Smells of yesteryear.....

[Linenspots]

My most prominent ones are:

The delicious smell of the bottle of Coppertone that Mum used to plaster us in for our annual holiday at one of the many Pontin's sites. Does anyone else remember Coppertone?

I also have really vivid memories of the smell of the turkey cooking at the crack of dawn on Christmas Day, right after we opened our presents, and being excited for the arrival of various family members. Am I imagining it, or does the aroma of turkey cooking these days not seem as strong as I remember?

Mum's perfumes - for best, she wore Estee Lauder's Youth Dew or White Linen (although she always called it Dirty Sheets). For everyday, it was Coty L'Aimant. My first bottle of perfume was Smitty...I felt so grown up!

Those smells...treasured memories.

Baking bread, frying olive oil and cigarette smoke in the sun. Coal fire smoke first thing in the morning.

Feeling quite nostalgic really.

Was going to put putty too! I just need to smell a bit of linseed and I am transported back to my dad puttying the little panes in our living room window.
Ditto pine sawdust. Will always remind me of my dad (still here, almost 80)

Studio Line! @workshyfop I immediately had the ad in my head. 🎶Stu stu studio Line 🎶 It was so trendy back in the early 80s

And the ever popular Vidal Sassoon shampoo and conditioner in the brown bottles. Has anyone ever got in touch with them to see if they would bring it back? I see it mentioned so many times I really think they'd be onto a winner.
Ditto Wella Flex yellowy custard thick conditioner. Felt like a real treat for my hair

I was just thinking about creosote this morning! On my way back from walking the dog, we walked past a neighbour’s fence which was in full sun, the smell of hot creosote brought me back to our back garden in the 1980s. Also geraniums, my granddad used to have a fabulous collection of them in their front porch which had glass on 3 sides and was kind of a greenhouse. Every time I deadhead a geranium I think of him ❤️.
Also germolene in the metal tube, Shield soap in a chilly bathroom, and the exciting smell of the pantry which had a million different spices, all years out of date 😂

Pears shampoo
Knights Castille soap
Cold water surf laundry powder
Mums lipstick
Dads Blue Stratos aftershave
Mum steam ironing everything
Grannies Lux soap flakes
Nanas shortbread baking
Radox bath wash
Vim and Ajax cleaning powders
Pledge furniture polish
Handy Andy cleaning liquid
Rawleighs Ready Relief
Rawleighs ointment
Solvol
Sunlight soap

Vine tomatoes and soil in my Grandad's greenhouse.

My Grandma's White Linen and Youth Dew perfumes.

My Mum's Twighlight Teaser lipstick from Boots, which she shared with me on holiday and for school discos.

CK One for my 19th birthday.

Champagne perfume by YSL at Christmas when I was 17. Since rebranded as Yvresse as they were sued by actual Champagne houses.

Seaside smell when arriving in Cornwall during the 80s.

'I also have really vivid memories of the smell of the turkey cooking at the crack of dawn on Christmas Day, right after we opened our presents, and being excited for the arrival of various family members. '
This really resonates. Looking for my Grandparents through the window.

I was so so lucky.

And how could I have omitted the smell of a brand new Barbie Doll. Pure Christmas morning.

I found Bergasol sun oil on a website once; I ordered some hoping for a nostalgia blast (it came from Europe). It smelt nothing like it!! ☹️ I loved the old powerful citrus smell.

Cigar smoke and pipe smoke - but I hated the lingering after smell at the time.

Bonfires - yes definitely.

At school they used to cover paper back library books in a plastic case - the smell of it was gorgeous.

My granny’s flat - white musk and furniture polish; and ginger cake baking in the oven if I was really lucky.

The “ditty bag” in the loft which was full of buckets and spades etc for holidays. Similarly the boxes containing Christmas decorations.

Yes!! Most dolls in the 80s had that lovely rubber smell.
Ditto Strawberry shortcake dolls.

The smell of a new paddling pool when I was a kid and also the smell of babies rubber over pants to go on top of Terry nappies.
Loved the smell of old Lenor fabric conditioner and Fairy snow , washing powder used by Nana in her twin tub on wash day, they're not the same now.
My Nana wore Tweed perfume in the 70's and smoked Park Drive cigarettes, and her. Shopping bag always smelt like these.She also had an outside toilet that she scrubbed daily with Vim bleach powder.

I bought some Impulse Musk. I love it but I can’t quite date it. I remember I used to wear it lots. Any idea of when this would be??

Yes! Plastic dollies hair. Fag smoke. A pudding wrapped in cloth boiling in a pan. Quickies eye make up remover pads (can still remember the oily smell). Anne French. Fairy toilet soap. Those scented rings on a wire that you hung over the rim of the toilet. Bath salts. Dettol in the bath water.

Pear drops
Andrews Liver Salts
Antaeus aftershave
The gooseberry bush in my GPs garden
Pink custard and cabbage at school
Old Virginia tins that were used for storing all manner of bits.
The paraffin heater deathtrap on our landing.
Fish and chips wrapped in newspaper.
Vesta curries
Lily of the valley and Vicks

Matey bubble bath.

An old red phone box. With telephone directory. Or not.

A Wright's Coal Tar lamp in my bedroom which was supposed to help a bad chest (purple open flame!)
Bowls of tangerines and nuts at Christmas
Scratch and sniff T-shirts
Shippam's salmon and shrimp paste
Basildon Bond writing paper
Dubbin - at school we had to dubbin the netballs at the end of the winter season
The smell of jam cooking on the stove - in particular strawberries and raspberries

Oooh yes. Smelling of fags and wee

'Basildon Bond writing paper'

My Mum used to treat me to this as a child! God I loved it.

The mid 80s. I'm quite old. They made it for years, though.

The smell of p20 suncream reminds me of one of my primary school classrooms, I dont know why... how long has it existed?

Smoky air in the autumn, not necessarily just after bonfire night, just when you get some cold autumn mornings that have that smoky smell from around October - reminds me of walking to primary school.

PVA glue smell or poster paint, again primary school!

The rubbery smell of the hot water bottle that mum would put in the bed each night. No electric blankets back then so a hot water bottle was the only way to warm the bed when there was only one fire in the house in the lounge and no central heating.

Ah thanks. It’s so evocative. X