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What tastes, sounds and smells do you miss from yesteryear?

(114 Posts)
Kiwigramz Fri 25-Jun-21 12:32:11

For me it is the white celery with the pointed root at the bottom. We used to fight over it ?, potted meat, bacon rind, Symingtons table cream (similar to blancmange).

Finally I miss the wonderful smell of steam trains, and hearing men whistle on their way to work .

timetogo2016 Fri 25-Jun-21 19:32:04

I miss that sound too Nell8.
I also miss the rag and bone man who would give us a goldfish sometimes.
And the smell of christmas annuals.

Trisha57 Fri 25-Jun-21 19:33:10

GrandmaRosie - that was the first perfume I wore. My oldest brother bought it for me one Christmas when I was about 12 and I thought it was the height of sophistication! It was revived a few years ago and I bought some but it didn't smell the same sad

Kim19 Fri 25-Jun-21 19:34:02

Hartnell's In Love would do it for me

nexus63 Fri 25-Jun-21 19:35:42

i still buy potted meat from the butcher but it is not the same as when my wee granny got it for me, she also used to buy me jellied veal, i tried it and it was awful, the smell i love is tar, but you don't see it very often now, my street was getting done a couple of years ago and i just sat on a little wall breathing it in, the guy asked me if i was okay, when i said i loved the smell, he smiled and said sit there as long as you like.....lol

Trisha57 Fri 25-Jun-21 19:36:05

The sound of the coal being delivered to our coal cellar. Our living room, dining room and scullery were in the semi-basement along with the coal cellar. There was a metal cover on the front path which could be removed and the sound of the coal being slung down the hole was like thunder!

Trisha57 Fri 25-Jun-21 19:39:04

Not quite yesteryear, (only) 40 years ago, but the smell of burning gravel when I used to go to Speedway at Hackney with my boyfriend, now my DH!

Jaxjacky Fri 25-Jun-21 20:38:23

I miss the sound of my Dad’s electric razor, that meant morning, the smell of TCP that used to appear for any minor injury and the taste of Mum’s baking. Always a Friday, Dundee cake usually, ginger snaps, wrapped around a wooden spoon handle, meringues, drying in the airing cupboard and shortbread. I have inherited none of her baking skill and lost my sweet tooth many years ago.

love0c Fri 25-Jun-21 20:38:43

The chimney sweep. He was a lovely man and would always give me a sixpence when he was going.

kittylester Fri 25-Jun-21 20:49:12

My Dad's pipe too but I think he smoked St Bruno.

Calendargirl Fri 25-Jun-21 20:55:18

My dad smoked Erinmore mixture.

Never knew anyone else who smoked it, so it always smelled of dad.

sodapop Fri 25-Jun-21 21:01:56

The smell of washing boiling in the copper
The smell of fresh baked bread from the van which came round on a Sunday morning.

PaperMonster Fri 25-Jun-21 21:51:09

Greyduster I really should buy some! (Coal tar soap!)

Grannybags Fri 25-Jun-21 22:01:41

Ah yes, Poppyred the smell of my Dad's cigar on Christmas morning although I don't know what kind they were

Lexisgranny Fri 25-Jun-21 22:48:27

The smell from two lilac trees close to my bedroom window, as a young child.

Calendargirl Sat 26-Jun-21 07:39:08

Grannybags

Wills whiff cigars?

Infinity2 Wed 07-Jul-21 14:04:10

I miss the smell of my mother’s dressing table - Coty L’Aimant perfume and her Stratton powder compact with Max Factor Creme Puff.

Infinity2 Wed 07-Jul-21 14:05:46

Sorry I’m a newbie - didn’t realise this was an earlier thread !

BlueBalou Wed 07-Jul-21 14:27:52

The sight and sounds of a steamroller and hot tar, the taste of
Neapolitan ice cream in a block between two wafers, the smell of mown grass and dusty paths after a rain shower.
Fish paste and cucumber sandwiches and my mum making a cough remedy from sliced onions and ? vinegar/sugar?

Infinity2 Wed 07-Jul-21 15:09:45

I’d forgotten that - an ice cream between two wafers - how wonderful that tasted !

MerylStreep Wed 07-Jul-21 15:22:37

What tastes and smells do I miss? Most of them since Dec 2019 when I picked up a nasty virus ?
Now texture and visual are everything ? lack of smell can come in handy ?

PaperMonster Wed 07-Jul-21 16:11:29

GreyDuster. I found some coal tar soap, hurrah!!

Trisha57 Wed 07-Jul-21 16:15:37

Infinity2, my mum had a Stratton compact and Creme Puff- I've got it now and I went and bought a Max Factor Creme Puff refill to go in it just to remind me of those days. It smells exactly the same today as it did all those years ago!

Bellanonna Wed 07-Jul-21 16:22:09

I was just thinking of my favourite smells before I read the thread and then discovered that my slightly strange preferences were echoed by others. Definitely the lovely smell from the steam roller, and also that strong smell of petrol. I also used to love catching a whiff of 4711 as my dad bought it for my mum every Christmas. Coty L’Aimant and Evening in Paris would remind me of going to dances.

One sound that obviously affected me was the “All Clear” which followed the siren, warning of a bomb raid. Once we heard the All Clear we could relax (I would have been 3 or 4).

Now I love the smell of grass after rain and also the smell of new pages in a bookshop. Once you own the book the smell goes.

Blossoming Wed 07-Jul-21 16:59:54

I can still enjoy the smell and sound of steam trains, and of hot tar, as we live very close to a railway museum that runs a commercial tanker service from an oil depot twice a week, as well as steam trains and open workshop days on summer weekends.

I miss the taste of my mother’s homemade strawberry jam. No other jam has ever come close.

Visgir1 Wed 07-Jul-21 18:16:14

My Nan boiling up her washing.