Scents bring back memories
Dave Block
Of course you have also noticed that particular scents, like perfume,
soap, chemicals....bring back past memories....
Like when I smell vinegar I recall dying easter eggs with my Mom.
And perfumes can trigger things too.
I went over a friends house a few weeks ago and when I stepped into
their bathroom, I suddenly was "transported" back in time to when I
was little and I remember being in a particular house at a friend of
my parent's.
Has this happened recently to anyone?
Dave
Michelle Conner
Dave,
I experience this all the time. I have three kids and when I enter their
school I am instantly transported back to elementary. I believe this
phenomenon has been studied quite extensively. Science considers sense of
smell the biggest memory trigger.
Another one for me is BenGay. It reminds me of my grandmother
M. Conner
man4allseasons
Definetly!!,every time I smell coal burning,I instantly think of my
gramma & grampas house,which they heated with coal.
-M4AS
JKENTR
School paste is the one that comes to mind. Sometimes the scent comes back to
me so strong that I'm back in elementary school. : )
Dixon Hayes
Every time I smell hair gel, to this day, I think of the time I got into my
aunt's Dippity Do and did some artwork on her dresser mirror and walls. I
was impressed, but everyone else at Grandma's gave more critical reviews
that day.
Dixon "It holds...and holds...and holds" Hayes
Jason LeBouef
I have an old piece of wood from my grandma's old hose. It still has
the scent and (this sounds crazy) every now and then when I'm working
outside, I go and smell it. I can still see myself as a 7 yr old in my
grandma's old country house standing in front of that old Frigidare. I
also remember the sound that the old washing machine made when it would
go on spin cycle. It wasn't level so it would shake violently and
rattle the whole house.
I got the same effect when I went to the church I used to go to when I
was a child. The smell just brought me back to 1976. I could just hear
that old piano playing "Amazing Grace" and even the voices of some of
the people. I nearly cried when I found an old super 8mm film that was
recorded around 1978 of a Christmas party at that old church. Funny
thing was, I recognized all the people!
It's amazing how things look alot smaller than they were when you were a
child.
Marlene Blanshay
In article <6b054o$ij7$1...@news.provide.net>, "Michelle Conner"
<mc...@provide.net> wrote:
Scent is attached to memory; it's the only scent that is not driven by
anything except nerves and is totally primitve.
I have a really sensitive sense of smell and a very vivid memory, so that
type of sensory recall happens to me a lot. OFten I'll remember things I
had totally forgotten. To this day, when it rains in the summer, afterward
the smell of wet trees always reminds me of summer camp. One memory is of
going back to our bunk after a rainy night in the rec hall watching a
movie, and I can still see the counselor leading our way with flashlights.
Whenever I smell coffee grinding I think of the A&P and the little red
coffee grinding machines that made 8o'clock Coffee.
page1
That is so weird because when I was young I went to a pre school inside
a teachers college and there was thing great smell that to this day I
remember. Well, the school was sold to a community college which I now
attend and the smell is gone!
Damn!
Rose
Jason LeBouef
I do remember reading somewhere how the olfactory (your smell sensors)
is connected with the same part of your brain as your emotions.
James Martinez
The smell that so vividly brings back elementary school is the smell of
mimeograph ink. It isn't a smell I smell often (which I think is a part of the
trick) but it definitely does the trick!
Michelle Conner wrote:
> Dave,
> I experience this all the time. I have three kids and when I enter their
> school I am instantly transported back to elementary. I believe this
> phenomenon has been studied quite extensively. Science considers sense of
> smell the biggest memory trigger.
> Another one for me is BenGay. It reminds me of my grandmother
>
> M. Conner
--
__________________
Jim Martinez
__________________
Marlene Blanshay
In article <34D96832...@jcave.com>, James Martinez
<mart...@jcave.com> wrote:
> The smell that so vividly brings back elementary school is the smell of
> mimeograph ink. It isn't a smell I smell often (which I think is a part of the
> trick) but it definitely does the trick!
>
>
WOW! If I even THINK of mimeograph ink I can ALMOST smell it- so evocative
and vivid! The same goes for other scents- they are so evocative that I can
almost conjure up the smell by remembering them. One such smell is that of
the waffles and ice cream sandwiches I used to love. We only got them in
the summer at the amusement park- vanilla ice cream between two hot
waffles. If I think about those waffles I can almost smell that hot,
buttery smell. You could smell it from across the park.
Jason LeBouef
James Martinez wrote:
>
> The smell that so vividly brings back elementary school is the smell of
> mimeograph ink. It isn't a smell I smell often (which I think is a part of the
> trick) but it definitely does the trick!
>
I don't even think schools use that anymore (esp. after laser printers
came out in the 80's). My elementary school used one in the office.
(gee.. I remember when there were NO computers.). I remember learning
how to use one in high school early 80's. YOu would type the document
on a stencil (do NOT make a mistake). then you would 'carefully' place
it on the the roller. Turn the crank manually to prime the ink. Hit
the switch and it's off. It did crank out like 20 ppm. After all
that. My HS got computers and a HP Laserjet II. WOW!!!!!!
Charles P. Hobbs
Jason LeBouef wrote:
>
> James Martinez wrote:
> >
> > The smell that so vividly brings back elementary school is the smell of
> > mimeograph ink. It isn't a smell I smell often (which I think is a part of the
> > trick) but it definitely does the trick!
> >
>
> I don't even think schools use that anymore (esp. after laser printers
> came out in the 80's).
When photocopiers got cheap, I'd imagine most schools, etc.
dumped their mimeograph machines.
I also remember early photocopies, that used sludgy-feeling
coated paper and didn't have much contrast (they were
grey, instead of white). And they had a chemical smell
that I can still remember to this day. . .
Deedz
James Martinez <mart...@jcave.com> wrote:
>The smell that so vividly brings back elementary school is the smell of
>mimeograph ink. It isn't a smell I smell often (which I think is a part of the
>trick) but it definitely does the trick!
Ah yes. The teacher would hand out freshly mimeo'd sheets and
everyone would take a whiff as they passed them back or sideways.
Didn't they do a scene of that in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"? Do
they even HAVE mimeographs anymore??
Deedz
*****************
The first legal high......
Dixon Hayes
James Martinez <mart...@jcave.com> wrote in article
<34D96832...@jcave.com>...
> The smell that so vividly brings back elementary school is the smell of
> mimeograph ink. It isn't a smell I smell often (which I think is a part
of the
> trick) but it definitely does the trick!
Yeah, me too. BTW, when's the last time ANYONE saw one of those
mimeographed pages with the purple ink? Remember passing the principal's
office and seeing the teacher hand-cranking tomorrow's test? No kidding,
that smell does bring back some memories, that and the refinery-type smell
coming from the janitor's room...
So the teacher would pass them out and we would all drive her crazy by
sniffing the papers at once. And then it was hard to write on the worksheet
because it was still wet from the fluid.
Dixon "yeah, I popped a few worksheets in my time" Hayes
Conner
This is a little off the main subject, but another thing that triggers
memory with me is
music. Quite often I will hear a particular song and remember where I was
when I first heard the song or it was popular. One that comes to mind is
the Thin Lizzy song The Boys are Back in Town. It came out in 1976 and I
remember it because that summer my family drove from Michigan to Florida for
vacation. We heard the song all the way down and to this day it reminds me
of sitting with my brother and sister in the back seat of my dad's Cordoba
fighting over who would have to sit on the hump.
M. Conner
I did it because it was fun, and fun is good.
Theodor Geisel
(Dr. Seuss)
Kim
>When photocopiers got cheap, I'd imagine most schools, etc.
>dumped their mimeograph machines.
Blue print and a distinct smell as well.
-- Kim
Jason LeBouef
Charles P. Hobbs wrote:
>
> Jason LeBouef wrote:
> >
> > James Martinez wrote:
> > >
> > > mimeograph ink. It isn't a smell I smell often (which I think is a part of the
> > > trick) but it definitely does the trick!
> > >
> >
> > came out in the 80's).
>
> dumped their mimeograph machines.
>
> coated paper and didn't have much contrast (they were
> grey, instead of white). And they had a chemical smell
> that I can still remember to this day. . .
YES I do remember the old Xeroxes. My grandpa had one at his work. I
was so fascinated by it. I had to stand on a chair to press the
button. And I do remember that chemical smell.
Jason LeBouef
Kim wrote:
>
> >When photocopiers got cheap, I'd imagine most schools, etc.
> >dumped their mimeograph machines.
>
> Blue print and a distinct smell as well.
>
> -- Kim
Those were the "fluid" machines. They used a blue ink. The quality
wasn't as good as the Mimeograph (and the noise it made wasn't as cool).
Kim
>> >When photocopiers got cheap, I'd imagine most schools, etc.
>> >dumped their mimeograph machines.
>> There were mimeos and dittos. OUR school had ditto machines.
>> Blue print and a distinct smell as well.
>wasn't as good as the Mimeograph (and the noise it made wasn't as cool).
Mimeos used black ink most of the time. You could save and reuse the
mimeo's many, many times so long as you didn't tear them.
Dittos used a fluid to spread some of the waxy purple/blue "ink" from
the master to the paper.
When I worked briefly as a secretary in a departmental office at a
different University we'd almost have religous wars over whether an
exam was going out on mimeo or ditto. (Photocopy was still too expensive
at that time, I guess, because we never did those.)Both were messy.
-- Kim
man4allseasons
>Quite often I will hear a particular song and remember where I was
>when I first heard the song or it was popular.
> remember it because that summer my family drove from Michigan to Florida for
> vacation. We heard the song all the way down and to this day it reminds me
> of sitting with my brother and sister in the back seat of my dad's Cordoba
> fighting over who would have to sit on the hump.
>
> M. Conner
I can relate to that!In 1972 my family drove from Ohio to California,to
visit an Aunt and all the way out there and back we would hear "Ventura
Highway" and "Song Sung Blue".Now whenever I hear either of those songs
I am transported to the backseat of our '69 Impala,with my two brothers
and my sister(4 of us in the back seat together for 2,000 miles!!)
-M4AS
mster...@webtv.net
There is this perfume made by Avon that this one lady always wears who
is a customer in the store where I work, and everytime she comes in I
can smell her and I think of my great-grandmother who too, always used
to wear it, and her whole house used to smell like it, every time we
would go visit her.
Harv T.
How about the smell of finger paints that will take you back. It has a
smell of its own like no other. Oh to be young again. Getting to wake
the others from their naps. Dont get me started on the smell of the
vinyl nap mat...
Deedz
Ha...@webtv.net (Harv T.) wrote:
Vinyl? Vinyl? We had no stinkin' vinyl in my days, buddy. We had
TOWELS that we brought from home. Thin, worn, WELL-USED towels that
moms wouldn't dry their bodies off with, but would give to their 5
year olds to take to school to put on the cold, hard, linoleum floor
to sleep on. Let me tell you, bud. There wasn't too much napping
going on in Mrs. Cobbs' p.m. kindergarten class. Not much at all.
So I take it you're into fingerpaints and vinyl??
Deedz
********************
Candles and champagne, myself
VIPER14106
>Another one for me is BenGay. It reminds me of my grandmother
ARRRGGHHH!!!!!! On occasion, I use BenGay. I can't believe I smell like
someone's grandmother!!!!!!
I'll be throwing that tube out tonight! BenGay is now banned from my
household!!!!
VIPER14106
How about the smell of dry tempera paint???
I'm getting the urge to put that in someone's shower head, just thinking about
the smell takes me back...
Charles P. Hobbs
Doesn't it smell minty, like toothpaste? Looks like it too,
for that matter. . .
In junior high, we used to say "You're so dumb, you probably
would brush your teeth with Ben-Gay!"
James Martinez
O.K., I've got another one. This one may date me, but who remembers something
called "Bay Rum"? I am pretty sure it was an after shave product or a generic name
for the scent in general. Another smell that may be lost in history, but the scent
used to bring back a memory of me snooping through my dad's medicine cabinet.
--
__________________
Jim Martinez
__________________
James Martinez wrote:
> The smell that so vividly brings back elementary school is the smell of
> mimeograph ink. It isn't a smell I smell often (which I think is a part of the
> trick) but it definitely does the trick!
>
> Michelle Conner wrote:
>
> > Dave,
> > I experience this all the time. I have three kids and when I enter their
> > school I am instantly transported back to elementary. I believe this
> > phenomenon has been studied quite extensively. Science considers sense of
> > smell the biggest memory trigger.
> > Another one for me is BenGay. It reminds me of my grandmother
> >
> > M. Conner
>
>
man4allseasons
James Martinez wrote:
>
> O.K., I've got another one. This one may date me, but who remembers something
> called "Bay Rum"? I am pretty sure it was an after shave product or a generic name
> for the scent in general. Another smell that may be lost in history, but the scent
> used to bring back a memory of me snooping through my dad's medicine cabinet.
> --
> __________________
> Jim Martinez
> __________________
Is that the bay rum as in.. "shave and a haircut,Bay-Rum!"??It's a
little before my time,but I remember my Grampa saying that little ditty
from time to time.
-M4AS
.."life is short,don't be a dick!"..
Harv T.
Hey dont knock it till you try it....(Finger paints and vinyl) You can
toss in a candle or two if you like what is the sent of the candle?
LOL!!!