Memories made from aromas

There are certain aromas that bring back memories of people and places from long ago.

I remember my father sitting on our porch and saying he could smell the rain. Since I was just a little kid it was a mystery to me how he could do that. I told him I wanted to learn how to smell rain. I got my lesson from him on a day that was sunny in the morning and raining in the afternoon. A deep inhale during each type of weather provided that lesson. I knew exactly what he meant. These days if I am sitting indoors with the windows open I can smell the rain. It reminds me of how I learned to do that.

A seasonal scent that even young children are quick to recognize is that of a Christmas tree. We always had a balsam tree and the wonderful fragrance was something I looked forward to once a year. That scent was Christmas to me.

Another aroma that goes back to childhood was that of my mittens drying on a rack over a register. Wet wool has a scent all its own when it mixes with heat from the furnace.

What kid doesn’t like the smell of candy? When there is a store full of candy it’s like heaven! That was the experience of going inside Cinderella Sweets in downtown Rutland. There were so many choices that it was hard to make a decision. You couldn’t go wrong as everything was delicious.

Sometimes an aroma can be one of comfort. That was the feeling I got surrounded by all the new books in the Hartford Bookshop on Center Street. I bet most of you have opened a new book and immediately taken a “sniff!” The bookshop was one of my favorite places to go. I remember a cat that slept in the store window on a bed made from a small braided rug.

Just about every Sunday my father and I visited his sister, my aunt Nora, on Pine Street. Back in the ‘50s Sunday dinner was an occurrence in just about every home. My aunt usually had a pot roast cooking on the stove with potatoes and carrots. The aroma was inviting. She was able to stretch the pot roast into a few meals beyond Sunday. Between warming it up and making sandwiches she got a lot of mileage out of that pot roast

A visit to the Rutland Fair was an olfactory experience. Scents from all kinds of foods wafted along the midway. Of course, the cattle barn had a scent of its own just to remind you that you were in Vermont, which had a lot more farm country back in the ‘50s than it does today.

When teenage years roll around the scents young girls are interested in are bath products and perfumes. Jean Nate After Bath Splash with its lemon scent was popular in the ‘60s. During my college days Estee Lauder perfume was the fashionable scent for many of us. The Fashion Shop in Rutland carried all of the Estee Lauder products.

If you were a guy in the ‘60s English Leather aftershave or cologne might have been your choice. I think if you took a “survey” among my college friends that brand would have won a popularity contest for what you wanted your date to use.

If you were lucky enough to buy a brand new car when it was time to purchase your first vehicle, the smell of the interior is something you won’t forget. It may have served as a reminder to take good care of it and keep it dent-free! I managed to do both of those things with my ’66 yellow Chevy Camaro that had black leather bucket seats.

Remembering all those aromas is a trip back in time. Life was pretty simple back in those days!