Sometimes when I am out thrifting i am drawn to certain smells and sights. I am not sure why. It always comes down to childhood memories. I spent a good amount of time at
my grandparents house. A lot of my memories happened there. For example, the coffee can tin in the photo mentions A & P. Its much older than I but brings back the memory of standing in the checkout line with my grandmother at the neighborhood A & P grocery store. That is where she would grind her coffee beans. The smell was of the adult world. Morning smells of my grandmother brewing coffee for my grandfather before work. Now, I can't function without coffee in the morning.
My grandparents basement was also a cornucopia of intriguing odors. My grandfather had a workbench where he kept old tins full of nails and screws. Most were tobacco related tins as he was a pipe smoker. I remember the Prince Albert tins along with Bugler. I still have my grandfather's pipe and it still has a slight odor after 60+ years.
Bathroom smells consisted of talcum powder tins. The bathroom always had a perfume smell. It went right along with the chalk ware fish on the tiled bathroom walls. You could also find Colgate tooth powder tins, baby powder tins and perfume powder tins. These talc tins
had beautiful graphics.
Lastly, the kitchen smells of spice tins were strong during cooking or baking hours. There were McCormick spice tins, Quaker, Durkee and A & P. The smells of cinnamon, clover, nutmeg and pepper were dominant. The sound of the tins when you squeezed them made you chuckle.
Our lives are intertwined with subtle memories that make us smile and feel warm inside. Sometimes its fleeting but its there no matter when we least expect it and sometimes when we need it. So, when you are at a garage sale or thrifting somewhere stop and take the time
to smell the memories of times past.
What a fun trip down memory lane!