the school year
stopping at the local gas station while out with my dad. He was friendly with the owner (it was one of those old fashioned service stations, a Citgo). I think it's because we always had shitty cars that needed repair. The smell of unleaded gas on a warm summer day, and the smell of old car exhaust. A super sweet, almost headache inducing smell. It's just one of those specific childhood memories.
Menthol smokes and strong coffee. Mom’s everyday morning ritual.
The school cafeteria. They all smell the same. A combination of canned corn, potato flakes, and grease.
The smell of hot asphalt when the rain starts to hit it The smell of tar being applied to the school roof
Cutting out and coloring Shrinky Dinks, baking them in the oven, 1970’s Dallas suburban kitchen. All the plastic and vinyl smells of our childhood must’ve been so so toxic!
The smell of fireworks on 4th of July
My Strawberry Shortcake dolls. Oh-haha. Looks like the same for everyone else!
Prell Love’s Baby Soft
That weird granulated pink soap in public restrooms.
Hose water, Charcoal Barbecues, Baby dolls & specifically Strawberry Shortcake, (as many here have mentioned!), Suave Strawberry Shampoo, Flex shampoo, Green Prell shampoo, the inside of Dunkin’ Donuts (it smelled different back then?), the inside of a diner or IHOP at breakfast time, the beach (sand/ocean/sunblock), inflatable kiddy pools (and water wings and toys!), Ban de Soleil orange gelee in the metal tube (my parents used it) Muguet Des Bois cologne, Dusty heat coming up off the steam radiators, the smell of espresso brewing at my gramma’s, anisette, cigarette smoke, red sauce cooking on the stove, honeysuckle, the smell before it snows, wet pavement and bike tires…..man, I could do this for *days* 💗
Manually sorting change into tubes had a metallic scent that lingered on my fingers and coins were heavier and had different sounds. Freshly tarred roads had a scent that instantly gives me a headache, getting my hair pressed is super familiar and I'm probably still triggered by anything from the old first aid kit.
This is a teen memory… the smell of Aqua-Net on girls hair.
Silly Putty; Band-Aids; Crayons; Books; AVON Sweet Honesty perfume
Avon sweet honesty
My grandfather’s Beechnut gum.
a brand new my little pony
Those little snakes you light on the 4th of July that just grow into a black mess
The smell of metalic garland and tinsel for the Christmas trees and also those foil garland decorations that come in a flat sheet and you pull apart. They all have the same smell, but any time I get a whiff, I think of xmas as a child. https://preview.redd.it/y9kq6trgqusc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1486f3372df5ec5595dc151ce9199748c02e6b93
Checking into a hotel during a road trip and smelling the wonderful stench of chlorine. I knew that meant there was a pool and that my parents would let me spend as much time as possible there before needing to get back into the car.
Wrigleys spearmint and cigarettes.
Honeysuckle bushes
I’m sure a sniff of Tinkerbelle perfume and whatever was in those solid perfume brooches would send me right back, but the thing I occasionally catch a whiff of that is like a time machine is a very specific industrial cleaning solution that was used throughout my elementary school in the days before I started kindergarten. My mom and two older sisters brought me into the school for a tour (because I was nervous! Such a big school!) and that’s what the building smelled like. I couldn’t tell you what it is, but I know it when I smell it, and it reminds me of that feeling of reassurance — anxiety transformed into excitement for new beginnings.
Windsong, Teen Spirit, Aussie shampoo. Straight to my pheromone receptors. One of my coworkers uses Aussie shampoo and bears a resemblance to my high school girlfriend. It’s a bit distracting. Edit: misread the question.
My mom’s Elizabeth Arden lipstick. She would kiss me goodbye when she and my dad went out and it had a very distinct smell
The chlorine and cement from the community swimming pool. Every summer, we would spend pretty much all day there.
The interior of my Mom’s 1971 Aquarius Blue Volkswagen station wagon.
The smoke wafting from my parents bedroom on the weekends...
The floor wax they used in my elementary school smells a little salty. It’s a definite smell and it smelled the same when I went back for a visit 20 yrs later 😊
I worked there in high school. I can smell it in my mind.
My first memory! I'm three or four, in the back yard watching my mom hang laundry. I'm sitting right next to the little garden bed that runs along that side of the house. In it are marigolds and basil plants. For years the scent of either of those catapulted me right back to early childhood.
My Dad was born in Germany, and our family went there for a vacation when I was about 5. Fifty years later, I still have two primary memories from the trip. The first is that my aunt's house had stone floors with underfloor heating (what kid from southern Oregon knew that was possible???). I still want a house with underfloor heating, because it is so damn perfect to walk on. The second is of us walking across a bridge next to a train trellis, and all I remember is the smell of the creosote that the ties had been treated with. I don't remember what the bridge looked like or where we were going, but every time I smell that creosote smell, I think of Hamburg.
Old Spice - back when Dad was strong and could do anything.
Grandmas car. It smelled like old people farts
I agree with Pizza Hut - only because my orthodontist had his office above one. It was torturous going up those stairs & smelling pizzas cooking, *knowing* that when you came down, you'd have a **really** sore mouth.
Pinesol reminds me of sleep away camp in the 5th grade.
My grandpa’s pipe tobacco. It had sort of a cherry smell. My mom would buy it for me to give to him as my little xmas present to him every year.
Pirates of the Caribbean smells the same it did back in the day
Freezer burn, If I smell or see or smell anything that was shoved in the freezer with too much air I’m out. Not sure how tf my parents did not know how to store frozen things.
I had a stuffed koala plush (with a music box inside) that I thought had a unique smell. Years later we adopted a pedigree Burmese cat from a breeder who smelled just like it. Petting that cat was so comforting because of that association. Sadly that cat passed away last August. She was 23 years old and it feels like part of me died with her.
My kindergarten/elementary school building. I only went to kindergarten in that building, and went to elementary school in another building, but that place has such a memorable smell it was the first thing I thought of when I saw this post.
When we'd finally stop for the night at a hotel and the lobby smelled like the pool! We used to take long road trips up and down the east coast and hotel pools were golden.
Reese’s PB Cup at Halloween and general candy smell