What takes you straight back to childhood?

[SallyMander]

Sight, sound, smell?

I am sitting here listening to the Red Sox radio broadcast... i have been listening to Joe Castiglione and Jerry Trupiano call these games since i was a little girl. Especially Joe -- i don't remember *ever* hearing a game without him. I feel like a little kid again, curled up under my butterfly comforter and listening to the Sox on my old clock radio.

I hardly ever heard the end of the games back then -- 10pm was really late! :D

What about you?

[Pierre.Suave]

1. I can tell you something that happened just a bit earlier tonight.

I had some friends over and we BBQed on the deck and afterwards had ice cream with caramel for desert. I instinctively licked the ice cream scoop when I was done serving ice cream. It brought me back to when I was a kid.

[SallyMander]

As long as you don't do it in between serving your friends

you won't get in trouble with mom :D

[Pierre.Suave]

19. LOL

no, I waited until I was done serving, I have grown up a little bit... :P

[Nevernose]

2. Instant mashed potatoes

Just like elementary school. Truly a comfort.

[SallyMander]

5. Yeah! Anything cafeteria-esque

My fiance makes chicken nugget (well, veggie chicken nugget), mashed potato and gravy sandwiches. It always makes me picture him doing the same thing as a 10-year-old :D

[PeaceNikki]

3. Heh... like you, Bob Uecker calling the Brewers games was ALWAYS on in the background.

And he is still the voice of the Brewers.

[SallyMander]

6. "Juuuuuuust a bit outside"

He's great! :D

[PeaceNikki]

9. He is.

I couldn't imagine Milwaukee and the Broors without him.

Fun fact:
The farthest seats from the action in arenas and stadiums have been called "Uecker seats." There is a section of $1 seating called the "Uecker Seats" at Miller Park, which is an obstructed-view area in the deep upper grandstand above home plate where the stadium's roof pivot comes together.

[SallyMander]

12. WOW, $1 is a great deal

even if the seats are way out there... they're still in the park! :D

Did you go to a lot of games as a kid?

[PeaceNikki]

17. Sure did. We used to spend a LOT of time tailgating and in the bleachers.

Some brats and dogs on the grill in the parking lot and bleacher seats used to be a very inexpensive way to spend a summer day.

Now they nail you with $6.50 beers! x( BUT... Miller Park is a great stadium. The close proximity to the field is fantastic.

And you? Did you get to games as a kid?

[SallyMander]

20. I actually went to my first games before i was born!

:D

Then i was born about 2 blocks from Fenway. We used to go to a ton of games, especially once my dad and uncle started splitting a season's tickets package.

I went on my 21st birthday and bought my first legal beer there! :toast:

So many good baseball-related memories :D

[Pierre.Suave]

16. That was such a great line in the movie...

...Major League.

[leeroysphitz]

4. Diapers. n/t

[SallyMander]

7. I don't wanna know...

:scared:

[auntAgonist]

8. Homemade soup simmering on the stove.

Takes me right back to my grandma's kitchen.

:)

Thanks for asking and reminding me of a wonderful childhood memory.

:hug:

aA

[SallyMander]

13. Mmmmm

What kind of soup would she make? My grandma made a MEAN corn chowder... :9

:hug:

[auntAgonist]

22. Scotch Broth..

Lentil Soup, Barley Vegetable, Potato Soup but not creamy chowder like potato soup. This had carrots and onions and chunks of potato and the stock started with a ham bone. I haven't made it in a long time and there are no 'recipes'. I learned by watching then by trial and error.

Sadly my husband doesn't care for soup much so I don't make it often enough to suit me. I do have some in the freezer from the last batch though :)

:hi:

[SallyMander]

25. Sounds like she was quite a cook!

Barley Vegetable sounds especially good to me right now :9

[bicentennial_baby]

10. How is it only the 6th inning?

I was watching Return of The Jedi, and we just switched back. Dayum! :o

[SallyMander]

14. Well, it was an 8pm game

And you know the Sox and Yanks... they like to make it *epic* :rofl:

We missed the beginning, so i'm not sure if there was actually a rain delay or something???

[bicentennial_baby]

18. Nope, no delay tonight...

You're correct...EPIC. :rofl:

[SallyMander]

41. Doo doo do... do do do

Doooooown by the river... down by the banks of the river Charles!

:D

:bounce:

:woohoo:

[deucemagnet]

11. This

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o29VoxtsFk

[SallyMander]

15. Heehee

When i was a kid i wanted to be She-Ra when i grew up... Princess of Power!!!

[Cabcere]

21. These guys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfC1jU_LkSc&feature=related

(not a Rickroll, I promise!) :D I grew up in their hometown of Staunton, VA, and they used to come back every year and do a free 4th of July concert in the park. :) I remember them doing this song and a few others (like "Don't Wait On Me" - that line about the sun coming up the west and setting in the east confused me for years, lol!) pretty clearly, and it always makes me smile to hear them. :) To me, that perfect harmony takes me back to many happy July 4th celebrations in the park with my family, sitting in lawn chairs under the stars and waiting for fireworks. Good times. :hi:

[SallyMander]

26. Aww, that's great!

I bet they were so fun to see in concert -- and especially sitting outside on a warm July night with your family. What a blast! :D

[Cabcere]

38. Looking back, it was kind of weird, I guess

but in a really awesome way. :) They are all really nice guys, always down-to-earth and friendly when we used to run into them around town, and so I don't think I realized that they were actually famous until I was much older. (And I didn't know about their connection to Johnny Cash until I was about 19 or 20!) :blush: So I guess I just kind of took it for granted - I mean, I went to preschool with one of their kids, so whenever I would see him around, my little brain would process it as "oh, that's ______'s Dad!" rather than "oh, that's one of the Statler Brothers!" :P Of course I knew he was a Statler Brother, but it didn't really connect that this regular person could also be famous...I don't know if that makes any sense, and I'm not sure it did to me at the time, lol, but it was always kind of this weird dichotomy thing going on with them for me. :shrug: :crazy: :hi:

(And yes, from what I can recall, they put on a great show!) :)

[drmeow]

23. The smell

of a middle eastern food market.

Lantana.

[SallyMander]

27. Mmm

Where did you grow up? I bet that is an amazing mix of aromas!

[drmeow]

45. Beirut, Lebanon

The first time I went into a store called Haji Baba here in Tempe I just stopped inside the door, inhaled, and thought - this is the way a food market is supposed to smell. I'm sure it is primarily a blend of spices - probably cardamom, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, sumac, cloves, and others but it is very distinct. Ironically, there is TONS of middle eastern food I don't like, much of which most likely uses those spices but I'm still amazed by the profound pleasure I get from the smell (while there are dishes I distinctly remember eating as a child, I don't think we ate that much Lebanese food - a lot of Lebanese food can be very time consuming to make and I think it took time for my parents to find recipes ... besides, I was only 11 when we left). Hell, just thinking about the smell now is giving me pleasure :) The feeling was the same the first time I actually managed to get a hold of a Shawarma rather than a Gyro - same concept, VERY different taste. When we came back to the US (So Ca) there really was nowhere to get real Arabic food - Greek was the closest we could find. Now its all over the place (at least 3 or 4 restaurants within about 3 miles of my house) and I love it.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

24. The smell of hotel air freshener

Reminds me first of family vacations, then secondly of the Holiday Inn near my house, where my family had pool club memberships and I would spend a good chunk of my summers--which reminds me of other, very bittersweet memories.

[SallyMander]

29. Sounds like a lot of stories there

I hope more good than bad! :hi:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

89. Well, actually just one bitersweet one in particular.

:)

[mitchum]

28. the smell of coffee and paint...

and vacuum tubes
barns and sheds
bright hot summer days
wax paper cups
seeing Johnny Carson on television
6:30 in the fall
A Hard Day's Night
mom and dad
many things

[SallyMander]

31. What a great list

It's almost a poem

I am especially intrigued by vacuum tubes! :hi:

[mitchum]

54. There was a family who lived up the street from us...

the dad and 2 teenage sons were all musicians. Their living room was filled with guitar amps and a drum set. I spent a lot of time with them; they were almost a second family.
Anyway...whenever a tube amplifier has been on for awhile, the circuitry starts giving off a slight, but very specific smell.
Since that time, I have smelled that tube amplifier smell countless times in studios, on stages, or at my my own home. Regardless of where I am at, everytime that I first get a whiff of that smell I am immediately transported back to that family's house.

Another notable thing was that the members of that family were southern Pentecostals, but they were nothing like the fundies of today. They were open-minded, kind, and loving people.

[Reverend_Smitty]

30. Quite a lot of things in the summer...

especially those slightly cool summer nights when it is just getting dark around 9:30pm and I'm just sitting outside enjoying a cool beverage, listening to the crickets chirp and the smell of a citronella candle is wafting in the air to keep the mosquitos away. Those evenings remind me of that great feeling when you are a kid in the summer and can stay up late because you don't have to worry about school in the morning.

Summer was my favorite time when I was a kid, for obvious reasons. I was never much a fan of the oppressive heat but one of the great joys in life was running into a cool house after getting all sweaty from playing outside and grabbing an icepop from the fridge. Nothing could rejuvenate me quite like icepops...especially the Fla-Vor-Ice ones :)

I can't wait for summer to come around again!

[SallyMander]

32. Oooh, Fla-Vor-Ice, YES!!!

I looooved those! My sister and i used to argue over the red ones. :D

Summer is just magical... sometimes i wish i lived somewhere that was warm year-round, but then i'm not sure if i'd appreciate summer so much.

[Reverend_Smitty]

33. I was always a fan of the green ones...

the best part was squeezing out the melted juice from the bottom of the container once all the ice was gone

It was such a nice day here Friday that I was thinking the same thing as you. Now it's cold again so we can enjoy the nice days even more when they come around.

[SallyMander]

35. Absolutely!

You could suck it up like a giant straw :D

:hug:

[fizzgig]

34. this

my mommy bought me one last week :bounce:

[SallyMander]

36. Fraggle Rock!!!

I loved that show! I think i still know the whole theme song :rofl:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSDeoO-j3G0

[fizzgig]

37. one of my favorite shows of all times

i still know the theme song, too :D

[BurtWorm]

39. I used to listen to Ken Coleman and Joe Castiglione in the late 1980s

I can hear their voices very distinctly.

*sigh*


But that wasn't my childhood.

:evilfrown:

[SallyMander]

40. It seems we spend most of our lives

being amazed at how old we are... "how could i POSSIBLY be X"... time flies, when you're hopefully having fun :) :hug:

[Aristus]

42. The smell of original formula Chap-Stick.

Is that the weirdest answer ever?

It reminds me of growing up in Arizona, where Chap-Stick was a year-round must, of course.

[cordelia]

80. Not the least bit strange to me...

It reminds me of my dad. He always had a tube of the original with him, and I still remember the smell. I carry Chap Stick with me always. Like father like son.

He's been gone 21 years and I still miss him.

Thanks for a sweet reminder.

[Lil Missy]

43. Family reunions! And funny you should ask this today!

I had the most WONDERFUL time last night. It was a 50th wedding anniversary celebration for my aunt and uncle. Us cousins sat together, and shared stories of all the shit we put my aunt and uncle, and grandparents through, when we were children.

We were awful, especially me and one of my cousins. It's a wonder we survived childhood. I have not laughed so hard for years, LOL!

[cyberswede]

44. two smells

The smell of Desitin actually reminds me of when I was a baby (or maybe when my sister was a baby, and I was 2).
The smell of tempera paint reminds me of early elementary school.

[mitchum]

83. Tempera paint also does it for me

[Tektonik]

46. Tumbleweeds and Joshua Trees

[Oeditpus Rex]

47. This:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACXta-oH1lU



And this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3CgLqQ2dKU

[Manifestor_of_Light]

48. Junket!

Did anybody else make Junket in a little machine with a crank on it? It was like ice cream custard.

[ThomCat]

49. The smell moldy hay and cow manure in a barn.

The smell and sight of swampy ground and overgrowth.

:loveya:

Yes, I know it's weird. But I love the barns and the animals and the woods and the swamps. :)

[Brigid]

50. Bugs Bunny cartoons.

My dad and his dad used to sit there and just kill themselves laughing at the roadrunner and coyote back in those days! :rofl:

[Skittles]

51. the smell of a cigar

my dad was a big fan of cigars

[crim son]

52. Any mention of Canada or Vancouver in particular.

I read your post and searched for pics. It made me sad and I gave up. How in HELL did I end up here in the U.S.?

[mainegreen]

53. The scent of decaying pine needles and moss. n/t

[Lars39]

55. Cherry pipe tobacco, lavender, woodfire burning in a stove

[abq e streeter]

56. watching THE STOOGES ( the three, not Iggy)

although I like em even more now---catching a lot of "grown-up" puns etc that went right past me when watching em on WGN in Chicago, such as an Arabian Sheik ( or something) named Hassan Bin Sober.

[datasuspect]

57. the smell of diesel exhaust

[billyskank]

58. A DeLorean at just under 90 mph.

;)

[grannylib]

59. The theme song for TV shows my Dad liked..."Mission: Impossible"

and "Mannix" and stuff like that. When Mom was out for the evening, at the golf club or at church or whatever, Dad would let me stay up late and watch TV with him, and those were two of his favorite shows.
I really miss him; he died about three years ago, and I'm glad he's at peace, but I miss him.

[Fire Walk With Me]

60. Time machines.

[DarkTirade]

73. Curses, you beat me to it.

:P

[SteppingRazor]

61. Smog.

Also, Huey Lewis and the News' "I Love L.A."

[ronnykmarshall]

78. I think that was Randy Newman.

Huey is SF'er. They would have ran him out on rail if he recorded that.

LA is dirty word in SF.

[geardaddy]

62. The taste of Pfeffernüße

:shrug:

[Cabcere]

66. Mmmmm...I love that stuff!

:9 Just discovered it a few years ago, though, so I can't say it was really part of my childhood. ;) :hi:

[geardaddy]

70. Yep. It is distinctive, init?

:9

[Deep13]

63. Fortunately, very little does.

Childhood sucked on toast.

[zanne]

64. The cobbler's shop.

I had to have my orthopedic shoes repaired and walked into the same cobbler's shop that was there when I was a kid. The smell of the place took me back about 30 years. The owners have changed, but the place looks the same. For about five minutes, I went back in time. Nice.

[Midlodemocrat]

65. The smell of the original Jergens lotion. My mom used it.

[Cabcere]

67. A couple of other things I thought of:

- Honeysuckle (the smell and taste) - at my old house it seemed like that stuff grew everywhere in the summer, and I used to love it. :)

- Flat wooden swings - the kind with a fitted board attached to two knotted ropes, if that makes any sense? :shrug: My great-grandfather used to have one of those inside the barn when I was a little kid - he made it himself, and he had two different boards that you could switch out, a small one for the little kids and a larger one for the adults/older kids. My cousins and I had some good times on that swing, but unfortunately my great-grandfather's barn burned down when I was still quite young. :( They got a tire swing a few years later on the big tree out front, and that was a lot of fun, too, but the flat board swing was just really fun and unique, even though my memories of it are kind of hazy. :shrug:

[lost-in-nj]

68. There is a squeak in the floor

of my mom's old bedroom. when we tore up the linoleum.... yes it was linoleum
we tried to fix it.... but couldn't

so when I walk on it and hear it....


it brings me back

I live in the house I grew up in

also Charcoal briquet's
and starter fluid for it


:hi:


lost

[avasmom]

69. Holly hobbie and drinking cherry kool-aid with the kids

i still have my original holly hobbie from around '75

[BeachBaby]

76. Awwww, me too! You and I must be about

the same age (39).

I still have her, although her braids are pretty shabby and her one arm is loose.

Did you have the lunchbox....and the bedspread....and the lamp? :)

[avasmom]

86. yep

and what is weird is that one arm is loose on mine, too (and the braids are pretty shabby!)- i still have 'er!

i also had Heather, Holly Hobbie's best friend... but i lost heather somewhere along the way... :-)

[ronnykmarshall]

71. Smell of hay.

Reminds me of my grandparents farm.

Smell of motorcycle exhaust and gas. We had dirt bikes when I was young and we used to go riding almost every weekend.

Now before you say "Ronny riding a dirt bike??" .... I used to pretend I was a bond girl ... ok a BUTCH bond girl. My brother and I used to chase each other on the trails and then skid to stops, throw off our helmets and get into cat fights. My dad thought it was funny.

[PassingFair]

72. Spankings.

Just kidding.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

74. The scent of freshly mowed grass, a particular starling song, and

the sight of a sunbeam at just the right angle...that orangey late-afternoon glow that illuminates flecks of dust in the air.

[Alexander]

75. Salvia.

Also the smell of basement.

[New Earth]

77. there are a few for me

the tv show MASH...my grandpop used to watch it all the time.

One really good one - baseball games. Also something my grandpop used to watch a lot. Whenever one would be on, he would be into it watching it, but to me I just liked it as background noise to take a nap. Something about it was just comforting :shrug: It was also the same around my dad and uncles - whenever baseball was on, it felt like naptime. Not that I find it boring, I actually kind of like it now. It just comforts me I guess.

I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of right now.

[Mezzo]

79. the smell of fresh honeysuckle and the smell of fresh cut grass. nt

[Miss Carly]

81. the smell of play doh....

cherry popsicles
KOMA radio Oklahoma city, it was the only station we could get at night on the a.m. radio
Carly

[BeachBaby]

82. Sounds, sights, smells......

Sounds:
~~My cousin's backyard band - he lived a block away from me, and at night when I was laying in bed next to the screened window, I could hear "Smoke on the Water" and "Stairway to Heaven" being played, over and over.

~~I lived in a rowhouse my first ten years. Louise, our old lady neighbor, played the organ every night, and we could hear it through the walls. Her parakeet sang along.

~~My Polish side of the family, and the boistrous Polish-speak whenever they got together.

~~Patsy Cline and Hank Williams music being played whenever I was at my grandmom's house - she had a habit of playing it when she was drinking. :(

~~Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" being played at the community lake during the summer.

~~Pink Floyd's "The Wall", and the "Grease" soundtracks

~~The "clip-clip-clip" sound of Mrs. Engler's rose clippers as she cut roses in the morning

Sights:

~~The ice cream truck rolling down the street

~~Waking up to see a half-foot of snow, and immediately realizing there would be no school

~~Banana-seat bikes with fringes on the handles

Smells:

~~My neighbor, Mr. Showalter, smoking his pipe every night after dinner, on his front porch - the smell would waft into my bedroom

~~Campfires on the beach

~~The smell of "Pledge" furniture polish when my mom cleaned on Saturday mornings

~~My grandmom's two signature scents: "Babe" and "Jean Nate" :)

[Adsos Letter]

84. The smell of oak trees and dry field grass on a hot summer night....

works every time...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

85. this song and everything it mentions

the sights, the smells, the sounds, the people....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_GAGqbapMc


The local rock group down the street
Is trying hard to learn their song
Seranade the weekend squire, who just came out to mow his lawn

Another pleasant valley sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Rows of houses that are all the same
And no one seems to care

See mrs. gray shes proud today because her roses are in bloom
Mr. green hes so serene, hes got a t.v. in every room

Another pleasant valley sunday
Here in status symbol land
Mothers complain about how hard life is
And the kids just dont understand

Creature comfort goals
They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see
My thoughts all seem to stray, to places far away
I need a change of scenery

Ta ta ta...

Another pleasant valley sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Another pleasant valley sunday
Here in status symbol land

[tigereye]

87. the sound of trains at night

and the smells of orange sherbert and licorice.

[ThatsMyBarack]

88. Recently posted photos of where I went to camp in the '80s!

An all-girls' camp in Minong, WI, called Birch Trail. They used to have an annual color war called Pow Wow Day. We all dressed up like Indians and played crazy games. The four tribes were Cherokee (blue), Kickapoo (green), Chippewa (yellow), and Sioux (red).

For example, here is a photo of Pow Wow Day 1982. Don't look for me in this photo. It's all older kids and counselors, but you get the idea of how wonderfully colorful this experience was!:

[applegrove]

90. Hugging my pillow like I used to hug my mac dog stuffed animal brings

me right back to childhood. I feel safe and secure when I do that.

[KatyaR]

91. The smell of fresh plastic--

it always makes me think of my Barbie doll case. It had space for two dolls and their clothing. It was one of my favorite things, because I could pack it up when I went to my grandparents' house.

Songs--"Since I Fell For You" by Lennie Welch and "Town Without Pity" by Gene Pitney--both of those immediately take me back to singing in the mirror next to the radio in my grandmother's bedroom. I would use a hairbrush as a microphone. Both those songs send ice-cold chills down my spine still to this day.

Baseball on TV--my grandmother and I used to watch the Saturday afternoon games on NBC (?) on her little, tiny television. I rooted for anybody with Oklahomans on the team, so that meant the Yankees for Mickey Mantle and Bobby Mercer and the Cincinnati Reds for Johnny Bench. Grandma used to order me a season program of some kind from Texaco that had all the team lineups and schedules in it.

As you can see, a lot of my good memories are tied to my grandmother--she was an awesome lady, and I really miss her.

[yellowdogintexas]

92. fresh cut grass, honeysuckle in the spring and summer

really good pie
when I am in Kentucky everything takes me straight back to childhood, esp if I am there in the fall when the tobacco barns are firing