That smell of ozone and popcorn… it hit me today. šŸŽ®

RetroBerg

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Stopped by a small bowling alley today and caught a faint hum from an old Cruis'n USA in the corner. You know that sound, that soft CRT buzz mixed with burnt dust and popcorn oil. Instant time warp. I was 12 again, pockets full of quarters, trying to stretch $5 into an afternoon. The glow, the chatter, the sticky floor, man, it all came rushing back.

Crazy how a single sound and smell can yank you right back to the golden days of arcades.

Anyone else have those random flashback moments like that?
 
Every time I walk into Galloping Ghost. Or any Beercade (1, 2 in Omaha, the three of them in New York)

My home arcade is carpeted, so I don't get the sticky floor feeling of a theater or bowling alley. Or the smell, since I scrub my cabinets down to get the old smoke off them as much as possible.
 
Every time I walk into Galloping Ghost. Or any Beercade (1, 2 in Omaha, the three of them in New York)

My home arcade is carpeted, so I don't get the sticky floor feeling of a theater or bowling alley. Or the smell, since I scrub my cabinets down to get the old smoke off them as much as possible.
:D Nothing beats the old arcade funk, even if we spend half our time trying to scrub it off at home. šŸ˜„ Carpet's definitely the cleaner upgrade though!
 
Grinkers, naturally. Hopefully to rise again someday.
 
Depending on the ambient temperature in my basement arcade, the smell of the games brings back instantaneous memories of either the arcades I went to or the beginning of my "arcade collecting career". Ooooo, luv that smell.

And when I smell the scent of Simple Green (or Windex), that also reminds me of picking up and then cleaning the games. :)

 
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Depending on the ambient temperature in my basement arcade, the smell of the games brings back instantaneous memories of either the arcades I went to or the beginning of my "arcade collecting career". Ooooo, luv that smell.

And when I smell the scent of Simple Green (or Windex), that also reminds me of picking up and then cleaning the games. :)

Oh man, I totally get that. The smell of the cabinets is like a time machine. Nothing like that "freshly restored" vibe after a long cleanup session!
 
Depending on the ambient temperature in my basement arcade, the smell of the games brings back instantaneous memories of either the arcades I went to or the beginning of my "arcade collecting career". Ooooo, luv that smell.

And when I smell the scent of Simple Green (or Windex), that also reminds me of picking up and then cleaning the games. :)

Same here when ever I whip out the Simple Green. I also buy Glass Plus for the memories.
 
Every time I walk into Galloping Ghost. Or any Beercade (1, 2 in Omaha, the three of them in New York)

My home arcade is carpeted, so I don't get the sticky floor feeling of a theater or bowling alley. Or the smell, since I scrub my cabinets down to get the old smoke off them as much as possible.
GGA has an aroma that just smells like nerd punching you in the face
 
When I first started collecting, I didn't know what I was doing. I bought a Defender and had it shipped in. The first time i turned it on, the smell and the sounds gave me goosebumps.
That's awesome, nothing beats that first power-up moment.
 
Stopped by a small bowling alley today and caught a faint hum from an old Cruis'n USA in the corner. You know that sound, that soft CRT buzz mixed with burnt dust and popcorn oil. Instant time warp. I was 12 again, pockets full of quarters, trying to stretch $5 into an afternoon. The glow, the chatter, the sticky floor, man, it all came rushing back.

Crazy how a single sound and smell can yank you right back to the golden days of arcades.

Anyone else have those random flashback moments like that?
100% right there with you. Had a similar experience at a dumpy hotel which had a small Arcade and a few sit-down Hydro Thunders!
 
Not arcade-related, but my grandmother's house, whom I lived with from ages 15-20, was up for sale eight years ago. I went to look at it and considered buying it. I went into the bathroom. There was one of these closets that was in the wall, but didn't go to the floor. I opened it up, and the smell of powder hit me like a ton of bricks. This exact smell was always there as long as I can remember. You always got that whiff when opening the door. This was something I hadn't thought of in 27 years (at the time) and it all came rushing back. It was a HUGE realization of the power of smells. It was something I'll never forget, it was so powerful.

The bonus was the one one-inch tile that grout had come out and the tile was sitting in the floor loose. Several buyers had come and gone since she passed and the house went up for sale. For whatever reason, that one tile had never been glued, regrouted, whatever. Not a smell but something else I hadn't thought of in the 27 years. It was the most serious blast from the past I'd ever experienced.
 
Smells have a stronger link to memory and emotion than any of the other senses, also known as the 'Proust effect'. Smell, according to research, is the only sense you fully develop at a young age.

"Olfactory memory is the recollection of scents and how they trigger vivid, emotional memories, often from childhood. This happens because the olfactory bulb has direct connections to the amygdala (involved in emotion) and the hippocampus (involved in memory), unlike other senses which are routed through the thalamus first. As a result, smells can immediately evoke a strong memory and associated emotions."

…this from a collection of Google searches/ai.
 
Your post reminded me of another sensory perception that I never get to experience anymore - the sound of an arcade worker counting out quarters from that belt mounted coin dispenser.

I need to find one of those!
 
OMG this thread has me reminiscing about scents.



...and I LOVE it.
 
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