When I was a senior in high school, a local furniture store gave each student a small cedar box that could be locked. I loved the smell of that box! I kept cards and letters from family and friends in it. I think I still have it somewhere.
An unpleasant "smell memory" from my childhood was that of beer. My half-brother would visit on rare occasions. Whenever he did, he would bring canned beer with him and would proceed to down one after another. To this day, I hate the smell of beer.
My father loved ANY kind of cologne, or "smell good," as he would call it. Brut was his favorite, but he wasn't picky. If he was going anywhere, like to church, he would douse himself in it. If my mother or I got any kind of cologne or perfume that we didn't like, he would happily take it. I also associate the smell off Campho-Phenique, a pungent smelling over-the-counter antiseptic liquid. He believed that it could cure anything (kind of like Windex in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"), so he put it on any cut, scrape, etc., etc.
During summers at my grandmother's house, one of my favorite smells was a clean, soapy one from the bathroom. There was only one bathrooms, and after anyone bathed or showered, that fresh smell lingered a long time. That may be why I still like clean scents in lotions.
Other wonderful smells from childhood include honeysuckle. There were vines of it growing on my walk to and from school. Roses are also in there because my mother grew them. So many roses you buy today have no smell at all. My mother was a wonderful cook, and the smell of her fried chicken, or the Thanksgiving turkey baking were intoxicating. I fell in love with the smell of cloves as a kid. I made a "Sweet Pete" once where you take an orange and poke whole cloves into it to make it look like a little head and face. It was a homemade air freshener. For a while, Lifesavers had a clove flavor that I loved.
One of my favorite smells is that of break baking. When I used to work downtown eaaaarly in the morning, I would drive past a bread factory. The smell of that bread baking was intoxicating. One of my favorite grocery stores that is no longer around would bake French bread. If I smelled it. I had to have a loaf. The second I would get home with it, I would slather a slice with butter and eat some. Okay, several slices!
Of course, lots of foods have memorable smells. Who can resist the smell of bacon frying, or fresh coffee grounds or coffee brewing, or anything sweet and decadent baking? And let's not forget the smell of hot, buttery popcorn in movie theaters.
Some places have smells of their own. You can't mistake the disinfectant smell of some hospitals. And I think it's forget-me-nots that I always associate with funeral homes. I am not sure why coffins need to be surrounded by such cloying scents.
When I became a mother, a plethora of smells were associated with a new baby - some pleasant, and some not so much. Nothing smells sweeter that a freshly-bathed baby. One of my memories of new motherhood that I share with other new mothers involves my infant son's first day at the sitter's house while my husband and I worked. It was very hard to leave my tiny little man in someone else's care. When I picked him up after work, I held him close and sniffed him. He smelled like the sitter's house...not bad, but not my house. I cried all the way home. (That story got twisted by my son years later. I was filling in for a radio morning show host while she was on maternity leave. My son still swears that I said, "He cried as big as a house." It doesn't matter that the statement makes no sense.)
I guess smells will be triggers for my whole life. I love my husband's cologne spay (that I picked out), the smell of the salty breeze at the beach, the smell of gardenias like the bush I used to have, the smell of hot chocolate.... Life is filled with smells at every turn.
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