# Mmmm, I love the smell of .... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 25, 2001, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629 "2001-09-25T03:59:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Michele\_in\_SoCal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Michele\_in\_SoCal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michele_in_SoCal)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/1 "2001-09-25T03:59:44Z")
While making BLTs for dinner tonight I inhaled the wonderful aroma of bacon frying, and I started thinking about my favorite smells. Along with the smell of bacon frying, I also love the smell of onions sautéing in butter, bread baking, and cookies baking. Favorite non-food smells: my kids (when they were babies) right after a bath, all lotioned and powdered up; roses; puppy breath; fresh, clean laundry, right out of the dryer. What are your favorite smells? P.S. As a new poster (and longtime lurker) I want to let you know that I did a search to make sure this topic has not been covered in the past year.[sub]And hopefully it’s not because it is too inane a topic![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/2 "2001-09-25T04:07:36Z")
Fried mush and roses. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/3 "2001-09-25T04:15:07Z")
baby powder. ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/4 "2001-09-25T04:22:58Z")
Coffee Sandalwood Did I mention coffee? ---
**Author:** ![frock75](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ad7895/32.png) [@frock75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frock75)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/5 "2001-09-25T04:28:08Z")
“Napalm in the morning!” ---
**Author:** ![They\_Call\_Me\_Sneeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@They\_Call\_Me\_Sneeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/They_Call_Me_Sneeze)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/6 "2001-09-25T04:44:02Z")
Wet cement, both the rough, sidewalk kind and the smooth, garage kind. Dirt. This one old perfume of my mom’s that I forget the name. I have a lot of other smells I like, but none that I love (really love) but these. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/7 "2001-09-25T04:49:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by frock75 \* > \*\*“Napalm in the morning!” \*\* I think I served under you in Viet Nam (yes, the character was based on a real person). For me it’s fresh ground coffee (and I don’t even drink coffee). Non food smells– Freshly mowed grass, a newspaper office with an old-fashioned press–either offset or letterpress. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/8 "2001-09-25T04:54:06Z")
coffee boronia cinnimon fresh cut grass spring sea breezes forests Mum’s roast lamb I like this topic. Thinking of nice smells is making me smile and feel content. ---
**Author:** ![Kalashnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kalashnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalashnikov)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/9 "2001-09-25T04:54:22Z")
marijuana woodsmoke horses gunsmoke a freshly mown lawn rich black topsoil the ocean not necessarily in that order ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/10 "2001-09-25T04:54:24Z")
Fresh-out-of-the-dryer towels. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/11 "2001-09-25T05:23:26Z")
mmmmmmmmm coffee popcorn Saphir perfume burning leaves in fall fresh cut grass mmmmmmmmm ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/12 "2001-09-25T05:25:43Z")
havent a clue…I was born without a sense of smell… ---
**Author:** ![slackergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@slackergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slackergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/13 "2001-09-25T05:36:48Z")
fresh ground coffee lemon zest my flannel sheets, fresh from the dryer (no softener, Purex detergent) pomegranate ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/14 "2001-09-25T06:03:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalashnikov \* > \*\* > gunsmoke > \*\* me too (SLR-95 non-food burnt rubber lack of scents-fresh air (my work took me to CA. i’m back home to fresh air now-apreciate it more) sea-air (not low tide) fear food: turkey in za oven sausage pumpkin pie toast onion garlic ginger vegans :0 BTW no offense CA. i love the place i was born there… ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/15 "2001-09-25T06:17:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michele in SoCal \* > **While making BLTs for dinner tonight I inhaled the wonderful aroma of bacon frying, and I started thinking about my favorite smells.** A Muslim friend of mine regularly breaks the no-drinking, no-smoking restrictions of the Qu’ran; for him the ban on pork is the ultimate. He was thisclose to breaking that before he came across turkey bacon because, in his words, “There’s no way that something that smells that good could be bad for you!” 😃 For me, though… Leather. Horses. Fireplaces/woodsmoke. Fresh silage. Mown grass or hay, especially if it’s rained the night before. Cucumbers. Peonies. And that particular smell the house I now live in gave off at Christmas time when gramma was still here to cook… ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/16 "2001-09-25T06:48:16Z")
I have heard it said that smell is our most powerful sense and the earliest to develop… I saw this often with our babies as they could never sleep on freshly washed bedding, we would take a piece of our worn clothing and lay it in beside them and the fretful little one would settle down into peaceful slumber. This is a piece of advice I would pass on to every parent as it gives comfort to more than the baby. Sleep is a precious thing for moms and dads too. Baby powder has to be one of the best smells ever because it makes us think of when our babies were still babies. Baby powder has the unique ability to stop time and make us young again. When we become older the responses to smells become more complex, freshly baked bread or apple pie might invoke hunger in some but to others it may take them away to another time and place or invoke powerful emotions. The smell of fresh cinnamon buns always takes me back to when I was a child. Many a day was spent at my Aunt’s house in eager anticipation of the deliciously sweet buns that she made in great abundance and this memory takes me deeper yet. I remember the summer days I spent on the farm, playing in the haystacks with my brother and cousins building our fortresses of straw. We would play all day and then drag our tired little selves back to the farmhouse. The porch always smelled a little musty with a hint of manure and straw that never left. Passing through this would take you into the kitchen where the smells were guaranteed to delight and make you forget the moments you spent the porch. Chicken roasting in the oven, freshly baked bread and buns glazed with freshly churned butter. Potatoes steaming in the pot, the peppery smell of perfect gravy, and the smell of fresh vegetables both raw and cooked. I cannot forget the homemade garlic pickles either. Upon sensing this our fatigue would be lifted in anticipation of a delicious repast. I talked to my Aunt tonight, she makes me think of hot cinnamon buns, fresh cream and freshly churned butter. My grandfather always smelled of sawdust, he was a master craftsman and maker of furniture. To be allowed into his workshop meant that one had to sit still and not touch anything unless permission was given. Quite often he smelled like earth as his garden was another passion. I cannot cut into a piece of wood without thinking of him and the things he so patiently taught me. Besides the sawdust and dirt he smelled fresh, I think it was Old Spice cologne that he wore. My grandmother had her own special smell, to sit on her lap meant that you would be enveloped in this warmth, she always smelled like the bread she baked every day and there was somthing else, a hint of something perfumed and sweet. I would detect this scent when I would go to wash up but it took me years to find out what this smell was. Now people look at me funny when I shop because really, what kind of loon would stand in the aisle and smell the soap? (I did this very thing this afternoon). That’s what it was dear readers, Dove soap. She would save the chips and put them into a little basket above the sink as she was never one to waste anything. The smell triggers bittersweet memories as it seems like only yesterday that I would sit down in their kitchen and snack on cheese and crackers, smoked fish, and the the homemade raspberry jam my grandfather made. We’d complement these meals with cup after cup of sweet aromatic tea. They’re gone now and all I am left with is a wealth of good memories that are often triggered by sawdust, soap, or freshly baked bread. If you see a guy sniffing soap in the aisle looking like he might cry… that’s me. I liked naps ever since I was a child.There is nothing like crawling under the covers to smell the sheets that only a little earlier were hung out on the line to dry. This is a smell that Lola doesn’t like, perhaps because her sheets always smelled like traffic. So we compromise and put them in the dryer and then they don’t really smell right until Lola has slept on them. I remember the first time she ever slept over and how reluctant I was to wash the pillowcases because they smelled like her. Don’t even get me started on coffee, dark roasted and freshly ground is the only way to go. It would be an understatement to say I have a well developed sense of smell. As I type this I can smell Lola as she was when she came from the shower, fresh and warm with a hint of flannel. The little girl who just fell asleep on lap is what’s kept me from getting to bed for the second night in a row. She smells good, baby fresh with a hint of the Doritos she was snacking on before sleep claimed her. I just tucked her in, after reading and writing this I decided to wrap her in her blanky as her sheets just got washed yesterday. That’s probably why she has had such a tough time sleeping, her bed didn’t’t smell right to her. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/17 "2001-09-25T06:54:48Z")
bannana nut bread. I also love the smell of tanning lotion on women. And yes it has to be on a woman to get the full effect! ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/18 "2001-09-25T11:19:47Z")
Baking bread, caramel and fresh coffee, newly cut grass and the ocean, oranges; Joop! aftershave (on the right guy, some just can’t wear it), CKOne (the only commercial fragrance I can wear without sneezing) and my own homemade perfume of tea rose and cinnamon. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/19 "2001-09-25T12:37:47Z")
**Jet fuel**. I used to work at Ridley Mission Control Center at Edwards AFB. It was very close to the flightline and I would often get a good whiff of burning jet fuel when I walked outside. The Smell of Flight! Coffee. Bacon. Blueberry pancakes. Skunks. Conifers. Old cars on a hot day on a dirt road. Alfalfa. Rain. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629/20 "2001-09-25T12:57:38Z")
honeysuckle tennis balls the air outside before it snows distant burning leaves babies’ heads [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-i-love-the-smell-of/83629.md?page=2)