20 smells that will take you right back to the 1970s
Time for your daily dose of nose-stalgia.
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/Dw4ST-1532543650-1163-lists-70ssmells_main_1200.jpg)
It's a question that younger generations always ask: What did the 1970s smell like?
Well, kids, we're here to help. Fair warning: scratching and sniffing your screen will not produce the desired effect / odor.
However, if you grew up in the decade, the mere mention of the following items will bring back olfactory memories.
Take a whiff and see if these trigger any feelings for you. Are there any other scents from that decade that linger?
1. Musk
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/xhIuo-1532544210-12257-list_items-smells_musk.jpg)
It was a musky decade, overall, whether you wore Jovan, Old Spice or English Leather.
2. Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/D9LPk-1532544248-12258-list_items-smells_geeyour.jpg)
The greatest shampoo name — if not product name — of all time. The floral scent still lingers, perhaps because it's still sold somewhere, somehow.
3. Lemon Up
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/9acjY-1532544442-12259-list_items-smells_lemonup.jpg)
Or, those who wanted a bright, citrus scent washed with this brand.
4. Body on Tap
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/HgBR8-1532544482-12260-list_items-smells_bodyontap.jpg)
Or, if you wanted that fresh "I hang out at the bar" feeling, there was Body on Tap, the shampoo made with beer.
5. Fondue
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/Q0xoB-1532544506-12261-list_items-smell_fondue.jpg)
Molten cheese, with a strong undercurrent of Sterno can.
6. Leaded gasoline
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/PBi8p-1532544597-12262-list_items-smell_leadedgas.jpg)
Gas stations never smelled the same once we all went unleaded.
7. Naugahyde
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/4SHeh-1532544681-12263-list_items-smell_naugahyde.jpg)
Whether it was wrapped around your dad's favorite chair or covering the interior of your Chevy Caprice, it had that not-really-leather smell, not to mention sound.
8. Super Elastic Bubble Plastic
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/GEldA-1532544769-12264-list_items-smells_superelastic.jpg)
This gummy Wham-O toy smelled like science and health hazards.
9. Creepy Crawlers
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/7dozi-1532544833-12265-list_items-smells_creepycrawlers.jpg)
Speaking of toys with a distinctive scent, there was this particular plastic odor, to balance out the sweet, light-bulb brownies of the Easy Bake Oven.
10. Hai Karate
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/352xI-1532544876-12266-list_items-smells_haikarate.jpg)
The smell of men who take action. Or, well, live in their first bachelor pad.
11. Love's Baby Soft
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/I2swd-1532544945-12267-list_items-smells_babysoft.jpg)
The counterpart to Hai Karate.
12. Herbel Essence
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/iXHdN-1532545020-12268-list_items-smell_herbalessence.jpg)
We're talking the original shampoo formula. Don't go huffing the stuff in drugstores now thinking it'll bring back memories.
13. Rubber cement
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/gv3N8-1532545075-12269-list_items-smells_rubbercement.jpeg)
We loved how the little brush was attached to the cap.
14. Ditto machines
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/oIdiC-1532547661-12270-list_items-smell_dittomachine.png)
Ah, that purple ink.
15. Polaroid film canisters
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/cpSPT-1532547765-12271-list_items-smells_polaroid.jpg)
Touching your phone screen just isn't the same.
16. Aramis
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/k58td-1532548021-12272-list_items-smells_aramis.jpg)
Leathery, woody, with a hint of cumin and gardenia… Or so Estée Lauder claimed. It was introduced in 1964 and took off in the Seventies.
17. Charlie
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/bniFB-1532548054-12273-list_items-smells_charlie.jpg)
Charlie aimed at the new city woman. It was like Mary Tyler Moore in a bottle.
18. Card catalogs
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/s7AUk-1532548467-12274-list_items-smells_cardcatalog_is.jpg)
Musty, papery and redolent of book reports.
19. Vanish crystals
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/yB1x6-1532548232-12275-list_items-smells_vanish.jpg)
Keep toilets minty for decades.
20. Linoleum
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/08pD1-1532548318-12276-list_items-smells_linoleum.jpg)
The rubbery smell of kitchen floors.
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![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/Svengoolie-Adult-Tshirt.jpg_300x300.jpg)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/products/LB209-AT_1.jpg?v=1673541856?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/Svenooglie-Womens-Tshirt.jpg_300x300.jpg)
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19 Comments
![](/images/wcs_logged_out_user.gif)
Led Zeppelin had a song out about "squeezing" their Lemon, until the juice ran down their legs!
#8- Super-nauseous-caustic-bubbles!
#19- Takes the prize for worst smell of the decade!
Vermont Country Store sells Lemon Up (which I tried) & "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific" (yikes what a name!)
#9 - Remember the Thingmaker? Basically a hot plate.
#11 - That was a creepy ad campaign...
#13 - We used to make rubber cement balls and bounce them around the classroom.
#19 - Nothing got the toilet cleaner...
#20 - Things just haven't been the same since they went to vinyl.... And, of course, the adjunct to linoleum: floor wax, another distinctive smell...