What triggers that memory with you, the first time you smelt it and nothing else can copy it.
One of the things I always remeber from childhood was a freshly opened packet of Demerara sugar, got that instant hit. Another was to rub the leaf of a tomato plant between your fingers.
And yours?

Only one I have is not something I can describe exactly what the smell is. Its a mix of that hospital smell with the odd smell you get after a nose bleed, Occasionally I will smell that and it reminds me of waking up after my childhood sinus surgeries (Which explains how I would describe the smell I suppose). A happier one I suppose, is that smell of electronics in their packaging reminds me of all the times I've gotten a new toy (N64, Gameboys, DS, Xbox1, Switch, etc). Its funny how most electronics (and even DVDs) have that same packaging smell.

The smell of the elevator in my grandfather's apartment in Athens, Greece. Not something I encounter often but some elevators (especially those made by Otis) can have the same smell and it's a great wave of nostalgia.

The smell of "Switzerland." I can't explain what the smell is (probably a combination of the smell of nature, my grandparents' chalet, etc) but my wife gets it, too (her family is from the opposite size of Switzerland) and I love when I'm somewhere and think "huh, it smells like Switzerland."

In 1992 I traveled to Costa Rica with my partner. While we were visiting the Northwestern part of the country we hired a guide to take us on a horseback tour of a "dry" rainforest. It was an amazing adventure. As the we started off on our day, the horses crossed a grassy meadow where lots of fennel was growing. The fennel grew as high as the horses' hips. The fennel had also attracted thousands of Monarch butterflies. Such an odd scene: it was if we had set sail in a field of fennel (couldn't see the horses' legs, just their bodies bobbing among the yellow flowers) and thousands of flickering yellow points...and everything had the licorice smell of fennel.

To this day I associate the color yellow with the smell of fennel, or licorice.

The smell of moskolivano. It’s Greek incense used in homes during prayers. My mom used it daily. Whenever I come across that scent, I’m transported to our apartment in Brooklyn.

The scent of a pine forest. I spent parts of almost every summer growing up in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, and the scent of pine, fir and spruce on the breeze in the morning are seared into my brain.

The smell of the evaporating water off of the cooling pavement after a hard thunderstorm on warm muggy summer day. Triggers memories of being in the rain in college with a girlfriend.

Petrichor (the scent in the air just before it starts raining) takes me back to my childhood days when I would be scared of rain because if it came with thunder and lightning I would panic. My grandpa used to get me to behave by placing a fake call to order thunder and lightning, which would work because many times there would be thunder and lightning.

When I was in grade school (between 1st-4th grade), one of the boys wore a cologne on our casual days that, to this day, I have yet run across. I don't know how to describe it, but I'll know it if a smell it again.

ANITIX87 wrote:

The smell of "Switzerland."

I was in Switzerland for just about a day, but the air smelled so clean that it's impossible to describe.

I have more negative associations with smell than positive ones. Life rule #1 for me is "ff I don't like the way something smells, it doesn't get any closer to my face." Many things have just never smelled right to me: mustard, pickles, coffee, many kinds of cheeses, so I don't consume them. But I have a hard time thinking of any smell, no matter how pleasant, really does something positive for me. If anything does it, I do love the musty smell moments after a good rain.

I hate to state the obvious, but the smell of burning JetA reminds me of being young and watching Swift Aire and then Wings West turboprops at SBP. Of course, these days it also it connected to aviation and traveling in general. I assume many of us feel similarly about it.

The Baker Valley in eastern Oregon has a smell during the summer. It is a sweet and nature smell. They grow alfalfa and hay there but that is not it. I have been through hay and alfalfa growing areas since and it smells nothing like summer in the Baker Valley.

- the smell of my parents' and grandparents' apartments... the smell of happy childhood and home.
- Dalissime by Salvador Dalí a perfume my first girlfriend used to wear
- burned Jet A

I love the smell of Napalm in the morning.....

When it rains in the desert here in Nevada (like today) you get this unique smell that is so awesome. I love it

The smell of Ozone after a Lightening storm and the smell of orange peel on a wood stove where we placed it after having an orange, the original air refreshers to kill the smell of Kerosene and Kerosene lamps.

L410Turbolet wrote:

- the smell of my parents' and grandparents' apartments... the smell of happy childhood and home.

My grandmother had a natural gas stove. It had a specific smell when she lit it up. I don't smell it much anymore. My mother-in-law has a natural gas stove, too, but it does not have a smell at all.

I recall a specific Victoria's Secret fragrance with my experience traveling overseas for the first time. I went to Seattle and visited the strip club at Pike Place Market & got myself a lapdance from a stripper that had that specific fragrance

New airplane smell! I still can remember when AA's first 767 was in the hangar at SFO, just barely a week old. The new airplane smell was certainly memorable! Lucky for me over the years have experienced several new airplane smell!

readytotaxi wrote:

What triggers that memory with you, the first time you smelt it and nothing else can copy it. One of the things I always remember from childhood was a freshly opened packet of Demerara sugar, got that instant hit. Another was to rub the leaf of a tomato plant between your fingers. And yours?

The same for tomato plants. Also eucalyptus leaves. I also love fresh coriander leaves.

Yes also to new airplane smell and burnt Jet A.

Leading on from that, back in the 1970's when oil was used as a common form of heating, the odour just after lighting a Vulcan oil heater was very similar to the smell of jet fuel. It was intoxicating so to speak, and full of nostalgia. Same for paraffin or kerosene oil lamps.

Another memory of childhood is the inhalant that was sold for cold and flu called Friars Balsam. I think it was also used for cuts as an antiseptic. With the recent bushfires that smell was sometimes reminiscent of this stuff.

I recently revisited this old product my Mum used to use (or very similar to) called Medic room spray. I remembered it from years ago and wanted to relive it - as an air freshener - as a lot on the market smell quite sickly, in my opinion, and have bad stuff in them I believe. I managed to get it at a pharmacy. Reasonably priced but not that cheap. It actually helps me sleep and is relaxing - and nostalgic! It's menthol and essential oils and is meant to be safe for babies so it can't be too harmful I believe.

The smell of wildfire is quite unique, but never used to be really unpleasant. This has changed. It is more contemporarily associated with the fight or flight response and all that may follow that. I have also learnt a lot more now about the actual substance of it, and it is not quite as wholesome and lovely as I used to reminisce it was. Now I am much more aware that is is not 'just a few trees burning'.

On a more positive note, the smell of freshly cut timber and sawdust.

The smell of new homes or display homes. No not looking to buy, just here for the sensory experience!

The smell of rain on warm asphalt.

At Universal Studio's Orlando, back when Jaws was still around (pre-Harry Potter) the was a distinct smell when you enter the boathouse on the ride. A mix of like diesel fumes and Florida water being misted into the air, perhaps some wood in there as well.

I still get random wiffs of that particular smell, always takes me back to to the ride. Always good memories!

VapourTrails wrote:

On a more positive note, the smell of freshly cut timber and sawdust.

We have three loading ports here for smaller cargo ships. One transfers timber, the other two transfer wood chips. I like driving by the wood chip ports. They blow the chips from one pile to another before transferring them via belt to the ships. It smells so good when they do that!

There is another smell stuck in my mind from when I was very young. I had a babysitter who lived next to a furniture factory. She would give us bologna sandwiches. Every time I look at bologna, I am reminded of this smell I am sure from the factory. It was not a sweet or sour or chemical smell. It is a unique smell. I have smelled it only a handful of times since being an adult.

TCP liquid, my grandmother's house always smelled of it and any time I catch a smell of it when i'm in the UK I have flashbacks to her in that house.

NIKV69 wrote:

When it rains in the desert here in Nevada (like today) you get this unique smell that is so awesome. I love it

Creosote bushes, if you head up to Redrock between the visitors center and Calico in the rain you will get a full hit of it.

WD40 reminds me of my dad helping me fix my bike as a kid.

I've always loved the outdoor smell of an airport, the jet A, gasoline, hydraulic fluid. I really smell it in the jetbridge while boarding. It gives me a sense of nostalgia and adventure.

The smell of tearing in to wrapping paper on Christmas and as someone said before the smell of new electronics.

Two favorites: home-baked bread is a biggie with me. The second was driving across the SF/Oakland Bay Bridge when the Hills Brothers Coffee Company roasters were going. Oh, dear me, that was such a pleasant smell! Then, it stopped. I don’t know if Hills closed up, or if the city nannies decided the odor of roasting coffee was “pollution” and made them either shut down or add scrubbers to their roaster vents.

readytotaxi wrote:

What triggers that memory with you, the first time you smelt it and nothing else can copy it.
One of the things I always remeber from childhood was a freshly opened packet of Demerara sugar, got that instant hit. Another was to rub the leaf of a tomato plant between your fingers.
And yours?

Great to find a thread without the C-word! Thanks for posting. I can relate to that smell of a tomato plant leaf crushed between your fingers. It's a very distictive and beautiful smell, and it reminds me of holidays spent with family friends when we were kids. But more powerful is the smell of freshly mown grass on a summer's day. That really brings me back to my childhood and wonderful, sunny, summer days, way, way back in the mists of time in the 1960s.

The smell after a summer thunderstorm.

The smell of the sea in the Mediterranean, especially the Aegean Sea, on a beach of pebbles under the heat of high-summer sun. It reminds me of childhood holidays.

Talcum powder instantly brings me back to my paternal grandmother’s apartment: her bedroom and dressing room always had that distinct scent, as she used it in great quantities.

The smell of freshly ground coffee. I’ve always loved it, and nowadays I strongly associate it with my time at university, when I would study through the night and keep myself awake with moka pot after moka pot.

A smell I hated as a child and still detest to this day is that of burnt bell peppers.

TWA772LR wrote:

I've always loved the outdoor smell of an airport, the jet A, gasoline, hydraulic fluid. I really smell it in the jetbridge while boarding. It gives me a sense of nostalgia and adventure.

This.

‘70’s aircraft smell, getting on a Classic 747 in that era there was an indescribable scent of hydraulic oil, jet fuel, metal etc

Still can’t quite put my finger on it

Max Q wrote:

‘70’s aircraft smell, getting on a Classic 747 in that era there was an indescribable scent of hydraulic oil, jet fuel, metal etc

Exactamundo!

..that along with a serving of steak or beef, broccoli, potatoes on a TWA 707 headed to HNL and I wanted a hotdog (was 7yo) no matter what! And that FA must have been a mom..she knew exactly where I was coming from and was ready for it...but the meal smell (or visual) has never left although I never took a bite.


BN747

BN747 wrote:

Max Q wrote:

‘70’s aircraft smell, getting on a Classic 747 in that era there was an indescribable scent of hydraulic oil, jet fuel, metal etc

Exactamundo!

..that along with a serving of steak or beef, broccoli, potatoes on a TWA 707 headed to HNL and I wanted a hotdog (was 7yo) no matter what! And that FA must have been a mom..she knew exactly where I was coming from and was ready for it...but the meal smell (or visual) has never left although I never took a bite.


BN747

Great stuff BN


Best wishes and stay healthy

Max Q wrote:

BN747 wrote:

Max Q wrote:

‘70’s aircraft smell, getting on a Classic 747 in that era there was an indescribable scent of hydraulic oil, jet fuel, metal etc

Exactamundo!

..that along with a serving of steak or beef, broccoli, potatoes on a TWA 707 headed to HNL and I wanted a hotdog (was 7yo) no matter what! And that FA must have been a mom..she knew exactly where I was coming from and was ready for it...but the meal smell (or visual) has never left although I never took a bite.


BN747

Great stuff BN


Best wishes and stay healthy

Thanks man, you as well Max!

BN747