Smell, Memory & Emotions

[admin]

When I smell fresh, homemade Italian food - sauce, meatballs and sausage - cooking in the kitchen, it brings back great childhood memories and feelings. When I smell burgers on the grill, or salt water at the beach, it makes me think of summer vacations when I was a kid.
How many times have you experienced or heard of someone describing the positive emotional reaction they get from passersby as they smoke their pipe. "That reminds me of my grandfather! He smoked a pipe!"
Here's what's interesting - from Tobacconist University ...

The power of an odor to trigger memories and emotions is remarkably strong. In fact, signals from our olfactory region (in our nasal cavity) travel directly through the limbic system, which is the part of our brain responsible for memory and emotions. For this reason it appears, smells can prompt amazingly vivid memories and trigger extreme emotional responses from people; TU refers to this powerful effect as smemory.
It is not surprising therefore, that lovers of luxury tobacco typically have fond memories of the aromas associated with it. Many people who love cigars or pipes had a loving relative or friend that shared their passion with them. Other aficionados remember the special moments, conversations, experiences, and good times they have had while smoking or smelling great tobacco.
In fact, the aromas we sense during positive experiences help anchor those emotions deeper into our brains and psyche. So, a great cigar or pipe tobacco can literally improve the quality of your life.

There is more on this topic, plus a great touching short story here.

 

[bootlegbonvivant]

There was only one person I remember as a child who smoked pipes and he wasn't even family. They were good friends with my grandparents. I remember looking at Frank's pipes with complete curiosity and amusement. To be honest, I cannot place any smell reference to those pipes, but the home always smelled of food and I suppose a type of tobacco that was smoked. It was always welcome and warming to the soul.
Aside from my grandmother's and great-grandmother's cooking, what really sets my memories off is getting close to an airport and smelling the mixture of jet fuel, grease, and bad coffee. I grew up with my grandfather in avionics and flying a Cesna with him, or playing in his shop where he repaired electronics for planes. Then my dad was the 3rd shift supervisor at the small airport across the tarmac from Dayton International Airport. Those memories range from playing in the hangars, riding on tugs, to going with my dad on re-fueling runs to keep FedEx, UPS, and other freight planes going through the nights, sometimes getting to meet the captains and take tours of the cockpit.

 

[juvat270]

I too had always read that the "sense" most closely tied to memory was our sense of smell, and nothing seems to prove that more than the smell of pipe tobacco. Whenever I smell Captain Black or Velvet, it's like a time machine that immediately transports me back to being a kid visiting my grandparents house. The memories triggered by those two tobaccos are that strong.

 

[lordnoble]

Our sense of smell is so interesting. A slight whiff of something can bring back a flood of emotions and memories. The smell of bacon brings the thought of breakfast to many, even though everyone knows bacon goes with everything.
It's funny, Kevin. I think I have always been destined to smoke a pipe. Back in the late 70's, early 80's when I'd go with my parents to the mall whenever we'd go by the store with the wooden "indian" statue, I'd run into the store and breathe in the heady odors of the pipe tobaccos contained therein. My uncle smoked a pipe and when we'd go to his house, I'd smell his tobacco pouch (which much to the dismay of some, it *probably* always contained Borkum Riff Whiskey). It took me a while to get here, but now that I'm here I can't see it any other way.
-Jason