Scent(s) that bring back memories for you

[Teh Boi 113]

The scent of Glover.

So it was Christmas time. Like 12+ years ago. I had gotten my N64 with a little game called Glover.

My sister got this perfume (I don't actually remember the smell of the perfume now, but I am pretty sure that If I smelled it, I would).

The stuff got mixed. I was playing some Glover and she puffed some of that perfume. After that day, every time I smelled that perfume I would need to play Glover. It was instinctive.

 

The scent of family trip.

Ever smelled burning leaves and trees? That sweet, sweet smokey natural smell. Well, when I was a wee lad, My dad took us for a trip to the beach club. He had rented a bungalow and I was pretty excited because he decided to drive late, like 7 PM. It was dark and that made the trip even better. And since we were in the desert-ish highway, people tend to burn fallen branches and leaves in that area.

And now every time I smell burning leaves, it takes me back.

[Raspberry32 226]

Dang... I didn't know how many people actually had "Scents". It makes me feel less alone now. So that's a good thing.

[Bunches 81]

the smell of roses remind me of my grandmother because she always had a huge rose bush garden and would have roses all over her house (literally everywhere) that she had clipped from her yard.

[Raspberry32 226]

the smell of roses remind me of my grandmother because she always had a huge rose bush garden and would have roses all over her house (literally everywhere) that she had clipped from her yard.

 

Did she have some sort of obsession with roses? Or maybe she just happened to have them all around her house...

[p51 15]

I've noticed for most of these that if theres something really iconic about a person or thing, that thing or something similar tends to dig up memories of that person or thing.

 

just my quiet observation

 

(hope that made sense)

Edited August 14, 2012 by p51

[Heart's Desire 181]

Dang... I didn't know how many people actually had "Scents". It makes me feel less alone now. So that's a good thing.

 

You're not alone at all. A lot of people have this because scent is the strongest sense tied to memory.

 

I have a few things that come to mind on this topic. The smell of orange scented cleansers will always remind me of the Dean Koontz novel Hideaway. I was reading it in freshman year of high school. I had study hall in the cafeteria and they were redoing the floors. One of the chemicals they were using had the extremely strong artificial scent of orange cleaner. I will never forget smelling that stuff while reading some of the horrendous things that were going on in that book. To this day using orange scented cleaner always gives me a creepy feeling and reminds me of that book.

 

The smell of primrose reminds me of my mom getting ready to go out for the evening. The funny thing about that is she's been wearing honeysuckle for a while not but it's the primrose I always remember.

 

The smell of pencils reminds me of countless nights spent with my nose to the paper of my sketchbook drawing my heart out, and the smell of cheap ink pens makes me think of writing certain stories.

 

One of my favorites though is the smell of oranges and tangerines. (the real scent. not those nasty cleansers). Those scents always remind me of Christmas. My mom always put an orange, tangerines, nuts, and chocolate in our stockings so now whenever I peal an orange I think "oooh, Christmas."

Edited August 14, 2012 by MoonFeather

[Fghik 360]

I am trapped in a place far away from where I want to be.

 

Every summer my family used to go on a trip out east (Virginia, Maryland, DC, etc.) I'd visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, and the like. I even made a really good friend out there, and her and I talk over facebook every now and again. However this summer, there has been absolutely no monetary income in our house thanks to the fact NOBODY IN THE ENTIRE BUCKING PLANET WILL HIRE ME OR ANYONE IN MY FAMILY. The only thing that kept me going through the school year, was knowing I'd leave this awful place, and vacation where I was born; and honestly prefer to live. But like anything good in my life, it never lasts. So all summer I was at home, pretending I was elsewhere. So many sights, so many smells, and even some tastes and sounds were always reminding me of where I wanted to be, and why I hate where I am. And I'd always get a feeling like someone just pitted my stomach, and drained my heart; and yet it always felt nostalgic in away, and even though I was broken, it brought me a smile.

 

There are tons of these 'links' I have to my extended family: such as cigarette smoke (grandma used to smoke,) old cartoons (always watched cartoons in grandparent's basement,) purple otterpops (grandparents always had a freezer full of them.) But it goes even further than that, because there are things that remind me of the landscape itself: such as the smell of heavy rain (it pretty much never rains here, so when we get an 'apocalyptic flood warning' I go outside and smell the air, and dream of home; ) bright sunlight (they say the grass is greener, but the sun is also brighter; ) dryer sheets (don't know why, but smelling them makes me feel happy; ) humidity (I love humidity to be honest; it's probably a reflection of how much I love the east coast.)

 

I'm sure I've bored everyone to tears at this point, so I'll just shut up and dream of being away.

[Raspberry32 226]

You're not alone at all. A lot of people have this because scent is the strongest sense tied to memory.

 

I have a few things that come to mind on this topic. The smell of orange scented cleansers will always remind me of the Dean Koontz novel Hideaway. I was reading it in freshman year of high school. I had study hall in the cafeteria and they were redoing the floors. One of the chemicals they were using had the extremely strong artificial scent of orange cleaner. I will never forget smelling that stuff while reading some of the horrendous things that were going on in that book. To this day using orange scented cleaner always gives me a creepy feeling and reminds me of that book.

 

The smell of primrose reminds me of my mom getting ready to go out for the evening. The funny thing about that is she's been wearing honeysuckle for a while not but it's the primrose I always remember.

 

The smell of pencils reminds me of countless nights spent with my nose to the paper of my sketchbook drawing my heart out, and the smell of cheap ink pens makes me think of writing certain stories.

 

One of my favorites though is the smell of oranges and tangerines. (the real scent. not those nasty cleansers). Those scents always remind me of Christmas. My mom always put an orange, tangerines, nuts, and chocolate in our stockings so now whenever I peal and orange I think "oooh, Christmas."

 

I am going to go in all sorts of directions for this post...

 

1.) When you said the words "horrendous" and "creepy", I got the sudden urge to read some scary stories... Just saying.

 

2.) You've heard of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe", no? I can't get that song out of my head. I love it. I played it on my guitar at least 20 times today.

 

3.) You get oranges in your stockings? I always hated peeling oranges. They keep ripping.

 

4.) If you listen to the ska/metal band, BAMF!, you may have heard their cover of Nikki Minaj's "Superbass". I hate Nikki Minaj, so I listen to BAMF!'s version.

 

5.) "You're not alone at all. A lot of people have this because scent is the strongest sense tied to memory."

 

That's deep, bro.

 

I am trapped in a place far away from where I want to be.

 

Every summer my family used to go on a trip out east (Virginia, Maryland, DC, etc.) I'd visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, and the like. I even made a really good friend out there, and her and I talk over facebook every now and again. However this summer, there has been absolutely no monetary income in our house thanks to the fact NOBODY IN THE ENTIRE BUCKING PLANET WILL HIRE ME OR ANYONE IN MY FAMILY. The only thing that kept me going through the school year, was knowing I'd leave this awful place, and vacation where I was born; and honestly prefer to live. But like anything good in my life, it never lasts. So all summer I was at home, pretending I was elsewhere. So many sights, so many smells, and even some tastes and sounds were always reminding me of where I wanted to be, and why I hate where I am. And I'd always get a feeling like someone just pitted my stomach, and drained my heart; and yet it always felt nostalgic in away, and even though I was broken, it brought me a smile.

 

There are tons of these 'links' I have to my extended family: such as cigarette smoke (grandma used to smoke,) old cartoons (always watched cartoons in grandparent's basement,) purple otterpops (grandparents always had a freezer full of them.) But it goes even further than that, because there are things that remind me of the landscape itself: such as the smell of heavy rain (it pretty much never rains here, so when we get an 'apocalyptic flood warning' I go outside and smell the air, and dream of home; ) bright sunlight (they say the grass is greener, but the sun is also brighter; ) dryer sheets (don't know why, but smelling them makes me feel happy; ) humidity (I love humidity to be honest; it's probably a reflection of how much I love the east coast.)

 

I'm sure I've bored everyone to tears at this point, so I'll just shut up and dream of being away.

 

...Is this a poem?

 

Good Lord, that was well written. I bet you write lyrics to many songs.

 

This was a pretty intense read. I honestly don't know if what I am about to say is in any way related to what you just said, but I think the air in Florida smells good o_o...

 

No, really. You should smell it sometime.

 

(Thought I might add, nice avatar)

[PlunderSteed 1,252]

The scent of new paper reminds me of my wife's art studio. She keeps her considerable comic book collection in there, and the room always has a vague scent of the paper.

 

Cinnamon reminds me of my cat. When he was a kitten, his fur smelled faintly of cinnamon. I don't know why! After a few months the scent gradually went away.

[Somebody 570]

Scent is the most powerful sense that is tied to memory. The brain is just hard-wired that way. Though things like associating different calendar dates with colors, or certain feelings with taste, even associating numbers and words with personality traits and feelings, are sometimes attributed to synesthesia. That means other senses kick in together with the usual ones during an event.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

 

They say it has to do with someone's nerve pathways being so close together in the brain that they experience "crosstalk," or interference with each other. I've always felt I have a small degree of synesthesia (mostly associating years with personalities), but I've always envied people who can taste a beautiful picture, or see the way a flower smells!

Edited August 14, 2012 by Questio

[Raspberry32 226]

Words

o_o I want to see what a flower smells like! It sounds like a super power. A stupid one, but still a superpower.

 

The scent of new paper reminds me of my wife's art studio. She keeps her considerable comic book collection in there, and the room always has a vague scent of the paper. Cinnamon reminds me of my cat. When he was a kitten, his fur smelled faintly of cinnamon. I don't know why! After a few months the scent gradually went away.

Whoa... A cinnamon cat! I might just start pouring containers of cinnamon on my dogs. I like the smell of cinnamon. It's nothing special really, but it just smells good.

[p51 15]

Whoa... A cinnamon cat! I might just start pouring containers of cinnamon on my dogs. I like the smell of cinnamon. It's nothing special really, but it just smells good.

 

Cinnamon smells good, but vanilla smells better.

 

I know someone with slight synesthesia, like she can see some sounds.

[be my waifu 2,842]

The smell of Febreeze reminds me of Super Mario Sunshine, OP. I don't remember there being a significant event that could have tied those two together, but it does. I was probably playing it right after my mom sprayed it in my room, but I don't remember any specifics

 

Also, the smell of Gain brand laundry detergent reminds me of childhood in general. No other detergent has that effect except Gain. My mom would always use it when I was young, but has since stopped because it's too expensive now. I was at my grandma's house the other day though and she had a box on her washing machine and a flood of memories came back. It was rather strange, but pleasant

 

Oh, and the album "Forever Young: by Alphaville reminds me of my early days as a pony fan, since I had been listening to that album non-stop when I first discovered the fandom. Strange how stuff like that happens

[Raspberry32 226]

The smell of Febreeze reminds me of Super Mario Sunshine, OP. I don't remember there being a significant event that could have tied those two together, but it does. I was probably playing it right after my mom sprayed it in my room, but I don't remember any specifics

 

Also, the smell of Gain brand laundry detergent reminds me of childhood in general. No other detergent has that effect except Gain. My mom would always use it when I was young, but has since stopped because it's too expensive now. I was at my grandma's house the other day though and she had a box on her washing machine and a flood of memories came back. It was rather strange, but pleasant

 

Oh, and the album "Forever Young: by Alphaville reminds me of my early days as a pony fan, since I had been listening to that album non-stop when I first discovered the fandom. Strange how stuff like that happens

 

Super Mario Sunshine is a game that boosted my gaming life. Very fun, very great game.

 

Laundry detergent, no matter what brand, smells awesome.

 

Never heard of Alphaville. Maybe I will listen to them sometime.

[Twiliscael 3,960]

Because my nose is slightly offset, I can only breathe from one nostril at a time, thus hindering my sense of smell. Most smells aren't anything great, nor do they bring back any fond memories. My memories flood back to me when I touch certain things.

[Bunches 81]

Did she have some sort of obsession with roses? Or maybe she just happened to have them all around her house...

 

she was in wheelchair and almost never left her home. she and my grandfather both enjoyed gardening and built and grew this giant garden, roses being her favorite, they had ALOT of rose bushes. there was a point where she couldn't go outside very much anymore because of the sun, so he would clip roses and other flowers and bring them into the house everyday so she could see how healthy her plants were. since roses were her favorite, he always clipped alot of roses. not so much an obsession as "you can't come to the garden, so i will bring our garden to you" type of thing.

[Raspberry32 226]

Dang, where have I been?

 

Because my nose is slightly offset, I can only breathe from one nostril at a time, thus hindering my sense of smell. Most smells aren't anything great, nor do they bring back any fond memories. My memories flood back to me when I touch certain things.

 

You can only breathe through one nostril? That's strange. Never heard of that. So, like, can you decide what nostril you want to breathe from? Or is it only one?

 

she was in wheelchair and almost never left her home. she and my grandfather both enjoyed gardening and built and grew this giant garden, roses being her favorite, they had ALOT of rose bushes. there was a point where she couldn't go outside very much anymore because of the sun, so he would clip roses and other flowers and bring them into the house everyday so she could see how healthy her plants were. since roses were her favorite, he always clipped alot of roses. not so much an obsession as "you can't come to the garden, so i will bring our garden to you" type of thing.

 

That's kind of cool. I don't really know much about gardening. Only if I were to plant food, like potatoes, or watermelon, would I know about gardening. I like food, you see.

[I_wesley125 393]

The scent of popcorn and Mountain Dew from when I would spend entire nights playing EVE.

Good times...

[Twiliscael 3,960]

You can only breathe through one nostril? That's strange. Never heard of that. So, like, can you decide what nostril you want to breathe from? Or is it only one?

 

I have no idea why, but it changes. Sometimes I can breathe out of the right one and other times the left, though it seems the right one more often.

Aparently the same thing happens to my mom so maybe it's a weird little thing that runs in the family.

[sleepyhead. 174]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31E2Z6wuWpL.jpg

 

^That perfume reminds me of kindergarten, being young and stuff. I'm not even sure why. It's also sooooo good.

[Discovery Dream 592]

The smell of a damp but freshly cleaned basement reminds me of when I used to take all my little animal figures down and make up crazy stories with them.

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

I have the weirdest processes in my mind that makes me think of something, but on topic. When I smell chocolate chip cookies I think of Pinkie Pie.

[Bunches 81]

That's kind of cool. I don't really know much about gardening. Only if I were to plant food, like potatoes, or watermelon, would I know about gardening. I like food, you see.

 

that's the best kind of gardening to do! and the best place to start. nothing tastes better than food you grew and prepared yourself

[Lucky Bolt 35,063]

For some reason the inside of Bass Pro Shops smells just like my Aunt's house....whenever I walk in that store I'm taken back to the days when I used to have sleepovers with my cousins. Huge nostalgia bomb. 

[Dreambiscuit 9,691]

There are a few special scents that are extremely nostalgic for me. I love the smell of fresh plastic toys when they’ve just been ripped out of their packaging. It reminds me of those special moments when I was little and getting new toys. There’s a certain detergent I associate with a movie theater I used to go to in Oregon and that brings back many nice memories. Other favorites are chlorine and hotel room towels; both remind me of vacations I’ve been on.