Do you associate smells to events?
 

Now, I know that sounds funny. Let me explain. Every time I hear a commercial for "Back to School" I can actually smell a new box of crayons. LOL! That got me thinking about other smells. Think about a certain teacher and I think of the smell of those mimmeod tests she handed out. (You know you smelled the paper too.) Those are my school related odors.....but I have come to realize I have others.

Then I can also smell something and it triggers a memory.
Am I crazy, or do you also have thoughts of the past triggered by smells?

:lol: You just made me remember my junior high school history teacher, who always wore a liter of Liz Claiborne cologne every day. :lol:

Ahhh...the smell of Crayola crayons. I STILL smell them. I also smell Play-Doh when my children play with it...smells from childhood. :)

Yes. Smells are big memory triggers for me. Even more than music - which I know is a big memory trigger for some people.

There are certain smells that can take me back to my childhood or to happy or sad times ... or gosh, just about anything. It's kinda amazing.

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I don't associate smells so much with events as to people. Like I can't smell any musk without thinking of a colleague, cigars I associate with my neighbor, or peppermint/cigarettes that remind me of my father.

I definitely associate certain smells with memories. I associate the smell of lilacs with summers at my grandparents' house - there were lilacs right outside my bedroom window. When I smell lilacs now, it makes me nostalgic.

Fresh cut fields reminds me of home. Coffee/cigarette/toothpaste breath reminds me of my teacher who used to hide that he smoked during the lunch break.

Absolutely.

I've heard our sense of smell is the strongest sense in terms of memory.. something like that :)

My grandmother passed away almost 8 years ago, and if I sit and think about it, I can remember exactly the way that she smelled. Every now and then when I am out, a woman will walk by that smells like her, enough to make me do a double take. I am assuming that it would be the exact same shampoo/toiletries/perfume combination, paired with the same cigarette brand. :lol:

When my mom died, I kept her robe - the one she wore around the house in the mornings and evenings. When I was really missing her, I would take it out of the bag and just breathe in ... this smell of her soap, her shampoo, a little cigarette smoke, and the perfume she wore. For months it was the only thing that could comfort me. Even now, smelling Clinique's Aromatics Elixir makes me think of her - and it's been almost 10 years.

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I know a lot of people keep a piece of clothing from a deceased or departed love one. The smells and feels must bring comfort.

So funny, since I wrote this and have thought about it all day I am remembering many more odors. I am 59 years old and can even conjure up the smells of the hospital when I had my babies. You know, the smell was the same for the first and the last, 16 years apart. Combination of new baby and antiseptic smell I think. I much prefer the new baby smell. :)

Glad you are enjoying this thread.

I don't associate smells to events but certain smells to certain people...yes. Mine is more the music...ie a song that was played at my husband's funeral and mil's funeral is stuck with me. Or songs from the past, etc. not so much smells though.

Everytime i smell leather i get so happy...it reminds me of all the days i enjoy riding my horse. It may sound weird but leather smell makes me very relaxed....since horses are my passion. Even sweaty dirty horse leather smells good LOL

There are a few scents that I associate strongly with a particular person, place or event.

The combination of Bath & Body Work's Country Apple body spray and cigarettes will always remind me of my Mom.

The same with the scent of baking pumpkin pie.

But there is at least one association I wish I could erase completely, since it's not pleasant, but unfortunately it is deeply etched into my brain and will never go away. :(

That fake cinnamon apple smell in home stuff and menthol cigarettes reminds me of my mom, and really makes me stressed out/ anxious.

Dial soap and construction paper remind me of being little, and kind of make me sad :(

BUT! Curve cologne reminds me of my very first crush when I was 10 (he was 19 LOL) Fresh cut grass reminds me of my dad in the summer time, sweaty and drinking lemon-lime gatorade after mowing, and Fairy Non Bio tablets laundry detergent (in England) remind me of home, and I usually tear up over happy memories of daffodils and strawberry milkshakes on the English country side.

For Christmas every year I ask my English friends back home to mail me laundry detergent, and they always think I'm kidding so they never do. But I miss that smell so much. When our shipment came from England when we moved back state-side I unpacked all of my clothes on to my bed and laid on them all day, just breathing in that smell. Ohhh, England....

Nice thread idea :)

Thats funny..dh & I were just talking about this yesterday. When we smell rain, it makes us think of those hot rainy days in Arizona (which we really really miss!!).

Adidas will always make me think of my high school crush. Axe body spray is my hubby. Old spice is my grandpa, lol. The smell of a men's barber shop reminds me of my uncle. I bought some Vasline lotion awhile ago..and everytime I used it..I thought of my grandma. She ALWAYS uses it.

Although for my mom..everything just reminds me of her.

:( sadly, I have no sense of smell....I had horrible sinus issues, and I get the sense of smell approximately 5 days a year...I am very appreciative of the sense when it visits me...I sure miss it...no Dr has found out a way to fix it :(

OLD SPICE ~ My dad

When I walk in and Angie's frying hamburger and onions...reminds me of my mom...coming home from school/practice and being so hungry! we had a lot of casseroles with hamburger.

Stinky sweating gym clothes! Reminds me of my son/daughter and step-daughter's rooms as they grew up...always full of their dirty sports clothes!

Originally Posted by Realist:
:( sadly, I have no sense of smell....I had horrible sinus issues, and I get the sense of smell approximately 5 days a year...I am very appreciative of the sense when it visits me...I sure miss it...no Dr has found out a way to fix it :(

I'm sorry :hug:

Okay, here are mine: First, have you ever noticed the smell of a library book? Brings me right back to elementary school. Crayons remind me of camping trips, along with campfires. I don't know why, but campfires smell distinctly different than woodburning stove/fireplace fires around town. Tents also smell like camping.

Grandma - molasses cookies and lily of the valley. Speaking of music, I remember her sitting behind me in church and singing How Great Thou Art louder than anyone in the church because it was her favorite song. In my village, the Methodist church plays church bell music through town and today I heard How Great Thou Art and it just made me cry. My grandma was awesome.

Cow poo: My mom's house. She lives right across the street from a humongous dairy farm.

Suntan lotion and dead fish: Summer on Sand Bay

Big Red gum: My best friend Jackie

Oh, and my front porch, when clean, smells just like my Grandma's house and I have wild lilies of the valley in my back yard. Wild as in I didn't plant them, they came with the house. I always feel like my Grandma's with me around here. Its awesome.

This one is kind of odd butI lived in this crappy college apartment building for a year and had some very fond memories while living there, It was my sophmore year which was before the stress of getting ready to leave college set in and every weekend was just a good time. Pretty much every weekend someone would pee in the stairway and it would smell like a mixture of old beer and urine. Now whenever I'm in a city or something and smell that urine on the sidewalks smell it brings me back and brings a smile to my face.

the musty smell of like- old building and used books reminds me of elementary school. the smell of Aspen cologne reminds me of a crappy old boyfriend and i can't be around it. my grandmothers perfume... the damp musky earthy smell of the pacific northwest brings back vacation memories of childhood and visiting my grandparents and going camping. old spice for my dad too.

My dad used to wear Ferarri cologne when we lived in Bosnia, and anything even similar to it reminds me of the first summer I spent there - and the culture shock. They're really good memories.

Also, when I was a baby (around two or so, I could walk, but it was before preschool) we went to Williamsburg for a huge celebration thing, and they had reenactments and cannons and drummer boys. It was a whole big deal so I remember it really well. The smell of leaves burning, or gun powder take me right back to the cold fall day and the brick roads/ cobblestone stair ways.
Cute side note: We went back a few years ago and spent a full day trying to find this one stairwell I remembered REALLY well. Since I was a baby, all I remembered was staring at the floor as I climbed up because I was scared I would fall - so I remembered red carpet, with little lights on the side, and it was spiral and stone. It turned out to be a tower they kept their rifles and cannons in - but it was really surreal both finally finding where the memory was from and being surrounded by those smells :)

I think I get it....Smell pine= christmas, smell lilacs= spring, smell coconut oil=swimming pool or beach, apples +cinnamon means fall, at least to my brain!

Yes! Years ago, I purchased this perfume. I wore it some during that semester in college, but mostly wore it during one special summer I worked in a National Park. It apparently got packed away after that. About 10 years later, I found it again and sprayed it. I went zipping right back to the special summer!

Muguet du Bois by Coty - my first serious boyfriend
White Shoulders - a co-worker
Lavender - the money Grandma slipped me on my birthday from her purse
Bacon - camping back in the 60's with my children
Jergens Hand Lotion - my Mother
Vitabath 'Spring Green' - the first time Harry drew me a bath
Rosemary - the ten months in Provence
etc.
I could go on and on but won't. The older you get, the more associations there are.

Originally Posted by Eskinomad:
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Also, when I was a baby (around two or so, I could walk, but it was before preschool) we went to Williamsburg for a huge celebration thing, and they had reenactments and cannons and drummer boys. It was a whole big deal so I remember it really well. The smell of leaves burning, or gun powder take me right back to the cold fall day and the brick roads/ cobblestone stair ways.
Cute side note: We went back a few years ago and spent a full day trying to find this one stairwell I remembered REALLY well. Since I was a baby, all I remembered was staring at the floor as I climbed up because I was scared I would fall - so I remembered red carpet, with little lights on the side, and it was spiral and stone. It turned out to be a tower they kept their rifles and cannons in - but it was really surreal both finally finding where the memory was from and being surrounded by those smells :)

Thought I had a picture of that tower IGLOO GIRL...nope, just of the nephew, he is the one in the green Eagles shirt with the rifle over his shoulders...was this where you were?

Awwwwww, so sweet, Gary! Too bad there weren't ones of the tower! We didn't take pictures of it either. I'm actually currently (taking a break from) busting my BUTT so I can get in to the College of William and Mary for my Master's program because I fell in love so entirely with the idea of taking classes on those grounds!

The first vacation the boyfriend is going on with my family is back to Williamsburg too next Christmas - my dad invited him, I think that's a good sign?? Either that or he wants to meet him at a place with cannons and rifles for a reason?!


Back to the studies!

IGLOO GIRL I can't wait to go back there! I loved it! Angie has been there several times.

Oh we saw the college too...awesome!

Hawaain (sp) Ginger body spray and Clean and Clear lotion (the white and purple one) always remind me of my high school days... they were good times.

I definitely associate smells with people and events.

The smells of Play Doh and clay evoke childhood memories. The smell of Eau De Toilette type perfumes remind me of my mother. The smell of weed, cigarettes, and beer combined reminds me of this guy who really likes me who I would never date in a million years even if I was single BECAUSE him, his house, and his truck ALL smell like weed, cigarettes, and beer :barf:

Gatorgal, I love the smell of leather, too, but for different reasons - when I was 16, I bought my first pair of leather pants (along with a nice, matching leather jacket). I always loved walking into the leather store and smelling that smell because it reminded me of the awesome leather clothing I bought.

A lot of people brought up their grandparents - the smell of lavendar reminds me of my grandmother, but unfortunately, so does the smell of nursing homes and hospitals - a smell which I concur to be composed of bodily fluids, disinfectant, gas, bad cafeteria food, and uh.... old and sick people! That smell also causes nervous memories for me of getting really old :lol:

BTW... cute pictures, Gary!