Old smells, that immeditately transport you back in time?

Benzadmiral · Oct 23, 2017

Turtle Wax's Wax As You Dry, their spray wax for automobiles, has a great plastic scent that reminds me of opening a new plastic model kit from Aurora or Revell.

In contrast, Meguiar's spray wax smells like a little like buttered popcorn. Not as good as the popcorn at the movie theatre, but sort of popcorn-ish.

Benzadmiral · Oct 23, 2017

Inkstainedwretch said:
In the '50s-'60s the Grosset & Dunlap books, mostly YA (" juveniles," back then) had a distinctive smell that always takes me back to that time. Whether Tarzan or Tom Corbett, they all had that smell. Now, in a dealer's room or used bookshop, I can sometimes catch a faint whiff of that once-overpowering smell, faded with the decades.

The Whitman Adventure Novels for Young People -- mostly the ones based on Western or other TV shows, like "Maverick," "Have Gun -- Will Travel," and the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry books -- give me an interesting scent as well. There's the paper, yellowed now with the decades, but also the clear shiny gloss they put over the wraparound paintings on the covers.

Older ones, which came with a book jacket over a non-painted cover, are different somehow.

Inkstainedwretch · Oct 24, 2017

The scent of patchouli always takes me back to the 60s, when for some reason it was popular with the Counterculture.

LizzieMaine · Oct 24, 2017

That's one smell that really makes my nose clench. We have patrons, elderly hippie types, who bathe in the stuff and it's just vile. Especially when mixed with a top note of Ben Gay.

TimeWarpWife · Oct 24, 2017

Kool cigarettes and beer remind me of a rather unpleasant man my aunt married. When I say "unpleasant" I mean he scared the bejesus out of me when I was little. Back then parents would usually give their kids a warning about something they were doing wrong, and if the offense was committed again then they'd give the kid a swat on the behind. But this man didn't give warnings and didn't give swats, he'd rip off his belt and beat my cousins and it didn't matter who was in the room and saw him do it. Both of my cousins, his children, left home at 17 - the son went to Vietnam to get away from him, and the daughter got pregnant and married a guy going to Vietnam, so they moved to FL. That says what a horrible man this guy was and, yet, when he died, both of them were there at the funeral and cried. I'm guessing it was the loss of what might have been had he not been an abusive alcoholic, wife and child beater. I attended out of love and respect for my cousins, but I just could not bring myself to shed one tear for this awful man.

TimeWarpWife · Oct 24, 2017

LizzieMaine said:
That's one smell that really makes my nose clench. We have patrons, elderly hippie types, who bathe in the stuff and it's just vile. Especially when mixed with a top note of Ben Gay.

Patchouli and Ben Gay, the scent of Woodstock 2017.

Fading Fast · Oct 24, 2017

TimeWarpWife said:
Kool cigarettes and beer remind me of a rather unpleasant man my aunt married. When I say "unpleasant" I mean he scared the bejesus out of me when I was little. Back then parents would usually give their kids a warning about something they were doing wrong, and if the offense was committed again then they'd give the kid a swat on the behind. But this man didn't give warnings and didn't give swats, he'd rip off his belt and beat my cousins and it didn't matter who was in the room and saw him do it. Both of my cousins, his children, left home at 17 - the son went to Vietnam to get away from him, and the daughter got pregnant and married a guy going to Vietnam, so they moved to FL. That says what a horrible man this guy was and, yet, when he died, both of them were there at the funeral and cried. I'm guessing it was the loss of what might have been had he not been an abusive alcoholic, wife and child beater. I attended out of love and respect for my cousins, but I just could not bring myself to shed one tear for this awful man.

It takes a more sophisticated and educated mind than mine to feel sorrow for him / to try to "understand" the "his inner demons" that "drove" him to do it. You are responsible for your own actions - otherwise, nothing means anything - and his actions were well-past reprehensible.

Maybe you are correct about why your cousins cried at his funeral (glad the boy survived Vietnam and hopefully the girl's husband did too) or maybe they suffered from some kind of Stockholm Syndrome.

green papaya · Oct 24, 2017

https://viewing.nyc/vintage-photographs-of-the-new-york-city-easter-parade-between-1898-and-1933/

the smell of LILAC WATER Men's old fashioned after shave from the barbershop

the World of yesterday, the World of the 19th Century , women wore long dresses with 1880's style bustle pads, crown hats , Queen Victoria era , or like the people in this photo from NYC taken in 1898 - 1911 during the Easter Parade.

ChiTownScion · Oct 24, 2017

TimeWarpWife said:
Kool cigarettes and beer remind me of a rather unpleasant man my aunt married. When I say "unpleasant" I mean he scared the bejesus out of me when I was little. Back then parents would usually give their kids a warning about something they were doing wrong, and if the offense was committed again then they'd give the kid a swat on the behind. But this man didn't give warnings and didn't give swats, he'd rip off his belt and beat my cousins and it didn't matter who was in the room and saw him do it. Both of my cousins, his children, left home at 17 - the son went to Vietnam to get away from him, and the daughter got pregnant and married a guy going to Vietnam, so they moved to FL. That says what a horrible man this guy was and, yet, when he died, both of them were there at the funeral and cried. I'm guessing it was the loss of what might have been had he not been an abusive alcoholic, wife and child beater. I attended out of love and respect for my cousins, but I just could not bring myself to shed one tear for this awful man.

Reminds me of the stepfather in Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life. Robert DeNiro's character in the film (which also featured Leonardo DiCaprio's breakout role as Jack/ Tobias) renders an even darker image of the guy than the book. But I read that when the film version premiered, Wolff's step- siblings had an entirely different take on the guy. "More likely to bore you to death with a lecture than hit you," or words to that effect. Perhaps looking at the past through those rose colored glasses is a survival mechanism for some.

TimeWarpWife · Oct 26, 2017

Fading Fast said:
It takes a more sophisticated and educated mind than mine to feel sorrow for him / to try to "understand" the "his inner demons" that "drove" him to do it. You are responsible for your own actions - otherwise, nothing means anything - and his actions were well-past reprehensible.

Maybe you are correct about why your cousins cried at his funeral (glad the boy survived Vietnam and hopefully the girl's husband did too) or maybe they suffered from some kind of Stockholm Syndrome.

Yes, both of them made it safely home. Sadly though, both of my cousins passed away within 6 weeks of each other in 2008. Mary at 53 from brain cancer, Ed at 56 from a massive stroke. I'm happy to say that both of them were great parents and their children and grandchildren are wonderful, loving people - the abuse ended with their dad.

HadleyH1 · Nov 2, 2017

The smell of lavender. Fresh lavender.

Also some essential oils....but not all....the more expensive, better quality blends, the real plant essential oils.

Tree resins.....patchouli....sandalwood ......incense blends, ohhhhhhh hmmmmm

heaven

2jakes · Nov 2, 2017

HadleyH1 said:
The smell of lavender. Fresh lavender.

Also some essential oils....but not all....the more expensive, better quality blends, the real plant essential oils.

Tree resins.....patchouli....sandalwood ......incense blends, ohhhhhhh hmmmmm heaven

Some scented candles remind me of
church although not with pleasant memories at times,especially when
I could not recite the prayer correctly.
The penguins dressed in all black with
big white bibs would spank my hands
with a wooden stick or ruler!

Inkstainedwretch · Dec 12, 2017

Camera one-use flashbulbs produced a unique scent. The Sylvania Blue-Dot was the classic but all of them had a scent I've never encountered since.

Big Man · Dec 12, 2017

Inkstainedwretch said:
Camera one-use flashbulbs produced a unique scent. The Sylvania Blue-Dot was the classic but all of them had a scent I've never encountered since.

I never thought about that smell before I read this post. Thanks for bringing back a great memory of my first Kodak camera I got for Christmas back about 1962. Those flash bulbs did have a unique smell that, after reading this post, I can "smell" in my mind once again.

seres · Dec 12, 2017

Inkstainedwretch said:
Camera one-use flashbulbs produced a unique scent. The Sylvania Blue-Dot was the classic but all of them had a scent I've never encountered since.

Yeah, that varnish that coated the glass tube always burned and bubbled when the flash ignited. It was a good smell, and good memories.

LizzieMaine · Dec 12, 2017

There is nothing quite like the hot-varnish/burning dust smell inside a tube-driven commercial radio transmitter. It's similar to that flashbulb aroma of hot glass, but has a distinct overtones of ozone and transformer oil. Stick your nose inside an RCA BTA-250L, and you'll never forget it.

Blackthorn · Dec 12, 2017

Wow...

dnjan · Dec 12, 2017

Inkstainedwretch said:
Camera one-use flashbulbs produced a unique scent. The Sylvania Blue-Dot was the classic but all of them had a scent I've never encountered since.

Sometimes, part of the scent was burned fingertip flesh when the bulbs were removed too soon ...

2jakes · Dec 12, 2017

LizzieMaine said:
There is nothing quite like the hot-varnish/burning dust smell inside a tube-driven commercial radio transmitter. It's similar to that flashbulb aroma of hot glass, but has a distinct overtones of ozone and transformer oil. Stick your nose inside an RCA BTA-250L, and you'll never forget it.

Been enjoying it for years!

Pre-war S-20r “Sky Champion” by Hallicrafters.

2jakes · Dec 12, 2017

Elementary school.
The smell of tablet paper or golden age comics with the acidic vinegar smell
of yellow cheap paper.

Anytime I want to go back to “Happy Days”,
I stick my nose to this gooey jar which kept my “crew-cut” or “Flat-top” in place!

Old smells, that immeditately transport you back in time?

Call Me a Cab

Call Me a Cab

One Too Many

One of the Regulars

One of the Regulars

One Too Many

Call Me a Cab

One of the Regulars

One Too Many

I'll Lock Up

One Too Many

My Mail is Forwarded Here

A-List Customer

I'll Lock Up

One Too Many

I'll Lock Up

I'll Lock Up

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