Top 14+ Childhood Smells from the ’70s and ’80s That Hit You Like a Time Machine

5. The Interior of Your Parents’ Car on a Hot Day

Sliding into the back seat of your parents’ car in summer meant being enveloped in a distinct cocktail of aromas that defined automotive travel in the ’70s and ’80s. Vinyl seats heated by the sun released a powerful, almost medicinal smell that mingled with the synthetic fragrance of hanging air fresheners shaped like pine trees or fuzzy dice.

The dashboard contributed its own hot plastic scent, while hints of oil, gasoline, and the previous day’s fast food created a complex bouquet unique to each family vehicle. This smell was particularly intense during those first few moments before the windows were rolled down (manually, of course) or the air conditioning sputtered to life after several minutes of blowing hot air.

6. Scratch-and-Sniff Stickers

These reward treasures adorned stellar homework assignments and good behavior charts in classrooms across America, releasing their potent fragrances with just the scratch of a fingernail. Each tiny sticker contained microencapsulated scents that burst open when scratched, delivering remarkably accurate (and sometimes not-so-accurate) aromas ranging from pizza to pickles to that perennial favorite—grape.

Teachers used these aromatic motivators liberally, creating a generation of children who would complete math problems for the chance to smell artificial watermelon. The scents themselves have proven remarkably durable in our collective memory, with many adults able to instantly recall the exact smell of a pizza scratch-and-sniff sticker even decades after last encountering one.

7. VHS Tape Plastic Cases

The black plastic clamshell cases that housed VHS tapes released a distinct aroma when opened, signaling the start of a special movie night. This particular plastic smell, combined with the mechanical oil scent of the tape itself, created an olfactory experience tied directly to the anticipation of watching a favorite film or recording a special TV program.

Family trips to the video rental store meant being surrounded by thousands of these cases, each containing its own adventure and contributing to the unique smell of these beloved establishments. The ritual of opening the case, removing the tape, and inserting it into the VCR with its own electronic scent created a multisensory experience that streaming services, for all their convenience, simply cannot replicate.

8. Crayola Crayons Fresh from the Box

Nothing said “new school year” quite like the smell of a fresh box of Crayola crayons, with their distinctive waxy aroma that hasn’t changed significantly since the 1970s. The scent—so iconic that Crayola has partnered with various companies to recreate it in candles and other products—combined paraffin wax with pigments to create an aroma that signaled creative possibility.

The 64-count box with built-in sharpener represented the pinnacle of elementary school status, with its perfectly pointed tips and pristine paper wrappers all contributing to the sensory experience. Breaking a crayon might be disappointing, but it also released an even stronger burst of that beloved scent, a small consolation for the tragedy of a snapped “Burnt Sienna” or “Robin’s Egg Blue.”

9. Swimming Pool Chlorine

The powerful chemical smell of heavily chlorinated public pools defined summer for kids in the ’70s and ’80s, announcing the season as surely as the sound of the ice cream truck. This distinctive aroma—now recognized as not just chlorine but the chemical compounds formed when chlorine mixes with organic matter—would cling to skin and hair for hours after swimming, a badge of honor showing how you’d spent your day.

Public pools in this era seemed to use chlorine with particular enthusiasm, creating an eye-watering atmosphere that nevertheless spelled freedom and fun. The smell would permeate towels, bathing suits, and car interiors during the drive home, and many adults today still associate that sharp, chemical aroma with carefree summer days, cannonballs, and the squeak of wet feet on concrete.

10. Bubble Gum Baseball Cards

Opening a fresh pack of baseball cards released a distinctive sweet smell from the powdery pink slab of gum inside, a scent that blended with the cardboard and ink of the cards themselves. The gum—notoriously brittle and with roughly the same texture as the cards—released a powerful burst of artificial sweetness that permeated the entire package.

Serious collectors might have carefully removed the gum to preserve their cards, but most kids immediately folded the hard pink rectangle into their mouths, where it would eventually soften into a proper chewing consistency. The flavor faded quickly, but the memory of that initial bubble gum aroma remains strong for anyone who spent allowance money on Topps or Fleer packs, hoping for stars and ending up with mostly utility infielders.

11. The Scholastic Book Fair

The annual or bi-annual Scholastic Book Fair transformed school libraries into retail wonderlands with a distinct aroma of fresh paper, glue, and the plastic toys inevitably sold alongside the books. This unique bouquet of smells signaled a special week when the library became a temporary bookstore, offering treasures like “Choose Your Own Adventure” volumes and poster sales.

The combination of newly printed paperbacks, erasers shaped like food items, and those weird pens with multiple color options created an olfactory experience children looked forward to for weeks. Parents might have grumbled about the price of items compared to regular bookstores, but they couldn’t deny the excitement generated by those folding metal display cases filled with literary possibilities and their distinctive new-book smell.

12. The School Cafeteria’s Rectangle Pizza

That unique combination of tomato sauce, processed cheese, and slightly sweet bread dough wafting through school hallways meant it was pizza day—the highlight of the cafeteria calendar. The institutional pizza had a smell all its own, distinct from pizzeria offerings and immediately recognizable to any child who attended public school during this golden age of rectangular school lunch pizza.

The aroma would begin filling the school around mid-morning, creating a pavlovian response even in children who normally brought lunch from home. Complementing this signature scent was the equally distinctive smell of chocolate milk in those small cardboard cartons, creating a combination that defined lunch period for an entire generation of American schoolchildren.

13. Freshly Cut Grass Through Open Windows

Before central air conditioning became ubiquitous, summer meant open windows and the sweet, green scent of freshly cut grass wafting through the house. Saturday mornings in suburbs across America were punctuated by the sound and smell of gasoline-powered lawn mowers as neighbors maintained their yards, releasing that distinctive aroma that seemed to epitomize summer itself.

The smell was particularly potent when dew still clung to the grass, creating a mixture of moisture and the compounds released by cut vegetation. Children playing outside would return with this smell clinging to their clothes and shoes, especially after rolling down hills or engaging in impromptu wrestling matches in someone’s front yard.

Those of us who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s experienced a sensory landscape quite different from the one children navigate today. Many of these iconic smells have disappeared or changed as technology advanced, safety regulations tightened, and cultural preferences shifted. Yet these olfactory memories remain powerfully intact, capable of triggering detailed recollections and emotional responses decades later. Next time you catch one of these vintage aromas, take a moment to enjoy the ride back in time—just watch out for those neon leg warmers and questionable hairstyles waiting for you when you arrive.