I Smell Christmas

Of the five senses, nothing triggers memories and the emotions related to those memories like the sense of smell. I had a friend that would say, "that's a childhood smell." It's true, isn't it? We can hear certain sounds and relate them to the past, but when we smell a familiar scent, all the feelings can come back with it.

That memory trigger ties right into the holidays, too. Certain smells tell us it's Christmas time and the folks that make Febreze asked people what smells trigger their Christmas memories.

What were the "good" and "bad" smells of Christmas?

One of the strange things is that many people found that even the "bad" smells of the holidays reminded them of "good" things at Christmas!

65% of respondents said that the scent of freshly baked goodies took them down memory lane, but 1 in 10 said that the smell of an attic or storage room also conjured up the sentimental holiday memories.

Another unique scent that helped jog nostalgic memories included the smell of wrapping paper and tape, which 43% of Americans said reminds them of the holidays.

One of the most popular smells is, of course, a real Christmas tree.

Here's one I don't get to smell often, but when I was a kid, we used a ton of this stuff.