Smells that remind me it's back to school time:
1. Nothing smells more like back to school than the smell of hot tar in August.
It must have been some kind of rule back in the 50's,60's and 70's that all schools had to have a flat roof. A flat roof in Oregon is just an invitation for leaks. Surprisingly, it does rain a fairish amount in the Northwest. At least it does in the winter.
Every summer it seemed like one school or another was getting a new coat of hot tar. The smell of hot tar seemed to float for miles - I suppose it's like when you burn up the belt on your vacuum and the whole house stinks.
2. Rain. The smell of rain after a couple of weeks of dry weather.
3. Paste. The kind we had back in the 60's. I don't know if it still smells the same, since glue sticks were invented I don't think I've had to buy paste for my kids.
4. Shoeboxes. The kind that your new school shoes (that you weren't allowed 
to wear until school started) were stored in.
to wear until school started) were stored in. 5. Lunchboxes. The old metal kind would have a very specific kind of smell after a few weeks of use. Not an appetizing smell - a combination of peanut butter, grape jelly, tuna, mayo, apples, cheese, etc...
What smells remind you of school?
5 comments:
Freshly sharpened pencils, chalk dust, and each summer I helped Dad get his classroom ready and once had to cut a whole bunch of new mats for his drafting desks--that classroom smell takes me back.
I forgot about Dad's "classroom". I'll have to add the smell of welding to the list...(he was in the metal shop back in my day)
Dippity-doo - those rich girls coming to school with their hair all done up in curls. The metalic smell in the bandroom - jr or hs. Fresh cut grass and new bark on the play ground or planters. The smell of the lift top desks: a musty pencil, book, paper, and glue smell.
"Rich girls" Ha ha. We lived in Springfield, for goodness sake.
The "rich girls" were probably no better off than us, they just had smaller families that spent more on appearances. It's funny how well I'm able to put that in perspective - it only needed 3 or 4 decades.
gag. I hate the smell of metal lunch boxes. I love the look, but I swear that I have a gag reflex that hits me every time I think about that smell.
Good smells? Well, sharpened pencils en mass, crayons, reams of papers.
My sense of smell has been off a little bit this year. Maybe that's why I'm slightly astounded that Jack and Emma are in school already.
Post a Comment