nostalgia

One of the most distinctive features of the human sense of smell is that it bypasses the brain's sensory filters and goes straight to the limbic system, where memories and emotions reside. That's why a simple smell can bring you right back to a place in time in an emotional way that even a photograph or a song can't do.

Scents have an incredible way of taking us to a specific time and place, and for those of us who lived through the 1980s, certain smells act like a wormhole to the Reagan era, a time defined by big hair, Cold War tensions, and New Wave music.

ThrillaRilla39, an X user who frequently posts about nostalgia, asked their followers, "What did the '80s smell like?" The question received nearly 6,000 responses. The scents people shared are sure to bring readers back to a time when you didn't come home until the streetlights came on and everyone was still wondering who shot J.R. Ewing.

Two answers, in particular, really stood out: cigarettes and Aqua Net hairspray. It makes sense. In 1980, 33.2 percent of American adults smoked cigarettes, compared with just 11.6 percent in 2022. You could smoke just about anywhere back then, in restaurants, at the mall, and even inside the house with the doors closed. It's safe to say we've learned a bit about public health since the Neon Eighties.

Here are the 18 best responses to "What did the '80s smell like?"

Many X users shared the perfumes and colognes that were popular in the '80s.

Nothing defined the '80s quite like the interior of a Pizza Hut, smelling of hot cheese, sweaty kids, and cigarettes.

That chemical smell of plastic bubbles that you could never wash off your fingers.

Or, if you were a kid in the '80s, smelly erasers were all the rage. The only problem was when your little brother thought they were candy and tried to eat one.

Big hair was everywhere, and Aqua Net, the 99-cent hairspray that could double as a flamethrower, was ubiquitous. Don't get it on your forehead, it'll never wash off.

The eggy, orangey smell of Orange Julius seemed to permeate half the mall.

Everything smelled like cigarettes because people smoked everywhere.

It may sound bizarre in 2026, but the first federal ban on smoking on airplanes didn't go into effect until 1990. Other notable bans: Arizona began restricting smoking in certain areas in 1974, and Minnesota started regulating smoking in public spaces in 1975. One of the most significant laws came in 1995, when California banned smoking in workplaces, including restaurants and bars.

Did you do a good job on your social studies assignment? No cavities at the dentist? Memorize all the books of the New Testament? Your reward in 1984 was a scratch-n-sniff sticker. Well done, Kevin.

Back in the '80s, people didn't use much sunscreen. Instead, they used lotions designed to make tanning easier, even though they increased the risk of skin cancer. It wasn't the healthiest choice, but those suntanning lotions did have a pleasant coconut-meets-olive-oil scent.

Nothing smelled better in the '80s than walking into a Kmart or Sears and catching the scent of the popcorn machine running all day.

Or walking into the mall and smelling these bad boys from 100 yards away.

There was something about the plastic in a Trapper Keeper that gave off a scent lasting the entire school year, far longer than the plastic rings inside, which usually broke before Christmas.

The '80s are long gone, but for those who lived through the era, they still live deep in the recesses of our minds. They can come alive at the simple smell of a dirty Chuck E. Cheese token, a whiff of English Leather cologne, or an old La-Z-Boy chair where Grandpa smoked for decades.

The '80s may not have been the healthiest time to be alive, but they are impossible to forget.