Ohhh that smell...

Some smells may remind you of a memory. I can admit anytime I smell one of those hard strawberry candies wrapped in the strawberry look-alike wrapper, I am transported back into the 80's and in my great grandmother's house where she kept a candy dish full of them in her living room. 

Recently, a reader of mine who emails me every so often sent me a bunch of 1989 Topps Jumbo packs (thanks Mike!) and a familiar smell whisked me away to a memory I had of when I was 7 back in 1989. There I was making my rounds with my dad on my birthday after I was picked up from the bus stop. When I stepped out, my dad saw me wearing a birthday hat which my 2nd grade teacher made for every kid on their birthday. It was almost like a crown, and I wore it proudly all day. When I got into my dad's truck, we then made a quick stop at our local Foodland to pick up a birthday cake. On our way back, we stopped by my grandparent's place of business where they sold RV's and RV accessories. When I got in the door, I remember grabbing a balloon from the many they had in the doorway for kids when they came into their place of business. I walked past the register and turned to my left and headed into my grandfather's office. Anytime I saw him I always took the hat he was wearing and turned it backwards. He'd always yell at me, "Dammit B.J.!" Another thing you should know about these grandparents was that they never called me by my first name. They told my dad after I was born that they HATED my name and refused to ever use it, so I was always referred to by my initials. Because of this, my cousins never actually called me Bryan either. It was always B.J. or Beej. Am I a bit upset by this? Maybe, but after over 40 years of it, it's the least of my worries. After I said "Hello" to my grandfather, I stopped in the kitchen which was right next to my grandfather's office and my grandmother was in there. She said "Happy Birthday" to me and gave me a small bag with a card in a blue envelope. Inside the bag was a jumbo pack of 1989 Topps. I know I noted in my 100 post that these grandparents didn't ever get me anything, well a certain smell from those 1989 Topps packs generated this memory from my brain and I have been mistaken. 

My grandparent's kitchen in their businesses building had a brown picnic table with 4 benches. I sat down on the bench near the window with the table always wrapped in an ugly yellow tablecloth, I pushed the birthday crown out of my eyes and began to tear open those packs. Afterwards, we would tear into my cake. We had a mini-birthday party for me that day because I asked for a birthday party with friends instead of family that year. My parents ponied up to get the McDonald's Play Place for me and 5 friends. 

Anyways, these were the first of many 1989 Topps packs I would open that year. Immediately I noticed the smell of the cards. It wasn't like that familiar smell from the previous year's Topps packs in 1988. No, this smell was different. I don't remember who I pulled from those packs that day, but I do remember that smell. Does anyone know what I'm talking about. The cardboard they used that year combined with the crappy gum, it just sends a wave of nostalgia through my body. 

Pictured: me with a stack of 1989 Topps, a birthday cake with 7 candles, birthday hat in my eyes, the yellow tablecloth and a killer Pittsburgh Pirates shirt!

So, I guess I will be diving back into the 1989 Topps set. When I sold my collection to that guy in New Jersey back in 2004, with it went my hand collated set of 1989 Topps Baseball. Thanks to Mike (who I don't even believe follows my blog, he just reads it), I will be heading back into the world of nostalgia. Smelling that familiar smell once again and being reminded of being 7 again and a time when my grandparents maybe cared about me a little more than I had remembered. Also, for the record, I pulled a Gregg Jefferies in the first pack! 

1989 Topps (note Keith Atherton is the last card in the box)

Thanks for reading.