Memories of childhood, sights, sounds and smells that bring back memories
By recycledgoth
@recycledgoth (9894)
May 16, 2007 6:10am CST
I just came back home from the shops, walking past the bakers shop I could smell that wonderful aroma of fresh baked bread. Next door to the bakers is an old-style butchers shop and he smokes his own bacon, so I could smell the bacon too. The further I walked, the more the sights and smells reminded me of my childhood. Days when my Mum would ask me to go to the local grocers shop for half a pound of bacon and a fresh loaf. I would hold the money in a handkerchief and cycle my little trike up to the shop, repeating over and over to myself what I had to ask for. I would go to the counter and ask for the bacon and bread, pay the money, put the change into my handkerchief, take the brown paper wrapped bread and the brown bagged fresh sliced bacon and put it into the basket on my trike and cycle home again.
There used to be a timber yard near my home and I could hear the saws buzzing and smell the fresh pine smell of the sawdust in the air. Then past the big house on the corner, the one with the huge front garden full of roses. The sight of those roses all in bloom was stunning and the scent filled the air.
It has made me feel quite nostalgic for my childhood days and so, my friends, I am asking you, what brings back childhood memories for you. Could it be the scent of blossom in the breeze or simply the sounds of children playing on the swings in the park.
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8 responses
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
17 May 07
I remember when I was little the smell of the corner grocery stores, they had a beautiful smell about them today they don't seem to have any aroma these days maybe its all the packetaging I don't know or maybe it that when your young your sense of smell is just higher...
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
17 May 07
I remember the big tins of biscuits, we kids used to always get a free broken biscuit, yes I miss the good things of those days too.
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@recycledgoth (9894)
•
17 May 07
These days the shops are all so sterile and impersonal. I loved going to the old grocery store, they had biscuits in large old tin boxes, baskets of fruit and the bacon was a large piece kept on a marble slab. Coffee and tea were both in large old glass jars and was weighed out and put into a paper bag. I miss that kind of store now.
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@kaleegirl45 (1515)
• United States
25 May 08
recyclegoth,
As matter of fact I was telling my daughter about the time we use to live in North Carolina. My dad was in the Army and station out there. We used to go to the drive-in everyday. And every time I see a box of popcorn, it reminds me of back there. Prell (no sure of the spelling) shampoo, it smell so clean. The swings, with the board. The old stores, like Newberry's, Woolworth. We use to live in Texas. When us kids got together, we use to talk about ghost. the lady in white. (I Think she has been all over the place.) My parents always made us go to church. And in the month of May kids would go to chruch to offer flower to the Virgin Mary. When ever I see certain flowers it reminds me of those days. Sometimes I wish I could go back and re live those days.
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@recycledgoth (9894)
•
25 May 08
I do wish I could turn back the clock and go back to the days of carefree childhood, but at least the sights and smells can bring back our memories
@perrygunight (555)
• United States
16 May 07
The aromas bring back more memories than sights or sounds. I had to walk past a bakery on the way to school when I was little. Oh, it smelled good when the bread was baking!
My grandparents' flower garden and the pine trees in their yard looked and smelled beautiful, but looking at similar flowers and trees doesn't bring back the memories like smelling them does. Mmmmmmm.
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@recycledgoth (9894)
•
17 May 07
I adore the smell of fresh baked bread hun, and all the memories it evokes too. It's always good to think back over the years and I find that it brings back so much I thought was long forgotten
@mdchennai (2129)
• India
16 May 07
Hmmm, wheneve i cross one small grocery shop, from where i used to get all the things for cooking, it reminds me of my childhood days. At present we have shifted over to some other place and also that grocery shop is no more. But whenever i come across that place, it remind me of those days, when i used to beg my mother to give me penny so that i will get something to eat from that shop. Those days, having one rupee or ten rupees, with me was a great thing for me. But then as i started earning, money started to flow. Anyway this discussion has once again reminded me of those days. Thanks for the reminder.
@recycledgoth (9894)
•
16 May 07
I used to love going up to the grocery shop as a child, it's something I always remember. You are more than welcome for the reminder, I reckon we should always try to remember the good things from childhood. :-)
@perrygunight (555)
• United States
17 May 07
You're lucky. My middle school was torn down and replaced by a store. It was a beautiful old building too.
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@naseefu (1607)
• India
24 May 08
As you said there is a lot of things that can bring back our childhood memories.It is absolutely correct that some smells lead our memories to the past.It is very nice to get that memories back.
When i hear some songs i will remember the trips i had gone in the past.Thanks 
@loislane23 (6)
• United States
17 May 07
anytime I smell cookies baking in the oven it reminds me of my grandmas house. She would always be baking something. I used to love the smell of homemade cookies.
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@dazeylaze (256)
•
17 May 07
It's amazing what smells bring back memories. There's a certain hair cream that I started using again recently, something that my mom used in my hair when I was younger. And it brings back memories of being in primary school; memories that would've been otherwise forgotten if I didn't have that smell to remind me. It's a nice feeling.
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