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The strangest things invoke memories don't they?

(69 Posts)
Nonnie1 Wed 15-Jun-16 11:37:30

I'm having a late start today. Currently drinking tea and eating toast..

So - while I am standing there waiting for the toast to pop up I noticed something written on the lid of the Marmalade jar. On reading it I smiled..

'Paddington rarely goes anywhere without a Marmalade sandwich tucked under his hat in case of emergencies'

It reminded me of the night shifts I used to work when my children were babies, and how all of us nurses ate marmalade sandwiches, and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed them !

BBbevan Thu 16-Jun-16 16:58:31

The clean woody smell of a new house. I went with a friend to see her new house recently and was immediately transported back to age 6. We had lived in a flat over my uncle's shop. One day we all walked over the mountain. Quite a long walk for two little girls. We went to see our new house. I loved it immediately,

Nonnie1 Thu 16-Jun-16 16:56:42

I'm loving this topic.

Does anyone remember those sachets of Bristows shampoo that they sometimes put in magazines? It had a lovely smell.

BarbaraLornaHudson Thu 16-Jun-16 16:34:43

Does anyone rememeber Hay perfume from Boots? (1960s I think - didn't last long). I thought it was brilliant.

Jalima Thu 16-Jun-16 15:25:27

It's a word that brings back a memory of a smell with me:
the word ointment always bring back the smell of zinc & castor oil ointment.

I buy a certain soap which has a smell reminiscent of some soap we used in my childhood, but I can't remember which one we used to have.

My DM used to use 'Evening in Paris' perfume and Yardleys Face cream, haven't smelt them for a long time.

sherish Thu 16-Jun-16 15:08:18

The smell of Pears soap reminds me of the times I had to go into hospital as a child. I was in for my tonsils out and also in an isolation hospital for scarlet fever. Both times my mum packed Pears soap for me. In those days it was quite posh I think as we never used it at home.

The smell of Blue Grass perfume because it was my first grown up perfume. My sister bought it for me for Christmas when I was fourteen.

grandMattie Thu 16-Jun-16 14:58:04

Coconut oil - Indian girls at school, then sun tanning "lotion"
Pears Soap - my grandfather
Mothballs - love it!!! - my favourite aunt
Heliotrope [cherry-pie] flowers - just loved it
New books - a rarity in my childhood
cussons face powder - my mother...

dizzygran Thu 16-Jun-16 14:21:23

All your lovely memories brought back the smell of Californian Poppy and 4711 colognes, and my mum who used to wear Tweed and Yardley Freesia... I do miss those days.

rosesarered Thu 16-Jun-16 13:46:50

Leather ( school satchel)
Imperial leather soap ( a favourite Aunt/uncle)
Lilacs in flower ( childhood garden)
Tomato smell in greenhouse ( my DGP's greenhouse where I would steal and eat tiny tomatoes.)

VIOLETTE Thu 16-Jun-16 13:34:48

Gibbs tins of sold toothpaste ,,,,,mmm ...reminds me of my dad who was a smoker and only he was allowed the Gibbs ....but I used to secretly use it ...and eat it as well ! Wonder if you can still get it ?.... and the vaseline shampoo in sachets of powder you mixed with water ?

miep Thu 16-Jun-16 13:15:17

Lemon verbena takes me right back to childhood. I had completely forgotten 'Tweed' perfume, my mother used to wear it - I wonder if they still make it? Her best friend used to wear 'Joy' which I loathed then and now, though I loved her friend, who sadly went to live in Malta. And of course, the smell of chalk certainly takes me back...

Sheilasue Thu 16-Jun-16 13:05:53

I remember my family home and the warm nights after a hot summers day the smell of stocks and old fashioned roses in the garden.

GrannyGalactica Thu 16-Jun-16 12:58:56

The scent of ragged robin takes me back to when I was 5 years old, standing with other girls under some trees by a gate in the garden of my first school. It was a convent and I can remember being hugely impressed by all the Hail Marys and the wonderful nun who taught us. I only attended the school for one year but I have many happy memories of it.

Nonnie1 Thu 16-Jun-16 12:53:07

My Grandpa used Brilliantine on his hair. It had a very distinct smell. In fact the bathroom at their house smelled of it. Not a bad smell, but a memory making one

Pamish Thu 16-Jun-16 12:50:15

Privet hedge in flower. Booom, deduct sixty years.

Also bracken, some other ferns. We had fields of it head-high and would make clearings by falling into it and bashing it down.

grandma60 Thu 16-Jun-16 12:29:20

Conifer hedges, when I was a child we used to stay with a Great Aunt in the New Forest for our summer holiday. The house was surrounded conifer hedges and I used to slip in between them to play with the little girl next door,

Craftycat Thu 16-Jun-16 12:12:28

Wright's Cola Tar soap. My aunt & Uncle's bungalow reeked of it. We went there alternate Sundays for tea & they had the most gorgeous garden for a small child with winding paths & hidey holes & a swinging couch thing. I loved it there & was left to explore to my heart's content.

Juggernaut Thu 16-Jun-16 11:52:56

If I smell carnations I'm instantly transported back to the day when aged 11 I had my first period.
I walked home from school at lunchtime and told mum, she sorted me out and I went back to school after making her promise that she wouldn't tell dad when he got home from his early shift.
When school finished, dad was waiting outside in the car, took me shopping and bought me tin of Morny Carnation Talc.
To the day she died mum insisted she hadn't told him, and I know she had!!!

Nonnie1 Thu 16-Jun-16 11:34:49

I am sane today thank you x

Tomorrow is another day smile

Linsco56 Thu 16-Jun-16 11:32:49

Sanity is overrated Nonnine1 grin

Nonnie1 Thu 16-Jun-16 11:27:18

Oh my word.. the spit on the hankie, and the accusations of having a tidemark around my neck will never leave.

My mother would swivel her neck round in the car and look at me and ask me 'have you had a wash' ?

(think Mrs Doyle) and you you've got the scenario..

It's a wonder I am still sane smile

mich777 Thu 16-Jun-16 11:20:49

Ambre Solaire brings back many, many memories! mmmmmmmmmm

Linsco56 Thu 16-Jun-16 11:01:31

Quickies face wipes in little round plastic containers. Mum never left home without them. What I objected to was the force she used when cleaning my face! I suppose it was preferable to the 'spit on a hankie routine'.

mcculloch29 Thu 16-Jun-16 10:56:59

My mother's house smelled of bleach downstairs, and Imperial Leather soap upstairs. Even though I use bleach near daily, it's still the smell of Mum's. For my children, it's Imperial Leather that is the smell of their Nan's.
The smell of wet dog reminds me of my own lovely Old English Sheepdog. Happy memories.

Madmartha Thu 16-Jun-16 10:51:51

Old Spice aftershave does it for me - likely to jump on its wearer even now. Still a teenager inside and still wanting to wear their clothes but have toned it down (only a bit though)

Boolya Thu 16-Jun-16 10:18:22

I found an empty blue glass bottle in a junk shop that had contained Evening in Paris perfume. The smell remains and takes me back to childhood as my mum used to wear it on special occasions. She went on to discover Tweed, which I loathed.