What smells do you remember from childhood?

[Smoke]

It's interesting how many of our memories are tied to smell. What are some of the smells you remember from childhood?

I think of my grandmother's Apfelkuchen baking in the oven, raspberries in the garden, salt spray at the beach, the musty smell of my grandparents' basement.

I also associate people with smells:

My dad - English Leather and cigarettes.

My mom - Coffee and perfume.

My aunt - Ivory soap and menthol (that's a pretty distinctive combination).

My grandmother - Soap and cigarettes.

My grandfather - Old Spice and cigarettes.

(Seems like everybody smoked back then.)

 

[evearael]

I remember my mom baking banana nut bread. I remember my dad's smoking. I remember my uncle smelled of beer and cigarettes. Actually, a great many of my aunts and uncles smoked. I remember one aunt wore too much perfume. I remember the horrid reek of the concoctions my sister and I would make from odd items from the fridge before mom and dad checked on us. I remember the smell of birthday cake fresh out of the oven.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Smells from childhood are mostly tied around holidays: Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing, Christmas pine trees, etc.



But with certain people:



Dad - beer outside doing the BBQ, cigarettes

Mom - Mary Kay extra emollient night cream, dish soap

Grandpa Kenny - wood-burning fireplace, cigar smoke

Grandma Emma - pipe tobacco (no, she didn't smoke pipe, but she always kept my Grandpa John's pipe around as a reminder of him after he died), chocolate chip cookies, pies, cakes, etc.




Great thread idea!




Peace,
Mystic

 

[Topanga]

Homemade chicken soup
Halo Shampoo (not available here anymore, might be discontined, but anything that resembles that fragrance)
Roast chicken
Lamb chops

Great topic! Thanks for giving me a moment to reminisce!

 

[Djamila]

In the old Bascarsija portion of Sarajevo, the wooden shops with red tile rooves were so old that they'd absorbed the arome of a century's worth of incense and fragrances. It was like being in the perfume section of a department store, only much softer and much more beautiful, natural. I'll always remember that smell.

I also remember the smell of Vrelo Bosne (Springs of the River Bosnia) Park in northwest Sarajevo. It's a bad smell when you're right in the Springs, hot sulfer water, but people still go because it's supposed to be healthy.

I also remember the smell of my Aunt Saska's house. Her husband was a bee-keeper and the house was always filled with bee-wax sculptures and candles. They had the sweetest smell I've ever sniffed in my life. Such a pure, natural, sugary smell. It was beautiful.

And the smell of our Volkswagon Golf. I could still retch everytime a car backfires, and I just wait for that stench. lol