In a previous article I described some of the sounds of yesterday. This brought to mind some of the aromas that permeated the air in my youth. Call them what you might; aromas, smells, odors, fragrances, scents and just plain stinks, while growing up in South Philadelphia one is exposed to many of them. Some are pleasant and some are just bad smells.

    For instance, in the spring and fall, the windows are opened for ventilation. The aroma of garlic and onions being fried in olive oil waifs through the open windows. That smell stirs up the taste buds. These are the ingredients for the gravy that will soon go onto the stove to cook for about four hours. The gravy, while it is cooking, has it's own aroma.

    Pizza, homemade pizza had an indescribable aroma. It was unique to the household where it was being cooked. Different toppings gave a different aroma. I have always liked anchovies on my pizza.

    The smell of broccoli rabe being cooked made us look for a roll or a piece of Italian bread. We just had to sample it!

    Baccala on Fridays made the neighborhood smell like a fish market. What a great smell it made while cooking. It tasted just as good as it smelled.

    The bakery with the smell of fresh baked bread and rolls. Early in the morning the gigantic exhaust fan would spread that aroma throughout the neighborhood. The wonderful aroma made you imagine how good fresh baked, crispy bread would taste if it were dipped into the gravy. 

    Lipton's bakery had a mouth-watering aroma. Twice a day, the smell of baking cinnamon rolls emitted from the bakery. It was like a magnet drawing customers who would then line up to buy some fresh baked sticky buns for their table.

    As one passed by Mancuso's cheese store, the aroma of fresh cheese floated out the door. Buy some it said - and we did!

    The peanut store on paa-shunk avenue always had wonderful aromas also.

That store was hard to pass without stopping in for a bag of freshly roasted nuts. 

    Do you remember the smell of the rain? I love that smell. I always think of what combination of things made up that aroma. It always brings up some delightful memories.

    They say - slow down and smell the roses. I often did . . . down the Lakes. Roses they weren't but the variety of woodsy smells that were there - were pleasant. The Lakes is about the only green place we had in South Philadelphia. 

    I remember the smell of fresh mint leaves Grandpa Achille chewed as a breath freshener. This delightful aroma still brings back fond memories of him.

    The smell of grapes being crushed, the pressed skins and stems, the wooden grape boxes and the fermenting of the juice all remind me of Grandpa Achille's annual ritual of wine making. I think I started drinking his wine when I was about four years old. Now it is very rare to find anyone who makes wine at home.

    The pungent smell of melting tar in the roofer's tar heater drifted throughout the neighborhood. Today there aren't any kids waiting to grab some tar drippings for chewing though.

    The smell of the culverts (coal bins) which had not been cleaned in a while and into which no rain had recently fallen.

    The stench of dog and horse manure simmering in the hot summer sun, with hardly a breeze to blow it away.

    The odor from the oil refineries was bad. But even worse was the wonderful smell that the distillery on Front Street belched out. Don't try this at home but one way to describe this smell is to (just imagine this): put dog manure on bread - put it into a very hot oven until it was incinerated. That aroma is close - but not as bad as the odor coming from the plant . . . daily. It was a terrible smell that you won't ever forget. 

    I'm sure I have not included all of the aromas I remember but I hope this stirs up some memories of the aromas from your youth. Ya know, we have scrap books for pictures, video and tape recorders for those special times in our life but we don't have any way to capture the smells of our yesterdays. What a marvelous invention it would be if someone could construct such a device. It could be made to bring back some of the wonderful smells - and the wonderful memories which went along with those smells. But for now we can only smell those aromas of yesterday in our memories.