Childhood Smells
Certain smells seem to have the power to instantly transport us to past moments. Moreover, wafts of random, seemingly unrelated scents can become connected to oddly specific moments. The smell of a particular hand sanitizer, for example, brings me back to the feeling of sitting in my first-grade classroom. But why is scent so powerful, and what does this tell us about memory?
It appears scent is especially potent when it comes to evoking childhood memories. Childhood memories are often hazy, yet at the same time visceral. The distance from these youthful memories is often filled in by bits and pieces of sensory information. Smell can act as a conduit for these unclear memories, bringing about the specific feeling from a moment, rather than a play-by-play recollection. Smell, like childhood, focuses on the whimsical and artful rather than the discrete. As a child, the world is seen through a more vibrant, exciting lens as everything is new. Sensory information is eagerly grasped and held onto, whereas with age, the mind becomes accustomed to such information and often lacks the same attention to detail.
In the article “The Lasting Cognitive Effect of Smell on Memory” by the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, the Limbic, Old, Vivid, Emotional, and Rare model is stated to describe how “odors often cue memories that are emotionally significant, linked to childhood, recalled with great vividness, and that occur infrequently.” This description supports the idea that smells are most often tied to childhood memories rather than recent ones. Additionally, the Rare aspect of the model accounts for why seemingly arbitrary scents can evoke such vivid memories. The article also mentions how the presence of an odor alters neural activity, creating a “lingering brain state” that might “shape memory in ways we might not even notice.” The presence of smells in certain situations creates a varied mental state compared to those without notable odors. This differing state may allow memories to become strongly attached to specific smells.
I could create a map of my childhood through smells alone. Smells could represent certain places. Elementary school smelled like Styrofoam lunch containers, Bath and Body Works’ Winter Candy Apple lotion, hand sanitizer, and fresh mulch. Home smelled of hardwood floors, Suave Kid’s green apple soap, and bacon on a Saturday morning. Gran’s house was a cozy mixture of warmth, old rugs, reed diffusers, hairspray, and freshly cooked food. The smell of Gran’s house was so potent and particular that it would linger on Nay Nay, the stuffed horse I slept with every night, for several days after we had left. My best friend’s house smelled of warmth — I think it was a mixture of coffee and musty old house (but in a good way), paired with loud laughter.
Smells could represent seasons. Summer smelled like warm hosewater and grass, watermelon, Neutrogena sunscreen, humidity lingering on outdoor furniture, and rain on hot pavement. Fall smelled like wet leaves, and a sweet crispness in the air that would make me excited for Halloween. Winter smelled like the must from the attic lingering on Christmas decorations that had been sitting in their box for too long, as well as the specific smell that would radiate through the house when the heat came on, which also became associated in my mind with Christmas.
Smells could represent people. I remember thinking that my twin brother’s hair smelled like carrots (he is ginger). My mom smelled like powdered blush and the warm aromas of freshly blow-dried hair. My Aunt Kathy smelled strongly of a particular perfume that would radiate throughout her whole house. My cousin smelled like the Fructis leave-in conditioner that my aunt would put in our hair after spending the day in the ocean together.
Not only does smell play a role in many of my childhood memories, it also plays a role in those of most other people as well. Upon asking several people to list scents reminding them of childhood, I noticed the relative ease with which these smells were recalled, as well as the specificity of the scents. Smells, just like memories, are highly personal and shaped by individual perception.
Specifically, I was curious to know what my twin brother, with whom I directly shared much of my childhood, would have to say about memories of our childhood. He responded with the smells: “Hot grass, Tootles’s breath (our dog), Annie’s macaroni and cheese, a basketball having been dribbled on wet pavement, and dried orange peels.”
I was surprised and a little perplexed by some of the descriptions, and struggled to understand where his mind was coming from. At the same time, I felt like I could envision some of them directly — such as the piles of orange peels he would always leave around the house. I was prompted to think about how the perceptions of our childhood differed as well as in what ways they were the same.
My mom responded to the question, too: “Almond cherry Jergen’s lotion reminds me of my grandaddy’s house, but I don’t know why. Chantilly perfume reminds me of my grandmother. The smell of flowers and springtime plants to this day reminds me of Easter as a kid. The scent of hay reminds me of the years I spent horseback riding, and I have many positive associations with the scent.”
I noticed once again the presence of somewhat random scents, such as the almond lotion, being connected to certain places or people. Additionally, many of the smells were associated with positive memories. Perhaps sensory processes such as smell are heightened during positive situations. Or, maybe it’s just that lots of childhood memories are looked back at fondly, with a bittersweet nostalgia that lends itself towards thinking in terms of smell.
I was also curious to see how the connection between smell and memory would differ across generations. My 82-year-old grandfather provided this description of smells from his childhood: “One smell is of freshly turned Earth when walking barefoot in the furrow of a mule-drawn plow. The other strong sensory memory is the smell of warm, fresh milk when milking anywhere between one and four cows every morning, seven days a week.”
Other smells he recalled also related to his upbringing. The scents my grandfather recalled were literal and directly tied to life on the farm where he was raised. They seemed less fanciful and less based around childlike wonder. This made me reflect on how the smells we remember can paint a picture of the conditions of our upbringing. My grandfather was forced to grow up quickly and work from a young age, and was not given the same luxuries to be free and play as a kid. Certain smells are a privilege, and we can acknowledge both the hardships we have gone through as well as the things we are grateful for through smell.
Lastly, I asked two friends of mine to list some smells from their childhood.
Kaitlynn Thomson ’28 said: “Brownies, the salty smell of the ocean, Auntie Anne’s pretzels, rubber bouncy balls from playing kickball in P.E., crayons, textbooks, and Play-Doh.”
Grayson Stanley of Elon University said: “Laundry, wet dog, Victoria’s Secret perfume, grass, musty smell of an old church.”
I couldn’t help but notice how my friends who had grown up during the same time and under similar circumstances as me shared parallels with me in the smells that they had recalled. Their lists, too, had to do with school, food, free time, and toiletries. Although I didn’t ask Thomson or Stanley to describe the importance of each of the smells in detail, I felt I could relate my own experiences to each of them and conjure up ideas of the memories they had been envisioning. While the scents my friends had listed were more alike to mine than my grandfather’s had been, I was still prompted to think about the differences between our childhoods and the differences in the smells that had resonated with us.
Scents are vastly interwoven with memories — especially those from our childhood. However, the association between memory and scent is an elusive, mysterious process. Why do certain smells remain in our memory while others don’t? What can scents tell us about our childhood? Although it may seem somewhat arbitrary, recalling scents from one’s childhood can be a good starting point for fostering more gratitude. Oftentimes, smells can bring back fond, nostalgic memories, prompting moments of reflection. Though memories can often be obscured by time and the complexities of life, scent can be the key to unlocking these long-past memories, connecting to our inner child, and fostering an appreciation for our lived experiences.