Autumn has descended upon the Southern reaches of the Atlantic Seaboard, and with the lower temperatures comes a smell like no other–it is a crispness that I can't describe. Also, with the holidays approaching fast, it is hard not to remember back to when I was a kid by the way things smelled. There was something about this time of year…
We didn't use any frou-frou spritzers, the house just smelled like, well, the holidays. Mom would bake, and one thing she does to this day is doctor recipes. She'll add ginger or cloves to the standard Toll House or Quaker Oatmeal cookie recipes (along with nuts and raisins–she puts nuts, raisins, and chocolate chips in most of her holiday cookies), which creates this awesome aroma throughout the house. Whenever I think of Christmas as a kid, I remember the way the house smelled…
And that thought, of course, led me to other smells that remind me of places. For instance, back before the chain auto parts stores, you used to go to the dingy little place that just happened to have what you wanted–and it had a smell all it's own. Similar to the chains, the smell was a mix of rubber, petro-chemicals, new carpet, and a potpourri of the various air fresheners. Sporting goods stores back in the day used to smell of canvas, black powder, crickets, and rubber worms (and, if you are lucky enough to have a Sportsman's Warehouse, Gander Mountain, Bass Pro Shops, or Cabella's nearby, they smell the same way)…
Hobby shops–the original, tiny Mom-and-Pop places, had a smell all their own, too. Back in the day, the shops carried model airplane dope, and when you mix that aroma in with that of glow fuel, Testor's paint, musty boxes, and real model airplane glue (the stuff with Toluene and mustard oil), you get an odor that will never escape you. I didn't really notice it when I was a kid, but as I got older, I would catch a whiff every time I was in the local emporium. And, at the time, Warrick Custom Hobbies would also sell fireworks at various times of the year, so you would get that "hobby shop smell" mixed in with that of black powder. It made for a memorable smell, one that I miss.
The modern hobby shop, whether it be a chain store or one of the ever-dwindling Mom-and-Pop shops, doesn't have that smell, particularly if that store hasn't been in business that long. There is one shop here in Columbia, though, that has a bit of that smell to it–he specializes in model railroading, so you replace the smell of glow fuel with that of the various light oils used to lubricate the locomotives, and maybe add the lacquer smell of Scalecoat and Floquil paints, and you get a variation of the hobby shop aroma. It doesn't hurt that this place is basically located in an old house–it is rather cramped–and he's been there for years. There are no aisles, there are small areas where you can sort of shuffle along and see what's on the shelves. There is stuff piled everywhere, so it makes finding things a bit of a treasure hunt–but nobody complains. It is reminiscent of the cabinets behind the counter at Orange Blossom Hobbies–I'm not sure if even Joe, the owner, knows what's in a given location. But whenever I feel nostalgic for the good old days, I'll stop in at Joe's and see what's new–and take in that hobby shop smell.
It is certainly a shame that time and progress march ever onward. "New and Improved" isn't necessarily so…
We're winding down on the current project at work–with that, I have every intention of visiting the Lafayette Scale Modelers this weekend for their model show in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I'll do my best to take some pictures and share them with you.
Be good to one another. I bid you Peace.