Aromas of Yesteryear (Cincinnati, Wooster, Washington: house, university, camp)

[goyguy]

Along with visual landmarks that disappear over time, there are some olfactory ones. Here are a few Cincinnati smells from my youth in the 1960's and '70s that no longer fill the air:

Peach, mint, and other improbably sweet odors from the deKuyper Cordials distillery in Carthage, and nearby Fries & Fries (a perfume manufacturer)

The Mill Creek on hot summer days, and the Kluener slaughterhouse in Camp Washington - neither of these are missed

Mass-production baking at the old Wonder Bread plant in Evanston by Xavier University

What did your nose know?

[Wilson513]

The Darling Company on Este Ave. where decomposing animals lay dead in an open trench covered with maggots and waiting to be made into glue. Now Griffen Industries.

[kjbrill]

The Rubel rye bread bakery.

Seagram's Distillery in Lawrenceburg. There are still some distillery operations there, but a shadow of its former self.

Thankfully some good smell places are still around, such as Grippos on Colerain, Husmans with multiple locations in the area, and Mike-Sells. Klostermans seems to be holding up the commercial bakery bread operation against national competition.

[t45209]

I remember some odd, nearly indescribable smell that used to hang around Procter & Gamble or Jergens. In the '70s it used to hit you every time you went past Ivorydale on I-75. The only other place I have smelled that smell was in the drawer of an old Duncan Phyfe end table at my grandparents house. I don't know what they kept in there, but whatever it was, that soapy industrial smell lingered in there for years.

[Ohiogirl81]

I grew up downwind from a paper plant; I'm thinking there is no more horrid industrial smell other than maybe a slaughterhouse.

When I worked at the Freestore on McMicken Avenue, the nearby industrial odor was the grease from the Husman's plant. When we moved to Tennessee Avenue, it was Klosterman's. Much nicer.

Then I began working at the Ballet over on Central Parkway, and could smell the hops from the brewery across the street. Now I do love beer, but that smell was kinda nasty. Fortunately, if Ollie's Trolley was barbecuing out in the parking lot, that yummy smell would overtake the hops.

At my house in Madisonville, I could smell the Keebler bakery in Fairfax if the wind was right and if they were making chocolate chip cookies (they never tasted quite as good as they smelled ... ). If they were baking something else -- Town House or Club crackers, or Pecan Sandies -- I couldn't smell it at the house, just as I drove by the factory.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by t45209

I remember some odd, nearly indescribable smell that used to hang around Procter & Gamble or Jergens. In the '70s it used to hit you every time you went past Ivorydale on I-75. The only other place I have smelled that smell was in the drawer of an old Duncan Phyfe end table at my grandparents house. I don't know what they kept in there, but whatever it was, that soapy industrial smell lingered in there for years.

Ivorydale smelled of a detergent column. They never could get that smell under control. I would stop there every morning on the way up to the Center Hill Tech Center and it would just about knock me out. People that were there all day didn't notice it.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Thankfully some good smell places are still around, such as Grippos on Colerain, Husmans with multiple locations in the area, and Mike-Sells. Klostermans seems to be holding up the commercial bakery bread operation against national competition.

Husman's closed their plant when they were purchased by Pinnacle Foods' Snyder of Berlin. All of their product is produced in Berlin, PA.

Husman to close local chip plant

Before their retirement, my uncles complained of having to pick up their loads by the airport rather than OTR.

Personally, my favorite smells were the smell of cookies at the Keebler factory in Fairfax and the smell of Crest/Scope at the P&G Toilet Goods Plant.

[tntnb]

Emmert Grain factory on Dunlap Street in the west end. My mother worked in an awning factory across the street and the grain factory always smelled ... interesting.

Also the stench near the old Kahn's factory in Camp Washington. My father's friend ran a filling station nearby.

Hmmm, how about a good smell? The sizzle of brats and metts at the various festivals in the summer. Or fresh roasted peanuts purchased from Peanut Jim Shelton before a Reds game.

[buckeyenative01]

The Keebler factory in Fairfax. Driving along Wooster Pike at certain times of the day was pleasant, albeit unintentionally cruel (I'm a diabetic)

I don't know if its still around, or not? I moved from Cincinnati 15 years ago.

[franke01]

Hilton Davis in Golf Manor in the 50's.

An oddly pungent/sweet smell permeated the air during all my years at Our Mother of Sorrows.

I don't know if there is any connection but I never needed a night light because my nostrils glowed.