# Smells, Aromas and Odors You Miss **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172 "2010-03-03T20:09:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/21 "2010-03-03T22:16:33Z")
Napalm in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/22 "2010-03-03T22:19:00Z")
Magnolia. I miss that smell SOOOO much. I usually only go home to S.C. for winter break, so I’m not there during the blossoming time. I’ve not been able to find a scented candle or scented oil or anything that’s right - most of them aren’t even approximate. Pinon smoke, although I have some pinon incense at home that I am now going to go light up. Honeysuckle, until I moved into a new complex last year that has a stand of it growing on the rails of the bridge entrance. Now I get nummie honeysuckle, first time I can remember in years. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/23 "2010-03-03T22:20:36Z")
> [@Rafe\_Hollister](#): > > Walking into the apartment building on the 500 block of Monroe Street in Springfield, IL, just North of the Capital Building, and smelling Aunt Lucy’s cooking from the 3rd floor. We used to go there every few months when I was in elementary school. Best. Apple. Pie. Ever. Yeast rolls baking at my aunt’s place. Thanks for the memory! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/24 "2010-03-03T22:51:32Z")
Leaded gas. I was born in 1971, and I remember when the changeover happened. Unleaded gas never smelled as good as leaded. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/25 "2010-03-03T23:00:22Z")
The Wonderbread bakery we used to drive by on the way into DC. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/26 "2010-03-03T23:06:26Z")
Silage at the farm, and the fresh milk from the cow. > [@Dogzilla](#): > > If you were the smartypants asskisser in the class, the teacher might hand you the master and send you to the office to “run some dittos” for her or him. HAY! I RESEMBLE THAT REMARK! (Really, it’s just 'cause I was more responsible than the other kids, sheesh…) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/27 "2010-03-03T23:54:40Z")
I’ll second leaded gas exhaust and ditto sheets. Mmm, purple papers. I also miss the smell of Jiffy markers - wait, we still have those. BRB. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/28 "2010-03-04T00:25:04Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Mimeograph fluid on the copies that the teacher passed out in grade school. Remember that scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High when Mr. Hand passes something out and the entire classroom sniffs the paper? I giggle every time I see that because I know that most people under 35 have no idea why those students are huffing their papers. I know thats what I came in here to say. I grew up in a very small district and we still had them, and I am class of 2001. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/29 "2010-03-04T00:27:13Z")
Leather, white pine sawdust, WD-40… ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/30 "2010-03-04T03:08:48Z")
My first girlfriend’s hair. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/31 "2010-03-04T03:36:06Z")
I guess I miss the smell of sage somewhat, too, as my sister sent me some white sage in a bottle \ but I’m just keeping it around to open once in a while and get a nice whiff. BTW…after all the markers in grade school we WEREN’T supposed to sniff, did anyone else think it something out of BizarroWorld when SCENTED markers came out? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/32 "2010-03-04T03:37:56Z")
Fresh animal bedding on a childhood friend’s dairy farm. The earthy aroma of horse stalls. The mountains after a rain (I still get to smell this one about once a year). My mom’s kitchen with cinnamon rolls in the oven. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/33 "2010-03-04T06:36:49Z")
Pan-fried chicken breast, with lemon wedges, on a warm spring day. Oh, it smells yummy at any time, but it has to be a warm spring day, with the windows open and a garden-growing smell mixed in, to make it really special. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/34 "2010-03-04T09:26:50Z")
My dad always smelled like lighter fluid and Vitalis. I miss that. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/35 "2010-03-04T14:16:10Z")
Yes, White Shoulders. I can’t wear any fragrance at all anymore as it gives me migraines. But if I could, it would be White Shoulders. And honeysuckle. We used to have one in our backyard and it died. Every year, I say, we’re going to put in a honeysuckle. This year, we _will_. ---
**Author:** ![CateAyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@CateAyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CateAyo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/36 "2010-03-04T15:33:01Z")
My granddaddy’s hair tonic The smell of cigarette smoke on a cold winter day, outside in the open air The smell of my granny’s house and her cooking The smell of a mule The smell of a wood fire The smell of freshly turned soil I guess I miss my grandparents a little ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/37 "2010-03-04T15:38:09Z")
The grocery store my Mom and I went to in the late fifties. Grocery stores don’t have smells anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/38 "2010-03-04T15:47:01Z")
Fresh mown grass, laundry on the wire, and honeysuckle and jasmine all mixed up. That, to me, is the smell of summer. Oh, and cedar after a good rain, and the ozone smell of lightning before a good thunderstorm. We don’t get good thunderstorms these days, not like when I was a boy. They were proper storms then, huge black thunderheads that loomed like they’d practiced it the mirror and would darken the sky so much you’d swear it was night. And the lightning, my friends, it would melt your face. Screw television, when a really good storm was coming we’d all go out on the patio and watch the light show for, well until it got a little too close and was a little to dangerous to be outside. I miss too the way my granddad smelled, of menthol cigarettes and peppermint candies. He had a bunch of the candies and would eat them to hide the cigarette smell for when grandma would make him quit smoking and thought she wouldn’t notice. 🙂 I really miss that grouchy old man. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/39 "2010-03-04T16:17:03Z")
When I was a kid… … We used to put whipped Ivory Snow on the branches of our Christmas tree. That became one of the smells I associated with Christmas. It seems that the Ivory Snow formula has changed so that it doesn’t whip up any more. … I used to go to this wooded area in our neighborhood that had a little brook running through it. In summer, sometimes that brook would have this earthy tangy smell that was incredibly intoxicating. Every once in a while I smell something like that when I’m near a brook or river in the summer. … there was this other place, a big field, that I would also go to. It had some wild plant which I never identified that had a very strong spicy smell. … we had lilacs in our front yard. Smelling lilacs will invariably take me right back to childhood. … we had an unfinished cellar. The cement-y smell of that cellar was one of the major familiar smells of my childhood (and beyond – my folks continued to live in that house for the rest of their lives). … my older brothers used to paint models with PLA brand paints. That enamel smell also takes me back instantly. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172/40 "2010-03-04T17:57:07Z")
The smell of a fresh Marvel comic. They smelled different than DC’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-aromas-and-odors-you-miss/531172.md?page=3)